Course Schedule

SPAN 501 – Introduction to Hispanic Studies

Broad view of fields of research, faculty and courses to familiarize students with some practical aspects of graduate studies, issues that pertain to specific fields of research and questions currently being debated across the profession.

SPAN 531 – Topics in Spanish-American Literature: Pre-Columbian Period to Independence

Representative topics include pre-Columbian Aztec, Mayan, and Maya-Quiche literature; the chronicle; Renaissance and baroque poetry.

SPAN 581B – Heritage Language Pedagogy

This course serves as an introduction to the main theories and practices in the field of Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) education. The course will begin by defining the field and SHL learners and will address issues related to the goals of SHL instruction and methods available for its teaching, sociolinguistics processes common in SHL students' Spanish and the sociopolitical position of Spanish in the US. This course incorporates a practical component of classroom observation and lesson and activity planning to prepare future teachers for effective SHL teaching practices.

SPAN 582B – Spanish Syntax II

This course introduces students to innovations in syntactic theory that have been proposed within the last decade. Students will move beyond the introductory-text level and extend their knowledge of Principles & Parameters approaches to syntax through discussion of the goals of Minimalist Syntax and its hypotheses about design aspects of the human faculty of language. The course explores in detail how postulated minimalist primitives and operations interact to generate the (complex) structures that are characteristic of natural language sentences.

SPAN 583C – Research Methods in Spanish Phonetics

This course introduces the fundamental tools to conduct research in Spanish experimental phonetics and phonology. It introduces topics such as hypothesis testing and experimental design, data collection and analysis, and reproducibility and statistics. Students will be working on an original research project in Spanish phonetics while developing their command of quantitative research methods as used in this field. At the end of this course, students will be able to carry out quantitative research in phonetics independently.

SPAN 594 – Practicum

The practical application, on an individual basis, of previously studied theory and the collection of data for future theoretical interpretation. This might include participation in collaborative research projects and development of practical skills to design and teach upper-level undergraduate courses in an area of specialization.

SPAN 596J – Second Language Acquisition Research

The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.

SPAN 696B – Spanish American Literature

This course is designed to explore theoretical/critical readings in order to discuss key issues involving Spanish American literatures and cultures contemplated. Throughout the course we will examine an array of perspectives as modes of understanding the creative texts. In the light of the readings students will develop original research projects.