Spring 2021 Course Offerings
The information below may be subject to change. For the most up-to-date course information, please check the Student Link. 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 Studentlink for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
A multimedia approach for students who have never studied French. A variety of communicative tasks develop speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.
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 Studentlink for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 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 Studentlink for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 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 and Society
4.0 Credits
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
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)
Section A1 – Hennessey
Secrets, Lies, & Family Ties
This course aims at developing students’ fluency in French and expanding their linguistic and cultural competencies, with a thematic focus on secrets and lies. Through discussions of modern films, short stories, and several chapters of a contemporary novel, students will explore how and why people lie or keep secrets, as well as how this behavior contributes to various patterns of communication originating in the family and extending to other relationships. Other topics include emerging identities; societal pressures; gender fluidity and definitions of family. For the final project (an oral presentation and a written paper) each student will choose one contemporary film from a wide selection and will examine how the course themes are revealed, represented, and played out.
CAS LF 308 French Through Film and Media
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections offered
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
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: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
Section A1 – Noudou
This course offers comprehensive introduction to key films of the French and the francophone film canon, selected over a period ranging from the origins of French cinema to present. This course will also explore the specificity of francophone women’s cinema in a contemporary context, examining fictions from a wide variety of geographic locations including France and Africa, and will investigate the journeys and stories of immigrants today through contemporary fiction and films that reconstruct aspects of an immigrant’s voyage across land and sea borders into Europe. We will pay particular attention to the forms of personhood that emerge or are put into crisis by experiences such as clandestine passage. Topics under consideration may include: history, socio-cultural politics, culture and ethnicity, silence and voice, the female body, migration and immigration – through the lens of media, cinema. Conducted entirely in French, this course will help students acquire the analytical tools to discuss films as artistic and as cultural texts.
Section B1 – Webb
What’s So Funny About Love?
This course examines French romantic comedies in film, TV, and other media to define, question, and understand the genre. Students learn to analyze and critique works using appropriate vocabulary and methods. They also compare French and American examples of rom-coms in order to reflect on cultural differences and similarities. In addition to understanding traditional portrayals of romantic comedy, students view how directors adapt the genre to explore contemporary issues of gender, race, socioeconomic class, and family dynamics. Students engage with the material through class discussions, blog posts, presentations, and written essays (all conducted in French).
CAS LF 309 A1 French in the World
4.0 Credits
Lakin-Schultz
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
Advanced study of French through the analysis of images, short stories, and excerpts of novels that explore the diverse countries, regions and cultures that make up 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: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
Cross-Continental Connections
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 while 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, excerpts of novels, and films that address the relationship between France and several of its former colonies, notably in West Africa, from colonial times 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 will progress chronologically ending with a study of the nature of this relationship in the 21st century through the readings of the Senegalese writer, Fatou Diome. Activities will include small group work, two peer edited compositions, class discussion, and a blog for additional writing practice. There will be three assessments of oral proficiency and one final group presentation. Themes explored include colonialism, education, African culture, migration, and cultural identity.
CAS LF 310 A1 French for Professions
4.0 Credits
Mathieu
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
Advanced study of French as used in the professions in the francophone world. Readings, discussions, and assignments develop linguistic skills and cultural competence: current political and economic issues, familiarity with major French-language newspapers, creation of French CV and cover letter.
Course Description (detailed description)
This professionalizing course serves as an introduction to the specialized language employed in the fields of international relations and diplomacy. It provides students with the language tools and communication skills to perform common professional tasks in highly contextualized activities and scenarios. The main objective of this course is to equip students with the linguistic knowledge to be able to work in French in careers of international scope (e.g. diplomat, attaché, foreign service official, NGO personnel, etc.). Thus, note that this course is a language course and NOT a course about international relations.
This course has been designed following pedagogical principles and guidelines espoused by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Île-de-France (CCIP), the leading and oldest institution offering training in professional French. The instructor has undertaken an extended training to teach this kind of specialized language course, and has earned the corresponding certification from the CCIP.
Given the professionalizing nature of this course, at the end of the semester, students will have adequate language skills to take the Diplôme de Français Professionnel (DFP), delivered by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Île-de-France. Interested students may therefore validate and certify their language competence by earning a recognized, official French diploma to show to to future employers.
CAS LF 311 A1 French Popular Culture
4.0 Credits
Dusewoir
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LF 212 or equivalent; or placement test results.
Advanced study of French through topics in popular culture that explore the issues facing and shaping contemporary France. Specific themes and media vary by course.
Course Description (detailed description)
la Bande dessinée
The focus of this Popular Culture course is comics (BD). BDs usually present themselves as a series of pages with multiple panels of varying size and shape, usually sequential. Each panel is an alchemy of multiple layers of drawings blended together, if we recall that the frames, the speech balloons and the letters themselves are also drawn and part of the picture. BDs engage our intellect at a literal level, but also at a denotative and connotative level, and hinge upon resourceful narrative tricks to create depth of meaning, ellipses and metaphors, foreshadowing or flashbacks. In this course, we examine the richness of the visual vocabulary of this medium, its manipulation of time and space, its flexibility in telling specific stories, especially stories of trauma. We read a wide array of comics and graphic novels, movie story boards, movie adaptations of comics, comic adaptations of literary classics, mural and graffitis. Materials were selected to provide a solid foundation in pop culture and also to develop reading skills. Students engage with the material through class discussions, presentations, and written essays (all conducted in French).
CAS LF 324 A1 Advanced Spoken French
4.0 Credits
Mathieu
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: one CAS LF 307-311 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.
Course Description (detailed description)
This course encourages students to develop their ability to communicate orally and to improve their conversational skill when using the spoken language. The use of authentic and multimodal texts will foster language competences such as speaking, listening, reading and writing. This course is divided into modules in which students will engage in activities through the exploration of texts (press articles, videos, docuseries, films, posters, etc.) on various topics of current interest; discuss with peers certain aspects in a critical way; and reflect individually through the use of discussion blogs, online audiovisual conversations, and reflection assignments.
CAS LF 341 A1 French Trends
4.0 Credits
Hawkes
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: One CAS LF 307 – 311 course, or equivalent or placement test results.
Through current articles and headlines, films and songs, this class explores the meaning and preservation of French “Culture” while investigating areas of social debate from a French perspective. Designed for but not limited to students returning from abroad.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LF 350 Introduction to Analysis of French Texts
4.0 Credits
Multiple Sections Offered
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: At least one Level 1 Advanced Course (CAS LF 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311) or equivalent; or placement test results, and 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)
Section A1 – Kleiman
N/A
Section B1 – Kelly
N/A
CAS LF 464 / GRS LF 664 A1 Author/Auteur
4.0 Credits
Kelly
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Pre-req: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 102)
In-depth study of a single author or film maker. Attention to critical/theoretical debates about the author’s work(s); their relation to aesthetic, political, and/or historical debates of the time; and questions about relation to tradition and/or legacy and ongoing influence.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration.
Course Description (detailed description)
Exploration of Émile Zola’s naturalism through the study of Gervaise Macquart in the novel L’Assommoir and the later novels that follow three of her four children. Looking at Zola’s representation of the influence of the milieu and heredity on human identity, we follow the hereditary ‘defect’ that she carries and the various ways it manifests itself in the differing environments of her offspring. Several films based on these novels round out our exploration of this one branch of the Rougon-Macquart family tree.
CAS LF 481 A1 Genocide in Literature & Film
4.0 Credits
O. Cazenave
Course Description (from the Student Link)
This course examines the emergence of new artistic forms in literature, film, and performance arts on the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda. Authors to be discussed: Diop, Tadjo, Mukasonga, Gatore. Films and BD by: Peck, Kivu, Karekezi, Ndiaye, Stassen
Course Description (detailed description)
In 1994, between early April and July, over 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in Rwanda. The past 20 years have seen the emergence of new artistic forms in literature, film, and performance arts on this genocide. Some of these were the fruit of collective projects, such as the Duty of Memory Project [Rwanda: Ecrire par devoir de mémoire], or the Belgium-based Groupov. Others were individual pursuits, such as Gilbert Gatore’s Le Passé devant soi [The Past Ahead] and Scholastique Mukasanga’s Notre Dame du Nil [Our Lady of the Nile]. Examples of filmic productions are numerous and include “Iseta: Behind The Roadblock”, “Sometimes in April”, “Tuez-les tous!” [Kill Them All] “Opération Turquoise”, “Rwanda pour mémoire”, “Shake the Devils’ Hand.” Looking at the political and historical role of Germany, Belgium, and France with regard to Rwandan history; the genocide, the European response back in 1994.
This course examines the creative projects and initiatives, the aesthetic transformations, ethical questions that have emerged, and the critical discourses that have been generated in the process. Discussions will include the impact of the Duty of Memory Project and works by both Rwandan Artists (Mukasonga, Gatore, Kivu, Karekezi) and non-Rwandan artists that address the genocide directly (for instance, Boubacar Boris Diop, Véronique Tadjo, Stassen, the visual artist Bruce Clarke, and the late filmmaker, Félix Ndiaye) as well as works that deal with it in a more oblique manner.
CAS LF 483 / GRS LF 683 A1
4.0 Credits
Kleiman
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Pre-req: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 102)
Close interpretive, critical, and theoretical study of philosophical questions posed by selected works of literature [and related arts] with emphasis on the political. Themes such as vengeance, justice, and injustice; political theatre / theatre of politics; representations of war; exile and imprisonment as the scene of writing; cross-fertilization between law, diplomacy, and narrative; or transgression and invention.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Research and Information Literacy.
Course Description (detailed description)
The big picture idea of this course is to explore the relations between the arts—especially literature—and the political, allowing us to examine and reflect on how aesthetic works can be understood as works of philosophical inquiry. Our task will be to situate these narratives in their historical and/or biographical context; to examine the reciprocal influence of law and imagination; to ask what kinds of pressures, constraints, and influences political ideologies exert on literary and aesthetic forms; and to examine how the materiality of literature and the arts intersects with the construction of political subjectivity.
GRS LF 621 A1 Reading French
0.0 Credits
Huckle
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Designed for graduate degree candidates preparing for language reading examinations. Develops skills in interpreting written French with minimal phonological or cultural references. Practice in translating passages relating to the sciences and humanities. No previous knowledge of French required. Students will not receive graduate credit for this course and there is no tuition charge.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A.
GRS LF 860 A1
4.0 Credits
J. Cazenave
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Off-Frame: Hidden Stories in 20th and 21st Century Literature and Film
This course explores the complexities of representing personal and collective traumas—from the Holocaust to the Algerian War of Independence to the current migrant crisis—in contemporary novels and films. Authors include Alice Zeniter and Mati Diop.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
Italian
CAS LI 111 First Semester Italian
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 four days a week. Lab required.
If CAS LI 131 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 LI 112 Second Semester Italian
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 four days a week. Lab required.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A.
CAS LI 132 A1 Beginning Italian II (CFA)
4.0 Credits
Tonetti
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LI 131
Specially designed for students in the College of Fine Arts. Continuation of CAS LI 131. Grammar; special attention to phonetics; reading and writing.
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
Marino
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 Fourth Semester Italian
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 A1 20th Century Culture & the Italian Film (in English Translation)
4.0 Credits
Tonetti
Course Description (from the Student Link)
A portrait of modern Italian life as seen through cinema and screenplays. Films by Fellini, Bertolucci, Bellocchio (based on works by Pirandello, Calvino, Moravia, Pasolini) illustrate aspects of Italian cultural development in the twentieth century.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A.
CAS LI 312 A1 Italian for the Professions
4.0 Credits
Cote
Course Description (from the Student Link)
CAS LI 212 & First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120), or placement exam results, or consent of instructor.
Students explore how Italy has become one of the world leaders in the fields of technology, science, fashion, food production and design. They acquire knowledge of contemporary issues in Italian society and learn how to communicate in professional environments.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LI 445 A1 On Screen: Italians in America
4.0 Credits
Harrowitz
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Italian Americans have long been represented in American film and television. What are these representations and how have they been received? How is Italian American identity constructed through these media?
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
GRS LI 621 A1 Reading Italian for Graduate Students
0.0 Credits
Staff
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
Pedagogy
GRS LL 690 A1 Proficiency-Based Language Teaching 1
4.0 Credits
Datel
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Introduces students to current language teaching methodologies and effective proficiency- and standards- based instruction. Students develop their own pedagogy projects with appropriate assessment parameters addressing all four language skills.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A.
Portuguese
CAS LP 112 A1 First Semester Portuguese
4.0 Credits
Bianconi
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Pre-req: CAS LP 111 or placement test results
Covers the important grammar points not studied in CAS LP 111. Further develops the four communicative skills while expanding students’ background knowledge of the history and cultures of the Portuguese- speaking world. Lab required. Four hours weekly.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: The Individual in Community.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A.
CAS LP 212 A1 Third Semester Portuguese
4.0 Credits
Bianconi
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LP 211 or placement test results.
Review of the grammar and syntax of Portuguese. Further develops reading, writing, and conversational competency while expanding students’ knowledge of history and culture. Conducted in Portuguese. 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 LP 231 A1 Portuguese for Spanish Speakers
4.0 Credits
Champlin
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 307 A1 Portuguese for Business & Professional Life
4.0 Credits
Bianconi
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LP 212 and consent of instructor
This is a discussion-based course taught in Portuguese. It helps you develop effective reading, speaking and writing strategies needed to interpret authentic written and audio-visual sources, exploring different aspects of professional life in the Brazilian and the Portuguese-speaking world.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Social Inquiry II, Teamwork/Collaboration.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LP 362 Inventing Brazil (In English Translation)
4.0 Credits
Ouedraogo
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LP 212 or consent of instructor.
This course focuses on the main figures who undertook the task of forging the national image of Brazil in the 20th century. It encompasses several cultural realms and intellectual disciplines — literature, history, art, film, sociology, and anthropology.
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 Span
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
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 Span
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
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 Span
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
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 Span
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
This course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A.
CAS LS 306 Spanish Through Translation
4.0 Credits
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
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)
Section A1 – Carrión-Guerrero
Translation Strategies: Viaje entre culturas
Advanced study of Spanish through translation. This course is an introduction to translation theory and practice and investigates different texts and mediums. Students will explore the key elements involved in transferring a message between cultures, while analyzing and solving translation problems within a team. Likewise, they will strengthen their communication skills and justify their decision making through oral presentations and discussions with their peers. Taught in Spanish.
CAS LS 307 Spanish Through Literature and the Arts
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered.
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 analysis of literature in its relations to the arts and society.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Descriptions (detailed descriptions)
Section A1
CANCELLED.
Section B1 – Hackbarth
Visual Creations in the Hispanic World
In Visual Creations in the Hispanic World, students will analyze and discuss works of art, including paintings, sculptures, street art, graffiti, 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 will also visit museums locally and delve into the world of art auctioning.
Section C1 – Carberry
¡Qué espanto! Spanish through the Horror Genre
Do you like scary movies? Do you enjoy spooky ghost stories? Urban legends? Folktales about frightening and fantastical creatures? This advanced language course helps increase your proficiency in speaking, reading, listening, and (in particular) writing through the enjoyment and analysis of all things Horror. Authentic materials include classic ghost stories, folklore and urban legends, horror films, and macabre works of art. Coursework includes daily class discussion and both creative and critical writing assessments.
Section D1 – Corredor
Literature & Food in the Hispanic World
This course is designed to consolidate students’ advanced skills in reading, writing, and speaking Spanish by examining (through textual analysis): The centrality of food as a unique site of exchange between people from different cultures (Arabic, European, Amerindian, and African) that have shaped the Hispanic World; how food ingredients and practices have traveled across space and time since even before the American Conquest; how culinary customs are also intertwined with cultural politics (colonization and resistance), and the symbolic, erotic, economic, and political functions surrounding the preparation and consumption of food. This is a writing-intensive course. The written assignments will address any of the above-mentioned topics.
CAS LS 308 Spanish Through Film & New Media
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered.
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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 analysis of films and media of the Spanish-speaking world: cinema, the internet, and social media.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication.
Course Descriptions (detailed descriptions)
Section A1 – Monet-Viera
Politics, Passion, & Prayer in Latin American Film
LS 308 is an advanced language course, aimed at refining students’ oral and written proficiency through the analysis of Latin American film. This course will highlight the analysis of cinematography and cultural trends in Latin America, particularly the ways in which Latin American directors represent political crisis, romantic and familial relationships, and spiritual beliefs. Students will create their own multi-media projects inspired by the films of the course.
Section B1 – Ramos Orta
Beyond Paradise: Contemporary Representations of the Caribbean
This course focuses on contemporary films and series that represent the Hispanic Caribbean, specifically Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It aims to go beyond the stereotypical, paradise-like depictions of the Caribbean society, in order to analyze its realities and complexities. How does the Caribbean represent itself? How are family ties represented and what are their importance? What role does race play in the social structure? What effect does immigration have on the population? How do politics influence social relations? Students will explore these topics through reflective compositions, class discussions and oral presentations.
Section C1 – Garcia Santos
From Mexico to Argentina: A Cinematic Portrayal of the National Identities of the Hispanic World.
Is it possible to condense “Latin America” into a handful of traditions, customs, and ideas? Are Hispanic identities the same from one country to another? In this course we will explore the composition of Latin America, (among other topics) through films from Mexico to Argentina.
CAS LS 309 A1 Spanish for Heritage and Native Speakers
4.0 Credits
Datel
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Global Citizenship & Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course.
Course Description (detailed description)
TBA
CAS LS 310 A1 Spanish for the Professions
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered, please see Student Link for instructors
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
Transition to advanced study of Spanish as used by the professions in the Spanish-speaking world. Analysis and discussion of intercultural professional communication, acquisition of specialized vocabulary, and interpretation of authentic materials in the context of the healthcare professions. Develops linguistic and cultural competence by exploring a variety of texts and mediums.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship & 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
Rodriguez Ballesteros
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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.
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 Spanish drama from the point of view of an actor, director and playwright.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Creativity/Innovation.
Course Description (detailed description)
Would you like to gain more confidence and fluency in your oral skills? Would you like to explore the topics of authenticity and performance, and try on a few new identities on the fly? Would you like to feel more comfortable speaking in public? Would you like to communicate more effectively while you tap into your creative and risk-taking self? Come play! All the World’s a Stage… ¡en español! Spanish through Performance is a dynamic language class designed to strengthen the oral skills that will allow you to communicate more authentically in real-life situations. Curtain up!
CAS LS 350 Introduction to Analysis of Hispanic Texts
4.0 Credits
Multiple sections are offered.
Course Description (from the Student Link)
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. 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.
Course Description (detailed description)
Section A1 – Nassi Peric
N/A.
Section B1 – Iffland
N/A.
Section C1 – Colmenares
N/A
Section D1 – Tormos Bigles
N/A
CAS LS 452 A1 Topics in Latin American Literature & Culture
4.0 Credits
Iffland
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LS 350.
Provides new and contemporary perspectives on Latin American literature and culture. Can focus on some specific works through their connection to avant-garde movements, questions of identity and politics, media and the arts, canonical and marginal authors.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking.
Course Description (detailed description)
TBA
CAS LS 457 A1 20th Century Spanish American Literature
4.0 Credits
Pineda
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LS 350.
Representative literary works written in Spanish America during the twentieth century. Special attention to the relationship between modernity and identity, and the connection of literature with other cultural expressions, particularly film.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 575 A1 Topics in Peninsular Literature
4.0 Credits
Maurer
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LS 350 & two LS 400-level literature courses or consent of instructor
Course Description (detailed description)
Poesía y política poética: Unamuno, Machado, Jiménez
Readings from the poetry–and writing about poetry–of three modernists who dreamed of reforming Spanish life, language, and letters, public and private: Miguel de Unamuno, Antonio Machado and Juan Ramón Jiménez.
CAS LS 576 A1 Topics in Spanish American Literature
4.0 Credits
Colmenares
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LS 350 and two LS 400-level courses or consent of instructor.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
CAS LS 579 A1 Topics in Hispanic Cinemas
4.0 Credits
Mandelbaum
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: CAS LS 350
Cinema as a perspective from which to analyze cultural and socio-political developments within the Spanish-speaking world. Topics drawn from the history of specific national cinemas, individual filmmakers or particular “schools,” relations between literature and film, and political uses of film.
Topic for Spring 2021: An examination of politics, gender, history and culture in Latin America through recent and historical documentary films, including some by the lecturer. A particular focus will be on the construction of memory in the aftermath of brutal military dictatorships.
This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
GRS LS 621 A1 Reading Spanish for Graduate Students
4.0 Credits
Basker-Seigel
Course Description (from the Student Link)
Prereq: Graduate Standing
Designed to prepare graduate students for the Spanish reading exam. Develops a knowledge of the fundamentals of Spanish grammar. Practice in translating passages. No previous knowledge of Spanish required.
Course Description (detailed description)
N/A
GRS LS 850 Seminar: Topics in Hispanic Literature
4.0 Credits
Multiple Sections Offered
Course Description (from the Student Link)
May be repeated for credit if topic is different.
Course Descriptions (detailed descriptions)
Section A1 – Borinsky
On fear and laughter
An exploration of de-familiarization in Latin American literature, film, photography and painting. Octavio Paz, Macedonio Férnandez, Alejandra Pizarnik, Bioy Casares, Grete Stern, Jodorowsky are among those to be studied.
Section B1 – Savo
The World of Juan Manuel
In the literary histories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the medieval author Juan Manuel (1282-1349) was representative of a Spanish national literary tradition dominated by male, Christian, Castilian writers. This seminar examines his works alongside various literary precursors and contemporaries, re-situating them in the multilingual and multiconfessional landscape of medieval Iberia. Readings include Juan Manuel’s forays into historiography (Crónica abreviada), natural history (Libro del cavallero et del escudero), pseudoautobiography (Libro de las tres razones), and courtly advice literature (Conde Lucanor), alongside works by Alfonso X, Ramon Llull, Shem Tov de Carrión, and Leonor López de Córdoba. Our aim is to explore how questions of authorship, genre, translation, and textual transmission shape our contemporary grasp of a medieval intellectual milieu.