Fall 2026 Course Offerings
The information below may be subject to change. For the most up-to-date course information, please check My BU Student. Students are responsible for checking the course prerequisites, class meeting times, and class meeting locations.
French
CAS LF 111 First-Semester French
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
A multimedia approach for students who have never studied French. A variety of communicative tasks develop speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.
This course includes 1 hour of asynchronous work per week.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 112 Second-Semester French
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 111 or placement test results.
Continues CAS LF 111. A multimedia approach which develops speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills, together with the grammar and vocabulary needed for more complex communicative tasks.
This course includes 1 hour of asynchronous work per week.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 113 Intensive Beginning French
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: placement test results.
Intensive French course for beginners or according to placement test results. Introduction to grammar, vocabulary, and structure of French, emphasizing the basic communication skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (If CAS LF 111, 112, or a more advanced college-level course has been completed, this course cannot be taken for credit.)
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 211 Third-Semester French
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 112 or placement test results.
Advances proficiency in speaking, writing, reading, and listening in a communicative classroom setting. Grammar studied is used in context through thematic discussions on topics ranging from daily life to Francophone culture, in short readings, and through diverse written tasks.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 212 Fourth-Semester French
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 211 or placement test results.
Advances proficiency in French in a communicative setting through thematic discussions on diverse, contemporary topics and media, short readings, and written tasks. Fulfills CAS second language requirement, prepares for Level 1 Advanced Courses (CAS LF 307 — LF 311).
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 307 French Arts & Society
4.0 Credits
Bobroff
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
Students may take one or two (maximum) French Language courses in the group LF307, LF308, LF309, LF310, LF311, and/or LF313 before moving on to LF323, LF324, or higher level courses. Any combination of two of these courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course topics.
Advanced study of French language through the analysis of a topic or theme in the arts and society. Students advance in speaking, reading, writing, and listening through the analysis of literary, historical, and cultural texts. Specific themes vary by semester.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Creativity/Innovation.
Course Description (detailed description)
Food and Culture in France
If we are what we eat, then the French must be deliciously rich, structurally distinctive, and fundamentally complicated. Known the world over for its cuisine, France offers a privileged perspective for studying the social constructions of food and its consumption. Through essays, podcasts, films, and literary excerpts, we examine regional specialties, social justice initiatives, global influences, and other trends. Cooking workshops and projects move us into the kitchen to taste the cultural lessons studied. By the end of the semester, our many forms of consumption should lead us to better understand France and its culinary heritage.
CAS LF 308 French Through Film & Media
4.0 Credits
Cazenave, J.
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
Students may take one or two (maximum) French Language courses in the group LF307, LF308, LF309, LF310, LF311, and/or LF313 before moving on to LF323, LF324, or higher level courses. Any combination of two of these courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course topics.
With the goal of better understanding French and Francophone culture and society, students study various media forms that can include film, written and broadcast press, television, podcasts, blogs, and social media.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, and Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
France on the Small Screen
This course focuses on recent TV shows and films made for television that explore issues of race, gender, and sexuality in French society. TV shows include Mixte (2021) and Miskina la pauvre (2022).
CAS LF 309 A1 French in the World
4.0 Credits
Lakin-Schultz
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
Students may take one or two (maximum) French Language courses in the group LF307, LF308, LF309, LF310, LF311, and/or LF313 before moving on to LF323, LF324, or higher level courses. Any combination of two of these courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course topics.
Advanced study of French through the analysis of images, short stories, and excerpts of novels and films that explore topics pertaining to the Francophone World. Specific regions vary by semester, but can include Africa, the Caribbean or North America.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
Where can I go with French? Where are the numbers of French speakers growing? Why does the language still have such a profound influence in a postcolonial world?
French is spoken widely on the continent of Africa and as the number of speakers continues to grow, understanding the complicated history driving this ongoing linguistic influence allows us to develop a cultural fluency that is indispensable in Africa and Europe alike.
This course seeks to improve students’ proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening through the discussion of images, short stories, archival texts, excerpts of novels, and films that address the relationship between France and several of its former African colonies, notably in West Africa. The course moves chronologically from the period of 19th century colonial expansion to the present. Though we will begin with an introduction into French colonialism through the study of images and propaganda portraying the colonies, we will soon shift our focus to readings and films that address this relationship from an African perspective.
The course is discussion-based with coursework designed to advance proficiency in all four skills through varied interpretive, interpersonal, and written tasks – all aimed to advance proficiency in French. Themes explored include colonialism, African culture, education, migration, and cultural identity.
CAS LF 312 A1 French Language & Identity
4.0 Credits
Chazal
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
This advanced French language course focuses on social debates and sociolinguistic issues on language and identity in the French-speaking world. Themes such as language policy, gender representation, and regional languages are explored through analysis and discussion of authentic cultural materials.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Social Inquiry I.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 324 A1 Advanced Spoken French
4.0 Credits
Mathieu
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: One CAS LF 307-313 course, or equivalent or placement test results.
Advanced training in rapid and idiomatic French speech. Oral reports. Role playing; vocabulary building; targeted work on pronunciation, intonation, and aural comprehension.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Teamwork/Collaboration.
Course Description (detailed description)
This course guides students to strengthen their conversational skills by improving both their production and comprehension of spoken French. Students explore authentic “texts”— press articles, podcasts, TV series, films, etc.—on topics of current interest. Due to the integrated nature of the course material, students seamlessly build their vocabulary and gain insights into francophone cultures. Assignments include individual, pair, and small group work, all requiring oral communication in different contexts.
CAS LF 350 Reading the French Way
4.0 Credits
Kleiman
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: At least one Level 1 Advanced Course (CAS LF 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311) or equivalent; or placement test results. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).
Development of techniques for reading and interpreting French literary texts. Special attention to the study of lyric poetry, drama, and short narrative. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-intensive Course.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 351 Introduction to the French Novel
4.0 Credits
Cazenave, O.
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 350. First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).
Close readings in the French Novel from 19th century to contemporary times. Attention to narration, themes, symbols, and schools. Investigation of the roman d’analyse, realist fiction, anti-colonialist, and other types of narrative. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-intensive Course.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 441/LF 641 Topics in Urban Imaginaries in Literature and Film
4.0 Credits
Cazenave, O.
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LF 350 or CAS LF 351; or consent of instructor.
Department consent is required for registration in LF 641.
May be taken twice for credit if topics are different.
Students examine the filmic and literary representations of urban environments in France and the francophone world; the phenomenon of urbanization, the historical development, cultural and artistic context of its attractive power; fluxes of migration of the city; streets and monuments as characters.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
Questions of displacement, migration, and mobility in postcolonial cultures, have been a central focus in African literature and film both on the African continent and in the diaspora in Paris.
Both Dakar (Senegal) and Paris (France) serve as unique sites to understand the complexity of migration, its context, fluxes, the role and phenomenon of urbanization, the attraction of these cities, and to examine the evolution of the literary and cinematic aesthetics in seminal works by African and Afro-diasporic writers and filmmakers in relation to youth in an increasingly global economy.
CAS LF 458 /LF 658 The Nonbinary Nineteenth Century
4.0 Credits
Mesch
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: First Year Writing Seminar (CAS WR 100 or WR 120).
Department consent is required for registration in LF 658.
Examines fictional and non fictional works from nineteenth-century France on themes of sexual and gender identity, contextualized through contemporary queer, trans, and feminist theory.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 462/ LF 662 Cinema-Monde: Mapping French Film
4.0 Credits
Cazenave, J.
Course Description (from MyBU)
Department consent is required for registration in LF 662.
Spanning from the silent era to the present-day, this course reframes the key movements of French cinema through the lens of the global. Directors include Georges Melies, Jean Renois, Jean-Luc Godard, Chantal Ackerman, Agnes Varda, and the Dardenne brothers.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
Italian
CAS LI 111 First-Semester Italian
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
For students who have never studied Italian, or by placement test results. Introduction to grammatical structures used in written exercises. Emphasis on aural comprehension, speaking, and pronunciation. Readings on contemporary Italian culture. Meets three days a week.
If CAS LI 131 or a more advanced college-level course has been completed, this course cannot be taken for credit.
This course includes 1 hour of asynchronous work per week.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LI 112 Second-Semester Italian
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LI 111 or placement test results.
Continues study of basic grammatical structures used in written assignments. Emphasis on speaking, aural comprehension, and pronunciation. Readings on contemporary Italian culture. Meets three days a week.
This course includes 1 hour of asynchronous work per week.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LI 211 Third-Semester Italian
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LI 112 or placement test results.
Intended for students with a satisfactory background in elementary Italian who wish to continue study of grammatical structures. Emphasis on speaking, pronunciation, and aural comprehension. Reading about Italian culture and contemporary short stories. Compositions and oral assessments including interviews and/or presentations. Meets three days a week.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LI 212 A1 Fourth-Semester Italian
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LI 211 or placement test results.
For students who wish to build active use of Italian in speaking, writing, and reading. Intensive practice of spoken and written language. More advanced readings from Italian culture. Writing involving more complex grammatical and syntactical patterns. Oral assessments including interviews and/or presentations. Meets three days a week. Satisfactory completion of CAS LI 212 fulfills the CAS language requirement.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LI 283 A Study of Italian Cinema from the 1940s to the Present
4.0 Credits
Carter
Course Description (from MyBU)
Films by De Sica, Fellini, Benigni, Sorrentino and others tell the story of social and cultural development during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LI 313 Italian Media and Popular Culture
4.0 Credits
Iozzia
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LI 212 or placement test results.
Students analyze how print, audiovisual, and digital media impact Italian culture and society. Through viewing, discussing, and writing students examine how television, advertising, and folklore represent current social phenomena, and make comparison between Italian and US cultures.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LI 621 Reading Italian for Graduate Students
4.0 Credits
Brusetti McGinn
Course Description (from MyBU)
Undergraduate Prereq: Graduate standing.
Designed for graduate degree candidates preparing for language reading examinations. Develops skills in interpreting written Italian with minimal phonological or cultural references. Practice in translating passages relating to the sciences and humanities. No previous knowledge of Italian required. Students will not receive graduate credit for this course and there is no tuition charge.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
Portuguese
CAS LP 111 First-Semester Portuguese
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Introduction to grammatical structures. Fundamental communications skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Exposure to the culture and civilization of the Portuguese-speaking world through media broadcast, literature readings, films, music, and videotapes. Lab required. Four hours weekly.
This course includes 1 hour asynchronous work per week.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LP 211 A1 Third-Semester Portuguese
4.0 Credits
Bianconi
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LP 112 or placement test results.
Promotes cross-cultural understanding of the Luso-African-Brazilian cultures through authentic literary texts, multimedia, film and music. Completes study of grammatical structures and syntactical patterns. Emphasizes reading, writing and conversational competency. Conducted in Portuguese.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LP 231/ LP 631 Portuguese for Spanish Speakers 1
4.0 Credits
TBA
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: native or near-native speakers of Spanish only.
Designed to develop speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in Portuguese for Spanish speakers. Focuses on comparisons between Spanish and Portuguese language systems for students to communicate accurately and effectively within a diversity of cultural situations.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LP 308 A1 Brazilian History and Contemporary Identities
4.0 Credits
Bianconi
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LP 212 or placement test results or consent of instructor.
Students develop intercultural competence by analyzing the influence of history on on contemporary Brazilian identity. Written and oral work explores colonial legacy in relation to culture, race, and ethnicity. Readings and screenings present diverse voices within Brazil and interactions with other Portuguese-speaking countries.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Conciousness, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LP 352 Tropical Metropolis and Brazilian Modernity
4.0 Credits
Bianconi
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LP 212 or consent of instructor.
Focus on aesthetic and thematic changes in Brazilian art and literature during the country’s waves of modernization, with attention to the repercussion of those themes in film production, music, and performance.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
Spanish
CAS LS 111 First-Semester Spanish
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
For students who have never studied Spanish, or by placement test results. Introduction to grammatical structures. Emphasis on aural comprehension, speaking, and pronunciation. Introduction to Hispanic culture. Lab required.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, Sept. 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course includes 1 hour of asynchronous work on Thursdays.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 112 Second-Semester Spanish
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 111 or placement test results.
Completes study of basic grammatical structures. Emphasis on speaking and aural comprehension. Readings on contemporary Hispanic culture. Writing assignments. Lab required.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, Sept. 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course includes 1 hour of asynchronous work on Thursdays.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 211 Third-Semester Spanish
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 112 or placement test results.
Completes study of grammatical structures of Spanish. Use of spoken language in conversation. Reading in Hispanic civilization and of contemporary short stories. Writing exercises involving more complex grammatical and syntactical patterns.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, Sept. 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 212 Fourth-Semester Spanish
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 211 or placement test results.
Review of the structures of Spanish. Intensive practice of spoken language. More advanced readings from Hispanic culture. Frequent compositions. Satisfactory completion of CAS LS 212 fulfills the CAS language requirement.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, Sept. 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 306 Spanish Through Translation
4.0 Credits
TBD
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 212 or Spanish SAT subject test score of 560 or higher, or placement test results.
Not open to students for whom Spanish is a first language. Students may take up to two 300- level Spanish language courses (LS 306, LS 307, LS 308, LS 310, LS 311) before moving on to higher levels. Any combination of two 300-level courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course numbers; repeating a course with the same number is not allowed.
Advanced study of the Spanish language through the translation of written texts. Analysis of the theory and practice of translation as a catalyst of cultural transfer. Taught in Spanish.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, Sept. 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed descriptions)
CAS LS 307 Spanish Through Literature and the Arts
4.0 Credits
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 212 or Spanish SAT subject test score of 560 or higher, or placement test results.
Not open to students for whom Spanish is a first language. Students may take up to two 300- level Spanish language courses (LS 306, LS 307, LS 308, LS 310, LS 311, and/or LS 318) before moving on to higher levels. Any combination of two 300-level courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course numbers; repeating a course with the same number is not allowed.
Advanced study of the Spanish language through the analysis of literature in its relations to the arts and society.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, Sept. 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Descriptions (detailed descriptions)
Section A1 – Datel
Indigenous Perspectives on Contemporary Global Issues
This course explores indigenous cultures throughout Latin America from a decolonial standpoint, which challenges the impacts of colonization and unlearns the legacies it has left behind. We recognize that such cultures offer insights and alternatives to resolving modern-day crises – including climate change, food sovereignty, healthcare access, and gender inequalities – while refraining from romanticizing an idealized past. To enrich our understanding, we will host guest scholars and activists from indigenous communities.
Section B1 – Avcikurt
Bad Bunny and the Rise of Puerto Rican Culture
Bad Bunny’s album DTMF has had an unprecedented global impact. It has brought the Spanish language and Puerto Rican culture to the forefront, and it is changing the face of Puerto Rican politics and economy. This course explores Puerto Rican language, culture, and history through the music of Bad Bunny and why his music has led to a new sense of national pride as Puerto Ricans rediscover their endangered culture and look critically at US-Puerto Rican relations.
Section C1 – Hackbarth
Visual Creations in the Hispanic World
In Visual Creations in the Hispanic World students analyze and discuss works of art, including paintings, street art, sculptures, architecture and film from the Hispanic World with an emphasis on the thematic and cultural messages contained within them. What happens when you put Pablo Picasso and Fernando Botero in dialogue with each other? How did Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s work help shape contemporary Mexican culture? During the semester we also visit local museums and delve into the world of art auctioning.
CAS LS 308 Spanish Through Film & New Media
4.0 Credits
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 212 or Spanish SAT subject test score of 560 or higher or placement test results.
Not open to students for whom Spanish is a first language. Students may take up to two 300- level Spanish language courses (LS 306, LS 307, LS 308, LS 310, LS 311, and/or LS 318) before moving on to higher levels. Any combination of two 300-level courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course numbers; repeating a course with the same number is not allowed.
Advanced study of the Spanish language through the analysis of films and media of the Spanish-speaking world: cinema, the internet, and social media.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, Sept. 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy.
Course Descriptions (detailed descriptions)
Section A1 – Noonan
In this course students will engage with films dealing with questions of race, gender, economic injustice, colonialism, and human rights in Latin America. Students will learn what role artistic expression plays in forming Latin American identities and how artists have participated in the fight for social justice from the 1960s to today. This class will teach students film analysis skills and will provide an opportunity to hone your Spanish language skills. For major projects, students are encouraged to engage in creative work like video podcasting, creating scripts or short films, and other aesthetic explorations.
Section B1 – Perdomo
Cinema as Counterpower: Gender, Sound, and Resistance in Latin America
Dive into Latin American cinema where gender, identity, and music pulse through every frame. This course examines how filmmakers and composers craft powerful audiovisual experiences that center marginalized voices and cultural perspectives. Through close analysis of film scenes, soundtracks, and performances, students investigate how images and sound shape narrative, emotion, and meaning. The course highlights how artists challenge dominant representations, disrupt stereotypes, and reclaim cultural memory. By engaging critically with cinematic storytelling, students explore how film and sound express resistance, preserve history, and reveal social and political realities across diverse Latin American contexts.
Section C1 – Torre Perez
Screening the Underground: Countercultural Scenes in Latin America from the 60s to the present
This course explores countercultural movements in Latin America from the 1960s to today. Through cinema, documentaries, music videos, and digital media, students analyze protest art, punk, hip hop, and contemporary street mobilizations, examining alternative cultures across Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, and Cuba.
CAS LS 309 Spanish for Heritage and Native Speakers
4.0 Credits
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). Not open to students who have completed any 300- level Spanish Language course.
Designed for heritage speakers who have lived part of their lives in Spanish-speaking settings (including Spanish-speaking households in the U.S.), who speak at an advanced level, and who wish to strengthen their reading and writing skills while exploring Hispanic cultures.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, September 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy, The Individual in Community, Writing-Intensive Course.
Course Description (detailed descriptions)
Section A1 – Monet-Viera
Section B1 – Tormos Bigles
CAS LS 310 A1 Spanish for the Professions
4.0 Credits
Ruíz de Árbulo
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 212 or Spanish SAT subject test score of 560 or higher, or placement test results.
Not open to students for whom Spanish is a first language. Students may take up to two 300- level Spanish language courses (LS 306, LS 307, LS 308, LS 310, LS 311, and/or LS 318) before moving on to higher levels. Any combination of two 300-level courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course numbers; repeating a course with the same number is not allowed.
Transition to advanced study of Spanish as used in the health and business world. Analysis and discussion of intercultural professional communication, acquisition of specialized vocabulary, and interpretation of authentic materials in the context of the healthcare and business professions.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, September 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 311 A1 Spanish Through Performance: The Theater of Everyday Life
4.0 Credits
Torre Perez
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 212 or Spanish SAT subject test score of 560 or higher; or placement test results.
Not open to students for whom Spanish is a first language. Students may take up to two 300- level Spanish language courses (LS 306, LS 307, LS 308, LS 310, LS 311, and/or LS 318) before moving on to higher levels. Any combination of two 300-level courses may be taken for credit, provided the two courses have different course numbers; repeating a course with the same number is not allowed.
Invites students to tap into their creative, playful and risk- taking selves to gain more confidence, fluency and expressiveness in their communicative skills in Spanish, while exploring drama, music, dance, and the performance of family, work, gender, and social roles.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, September 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Creativity/Innovation, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 318 A1 Spanish Through Public Speaking
4.0 Credits
Carberry
Course Description (from MyBU)
As public speakers, how can we engage different communities at different times and places? This course explores theories concerning how to construct narratives and arguments that resonate with specific audiences in Spanish and invites students to put such theories into performative practice.
The deadline to add an RS language class to your schedule is Thursday, September 10. This is earlier than the standard BU deadline to add a class.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Teamwork/Collaboration, Writing-Intensive Course.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 350 Introduction to Analysis of Hispanic Texts
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see MyBU for instructors
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: Any 300-level Spanish language course or placement exam results.
Development of techniques for reading and interpreting Hispanic literary texts; reading of lyric poetry, drama, and fictional narrative.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
Course Description (detailed description)
Section A1 – Canigueral Battlosera
Section B1 – Datel
Section C1 – TBA
CAS LS 410 Religion and Literature in Medieval Spain
4.0 Credits
Savo
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 350 and a first-year writing seminar (e.g., CAS WR 100).
Explores religion and literature in medieval Spain through a critique of Convivencia, the notion of a peaceful coexistence among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Close readings of medieval literary works that imagine religious identity and relationships across religious boundaries.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 450 Topics in Contemporary Spanish Literature
4.0 Credits
Maurer
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 350.
May be taken twice for credit if topics are different.
Course Description (detailed description)
TBA
CAS LS 454 Survey of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Spanish Literature
4.0 Credits
Fernandez Medina
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 350.
Representative 19th and 20th century Spanish texts, poetry, drama and novel; explorations of the place of the individual within the rhythms of Spain’s changing identity. Authors: Jose de Espronceda, Benito Perez Galdos, Federico Garcia Lorca, Angela Figuera Aymerich and Graciela Baquero.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 548 Topics in Text/Image/Spectacle in the Hispanic World
4.0 Credits
Savo
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 350 and one CAS LS 400-level course, or consent of instructor.
May be taken twice for credit if topics are different.
Explores literature from the Spanish-speaking world and its relation to visual and performance art. Combines critical inquiry with creative practices to explore dynamics of influence, appropriation, and transformation across time and space.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, Ethical Reasoning.
Course Description (detailed description)
The Middle Ages at the Movies
This course explores the relationship between literature and visual media through a focus on the history and legends of medieval Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) and their modern film and television adaptations. We will trace the stories of four legendary figures—the Cid, Averroes, Inês de Castro, and Queen Isabel I of Castile—through their medieval tellings and modern retellings. These creative adaptations stand alone as artistic products with their own aesthetic vocabulary and vision, while also shedding light on the significance of the Middle Ages for modern creators. To put these principles in practice, students will create and present their own multimedia adaptations of medieval sources.
CAS LS 575 A1 Topics in Peninsular Literature
4.0 Credits
Maurer
Course Description (from MyBU)
Prereq: CAS LS 350 and two LS 400-level literature courses, or consent of instructor.
May be taken twice for credit if topics are different.
Course Description (detailed description)
TBA