Course Descriptions

Communicative approach, emphasis on all language skills. Recommended for students with no previous experience with the language.

Communicative approach, emphasis on all language skills.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Business Portuguese is a course for students with previous knowledge of Spanish, who are interested in developing their oral and written skills to participate in Business contexts in Portuguese-speaking countries, especially Brazil. The course makes use of various technological resources to inform individual projects as well as collaborative tasks through synchronous and asynchronous interaction with peers. The course prepares the students to take action in different business-related situations and how to deal with cultural and linguistic differences through the development of intercultural competence. Also, the students will deepen their understanding of Brazilian geography and culture, and will apply contextualized Portuguese structures to develop a collaborative final project on a business topic.

This course takes representations and experiences of citizenship in modern Brazil as the springboard for the study of cross-cultural membership in society. How are understandings and experiences of citizenship bound up with the definition and institutionalization of race/ethnicity, class, and gender? This broad question will be examined in specific areas in Brazil such as public health, urban and rural development, environment, education, law, politics, and pop culture. The course covers theoretical readings and case studies from different geographical areas. Instructional materials are interdisciplinary, drawing mainly on the fields of History, Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, and Geography.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Accelerated beginning Portuguese for speakers of Spanish. Taught by communicative approach and contrastive analysis.

For intermediate students to enhance their linguistic abilities, to develop control of oral communication at a more advanced level, and to prepare for the transition from language learning to studies in literature, culture and linguistics.

Introductory course in literary reading and analysis based on texts from the Portuguese-speaking countries.

How are race and racism perceived and experienced in countries in Latin America particularly such as Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia where a mixed-race ideology and the myth of racial equality have traditionally been at the core of national identity? This class critically analyzes notions of race and anti-racist activism to examine the ideologies and circumstances of the political structure, race-targeted public policies, and black activism in contemporary Latin America.

Portuguese language and culture in an immersion context. Offered only in Fortaleza, Brazil. Recommend one year of Portuguese or the equivalent.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Overview of literary periods and introduction to the major literary figures of Portugal, Brazil and the Luso-African countries (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Porto Principe) from the beginning of their literature to 1900.

Through an interdisciplinary approach, the students will be in contact with the contemporary literature produced in Brazil, Portugal and Lusophone Africa.

For more advanced students to increase comprehension of written Portuguese, to practice written skills, and to prepare for transition from language learning to the study of literature.

Broad survey of Brazilian culture. Thematic examination of some of the major cultural developments. Topics include: Brazilian music, Afro-Brazilian culture, the role of women in Brazilian society, Brazilian popular culture.

Introduction to Portuguese articulatory phonetics and phonology for the purpose of exploring the theory and the practice of pronunciation. Comparison with Spanish and English patterns. Discussion of geographic, social and diachronic variation. Practice of pronunciation and transcription of sounds.

Presentation of the masterpieces of Brazilian literature and the great films based upon them.

This course explores the field of linguistics as it applies to the Portuguese language. The main goal is to investigate the Portuguese language structure, including the sound system (phonetics and phonology), word formation (morphology), sentence formation (syntax), and discourse (pragmatics), in addition to aspects regarding language variation across time and styles. This panoramic view is intended to advanced learners of Portuguese and aims at facilitating a profounder understanding of the language.

Topics rotate. One of them is the exploration of different facets of music produced in Brazil from 1960’s to 2000. These discussions will consider the socio-political and economic contexts that underlined the changes in musical production, including issues related to race, gender, and sexuality. Our aim will be to able to detect the tense and conflicting ways that different trends attempt to intervene on and create new paradigms for both the music scene and the nation.

Portuguese language and culture immersion in Brazil for participants of the Summer Study Abroad Program in Fortaleza. Recommended one year of Portuguese or the equivalent skills, and principles.

A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Oral approach. For the student with no previous experience in Spanish. Contact department for additional information.

Oral approach.

For students who have receptive skills in Spanish, but who encounter difficulty in speaking. It focuses on developing fluent conversation and listening skills in a positive and culturally rich environment. It also covers basic grammar structures problematic to students. For the Heritage Speaker of Spanish, Contact Department.

Elementary Medical Spanish (Spanish 125) is designed to introduce the many facets of the Spanish language and cultures for students in going into the healthcare professions. This course is designed to help students start developing the skills necessary to communicate efficiently with Spanish-speaking patients and clients in a medical context. It is a fast-paced, step-by-step course for students with no or very little previous knowledge of Spanish. This course aims to provide the base for all four core language skills - speaking, listening, reading, and writing. In addition, students will start developing situational and cross-cultural competence for communication in Spanish in healthcare settings.

This course introduces students to the Latina/o/x experience in the United States through exploring its expressive culture. Students will analyze a variety of texts including short stories, poems, novels, films, and songs in order to explore a wide range of themes, from race relations to migrant identities to gender norms, in a variety of contexts including family, education, politics, and popular culture.

This course provides an interdisciplinary overview of key issues within the U.S. Latino language experience. The course introduces concepts such as language ideologies, language attitudes, language shift, language maintenance, the politics of language, and language contact in the context of Spanish and English use among Latinos in the United States.

This course deals with the relationship between politics and cultural expressions in Latin America. These cultural expressions studied are literature, muralism, music, paintings, documentaries, escrache and cinema. How do these expressions relate to what was, and it's still happening in Latin American society? How do people in power shape systems? How do artists criticize or support governments? How do their art reflect their context? Students will investigate and analyze how governments collaborate shaping the system, and explore how changes such as dictatorships, revolutions, conquests, etc., affect a society, and discuss how art helps us have a better understanding of our history and our role as global citizens.

This course is an introduction to fundamental concepts, practices, and approaches to the study of popular culture and politics in Latin America. We will explore diverse themes such as African slavery, religion, political violence, political power, the role of women in history and politics, the youth in political conflicts, nationalism, U.S.-Latin America relations, peasant insurgency, and human rights. Students will also develop an awareness of the social and historical contexts in which these manifestations developed throughout the construct of what we now call "new nations" in Latin America. The course will concentrate on case studies from six different countries: Mexico, Cuba, Peru/Ecuador/Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Brazil. An important component to the course will be the examination of how Latin America and its culture is portrayed in the United States.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Spanish Proficiency 1st Semester

Continuation of Spanish 101 and 102 or by placement exam. As the first semester of the second year Spanish, this course focuses on a short review of the materials studied in the first year courses. It expands on those points with a more in-depth study of the Spanish language and culture. Content-based approach integrates grammar and culture in a functional use through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The course further develops grammatical accuracy in the use of the simple tenses: present, future, and conditional and of particular importance is the perfection of the use of the past tense: preterit and imperfect. Compound tenses such as the present perfect, past perfect are also developed in this course. Students gain the ability during this course to deal with more complex and abstract situations in the foreign language. Language use encouraged by way of communicative activities rather than a sequence of linguistics units. Audio, video, and computer materials incorporated.

Continuation of Spanish 101, 102, and 201 or by placement exam. As the second semester of the second year Spanish, this course is designed to provide insight into the literature and culture of the Spanish speaking countries. Themes are developed by content-based cultural activities, which provide awareness in the Hispanic culture, and encourage students to formulate opinions on a variety of contemporary issues through authentic readings, discussions and writing. This course reviews the grammatical concepts in a more sophisticated way and analyses more complex syntactic structures considered within a functional whole such as the subjunctive moods, etc. The teaching approach integrates grammar and culture in a functional use through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Classroom activities stress communication across the four skills with a strong aural, oral and written component. Audio, video, and computer materials incorporated.

Designed for students who learned Spanish in a home or community environment. Focuses mainly on written and oral development but reading and listening skills are also practiced in a dynamic cultural context. Grammar and spelling issues problematic to students are also covered. This course fulfills the University's foreign language requirement.

205 is the equivalent of 101 and 102. Recommended for highly motivated students and/or those with experience in another Romance language.

Recommended for highly motivated students and/or those with experience in another Romance language.

Throughout its history, Latin America has witnessed a conflict of social, cultural and political differences. The challenges of defining Latin America have been arduous and at times difficult. Each academic discipline has taken a narrow prospective view of what is Latin America. Therefore, this class Introduces students to the concept and origins of popular culture and to social theories used to analyze its impact on self, culture in modern consumer societies and national and regional images of identity. Students will focus on understanding the history, politics, cultural, and social reality changes in Latin America.

While the European conquest permanently shaped what we now know as Latin America, more recent transatlantic flows of people, ideas, and beliefs have also left an indelible mark. During and in the aftermath of World War II, Jewish survivors resettled across the globe, many of them in Latin America. They were subsequently followed by scores of Nazis attempting to evade prosecution and live in anonymity across the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, the post-World War II era saw the development of some of the most important concepts and practices of human rights, justice, memory, and reconciliation, ranging from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Nuremberg Trials to the European monuments and human rights memorial museums. In the decades following World War II, when different countries across Latin America were attempting to rebuild in the aftermath of violent dictatorships, civil wars, and decades of internal conflict, they were strongly influenced by these Post-World War II concepts and practices of reckoning with past atrocities and moving toward more peaceful and democratic futures. This interdisciplinary cultural studies course will examine the relationship between histories of genocide and mass atrocity and the development of concepts and practices of peace and reconciliation, transitional justice, and memory politics from World War II to the dictatorships and civil wars of the latter half of the 20th century in Latin America.

This course will focus on the complex phenomenon of immigration in the latter part of the 20th and into the 21st centuries, and will analyze its representation through the medium of film. The immigration trajectory presented in the films and analyzed in the course will be from countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia into first world western nations.

This course is designed for healthcare professionals and students who have completed Spanish 125. It offers students the opportunity to expand the necessary vocabulary, medical terminology, as well as pertinent grammatical structures to improve the communication with Spanish-speaking patients. There will also be a focus on different cultural perspectives on health and health care for Spanish-speaking patients in the US and in the Spanish speaking countries. The course will provide students with skills that will help them in a variety of work settings such as hospitals, emergency rooms, doctors' offices, and clinics when dealing with Spanish-speaking patients and personnel in the United States.

Combines all forms of language skills (speaking, reading, writing, and comprehension) with intermediate grammar.

For students who understand and speak Spanish fluently. Focuses on differences between formal and informal uses of Spanish and develops both in the areas of writing, reading, speaking, listening, grammar and vocabulary in a dynamic cultural context centered on Hispanics in the U.S.

This course takes representations and experiences of citizenship in modern Brazil as the springboard for the study of cross-cultural membership in society. How are understandings and experiences of citizenship bound up with the definition and institutionalization of race/ethnicity, class, and gender? This broad question will be examined in specific areas in Brazil such as public health, urban and rural development, environment, education, law, politics, and pop culture. The course covers theoretical readings and case studies from different geographical areas. Instructional materials are interdisciplinary, drawing mainly on the fields of History, Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, and Geography.

This Workshop will be a topics course. Topics will vary by instructor and term.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work. Department consent required.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work. Department Consent Required

A continuation of SPAN 253. Focuses on expanding the learners' oral and written academic proficiency and promotes their critical thinking skills in a dynamic cultural context centered on Latin America. Reviews advanced grammar and spelling issues to strengthen students' writing.

Essential points of grammar, with emphasis on syntax and development of writing skills.

Develops oral and written Spanish for academic and professional contexts. Emphasizes different genres of writing, focusing on rhetorical strategies for persuasive and argumentative writing and culminates in a research paper. Grammar and spelling are covered based on student needs.

In-depth study of articulatory phonetics with emphasis on both theory and practical applications for non-native speakers of Spanish. (Taught in Spanish).

Professional, social justice, sociolinguistic, and cognitive aspects of Translation and Interpretation. Includes language policy and social justice goals to providing language services for limited and non-English speaking populations, role of translators and interpreters, simultaneous and consecutive interpretation, role of norms in legal translation, meaning of translation, health care interpretation and translation, business and technical translation, observation of professional settings, translation and interpretation practice. This course is a prerequisite for the following courses: MAS 306, MAS 308, MAS 309, MAS 311, MAS 408, MAS 409.

Introduces learners to Spanish phonology and phonetics. Students learn about the differences between spoken and written language as the basis to advance their Spanish proficiency. It also focuses on exposing students to the different varieties of the Spanish-speaking world.

Introduction to major theories, readings and analyses of culture in Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula,and Latinos in the U.S.

This course serves as an introduction to the structure of the Spanish language. It's a course on how to understand Spanish grammar (and grammar or language structure as a whole) so you might critically reflect on the language to get a deep command of it on your own in the years to come. The course is organized around four basic perspectives on the study of the structure of Spanish: (1) the structure of the Spanish sound inventory, (2) the structure of Spanish words, (3) the structure of Spanish sentences, (4) the structure of the Spanish language in its societies.

How are race and racism perceived and experienced in countries in Latin America particularly such as Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia where a mixed-race ideology and the myth of racial equality have traditionally been at the core of national identity? This class critically analyzes notions of race and anti-racist activism to examine the ideologies and circumstances of the political structure, race-targeted public policies, and black activism in contemporary Latin America.

This course provides a critical introduction to the ways in which new (digital) technology mediates contemporary cultural production across the Spanish-speaking world. We will begin with a theoretical overview that will address basic questions such as: What is technology? Are digital technologies fundamentally different from prior means of managing and producing knowledge and cultural artifacts? What do quantitative and digital methods reveal - and obscure - when applied to traditionally humanistic domains of inquiry? We will examine a variety of digital humanities projects that respond creatively to contemporary concerns in Spain, Latin America, and within Spanish-speaking communities of the United States. Complementing the analytical component of the course is a hands-on, practical component; by the end of the course, students will have learned the basic skills of social network analysis, mapping with GIS tools, and Wikipedia authorship. While our focus will be on contemporary cultural manifestations, the issues we will grapple with are not new, ranging from fundamental issues of aesthetic value, political (dis)enfranchisement, and ways of understanding the self in relationship to society. Although some of the course readings may be in English, all assignments and in-class discussions will be conducted in Spanish.

This course covers English/Spanish medical/business translation. It focuses on (1) building conceptual knowledge in the medical/business contexts and (2) language and translation competence in these settings. It introduces students to professional, nationally-accepted standards of translation practice and performance and uses authentic materials and contextually-meaningful situations.

This course covers English/Spanish legal/business translation. It focuses on (1) building conceptual knowledge in the legal and business contexts and (2) language and translation competence in these settings. It introduces students to professional, nationally-accepted standards of translation practice and performance and uses authentic materials and contextually-meaningful situations.

An Honors special topics seminar course for Honors Active Juniors and Seniors. Course includes small group discussion, research, and presentations on a variety of Spanish related special topics of interest. Current research, relevant issues, historical perspectives and guest speakers may be included. Honors sophomores may enroll with consent of the department.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Spanish Proficiency 3rd Semester

Introduction to Spanish literature from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period.

Introduction to Spanish-American literature from the colonial to the contemporary period.

Major works by Mexican writers. Offered in Guadalajara only.

Studies of major works by Mexican and Mexican-American writers. Taught in Spanish although a small portion of the readings may be in English.

Using an online delivery method, the course provides guided practice in the successful completion of professional translation tasks involving authentic texts currently translated in health care settings (e.g., health care forms, health information texts, health education, legal and marketing documents).

Using an online delivery method, the course provides guided practice in the successful completion of professional translation tasks involving authentic texts currently translated in legal settings in the US.

Using an online delivery method, the course provides guided practice in the successful completion of professional translation tasks involving texts in the business/financial domain.

Advanced themes of grammar with emphasis on the syntax of verbs and the acquisition of terminology and skills to facilitate analysis.

Topics in Spanish culture, to include geographical, political, and cultural aspects of Spanish civilization..

Topics to include Spanish-American milieu; geographical, political, and cultural aspects.

Topics to include study of culture, history, literature and oral tradition (corridos, legends).

Readings in Spanish prose from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century.

Spanish theater selections from the middle ages through the twentieth century.

Readings in Spanish poetry from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century.

Analysis and discussion of playwrights from the Americas drawn from the twentieth century.

The revolution of 1910 as portrayed by Mexico's leading writers.

Introduction to Mexican and Mexican American Theatre with emphasis on the contemporary period.

Major novelists of modern Mexico; their works, narrative perspective, characterization, language, time, space, and themes.

Major films by Mexican and Mexican-American directors. Relationships of the cinema to Mexican and Chicano literature and culture.

This course will explore topics in the literature and culture of Spain. Through the readings in this course students will develop analytical and interpretive skills and learn to apply these skills both within the classroom environment and on their own. Additionally, students will achieve a nuanced understanding of the literature's social and historical context.

This course will explore topics in Latin American Literature and Culture. Through the readings in this course students will develop analytical and interpretive skills and learn to apply these skills to literature and the genre both within the classroom environment and on their own. Additionally, students will achieve a nuanced understanding of the literature's social and historical context.

This course will explore Mexican and Mexican-American Literature. Through the readings in this course students will develop analytical and interpretive skills and learn to apply these skills to literature and the genre both within the classroom environment and on their own. Additionally, students will achieve a nuanced understanding of the literature's social and historical context.

This course will explore Topics in Border Studies. Through the readings in this course students will develop analytical and interpretive skills and learn to apply these skills to literature and the genre both within the classroom environment and on their own. Additionally, students will achieve a nuanced understanding of the literature's social and historical context.

Study and practice in formal and informal usage of Spanish as oral communication.

General survey of the core fields in linguistics: phonology, phonetics, morphology, syntax, historical linguistics and dialectology. Provides basis for further study in the field. (Taught in Spanish).

An introduction to the current theories of syntax and morphology to describe specific aspects of the structure of Spanish. Central notions of generative grammar.

To study the history of the Spanish language from its origins to the present, with particular emphasis on two transition periods: from Late Latin to Old Spanish, and from Medieval to Modern Spanish. to analyze and discuss early and medieval texts that exhibit relevant phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic changes; to discuss the nature of linguistic change and its place in grammar.

Application of linguistic theory to issues of Spanish language instruction; theories of language acquisition and language teaching methodology.

This course is intended to familiarize the students with issues about language use in social context. Students will discuss results of research on the relationship between language and society in several Spanish-speaking communities.

Topics include linguistic perspectives on Mexican-American Spanish and bilingualism, phonology, semantics, dialectology/sociolinguistics. Taught in Spanish.

This course surveys the growth and development of the Spanish Empire, with particular attention to Latin America, under the guidance of the new Spanish dynastic house, the Bourbons. It will focus on reorganization of Spain's political affairs in the old world and the new world. In addition, Spain's socio-economic and cultural development will be discussed.

The central theme of this course is the conversion of Spain from a far-flung world empire to a modern European nation-state. It will explore the many political, socio-economic, and cultural changes that have transformed Spain from a nation in decline to one of the leading nations in the European Community.

This course begins the in-depth study of simultaneous interpretation (continued in Advanced Simultaneous Interpretation). Its focus is (1) building conceptual knowledge in legal/medical/business contexts and (2) language and interpreting competence. Students are introduced to professional, nationally accepted standards of practice and performance using authentic materials and contextually meaningful situations.

This course begins the in-depth study of the theory and practice of consecutive interpretation and sight translation (continued in Advanced Consecutive Interpretation). It reviews legal and medical concepts and covers policy and law relevant to interpreter practice, theory, skill development, and special issues in legal, medical, and business settings using authentic materials and contextually meaningful situations.

Practical Spanish for the elementary and secondary school subject-matter teacher who uses Spanish as the medium of instruction.

SPAN 480 satisfies the service-learning requirement for the Spanish and Portuguese Program at the University of Arizona. Students will participate in a service-learning activity in which s/he uses Spanish. This activity will address a need in our community, support our course objectives, involve a connection between the campus and the world around it, challenge students to be civically engaged, and involve structured student reflection. Options include working in multicultural youth clubs and public schools, day care centers, emergency adolescent shelters, homeless shelters and food programs, centers for low-income elderly citizens, addiction treatment centers, community youth groups, programs for the mentally challenged, local food pantries, drop in centers for HIV positive individuals, and involvement in local Immigrant Assistance Program.

This course continues the in-depth study (begun in Beginning Simultaneous Interpretation) of simultaneous interpretation. Its focus is (1) building conceptual knowledge in legal/medical/business contexts and (2) advanced language & interpreting proficiency. Students will review of professional, nationally accepted standards of practice and performance using authentic materials & contextually meaningful situations. Focus is on intensive skill development.

This course continues the in-depth study (begun in "Translation and Interpretation: Social Justice and Practice") of the theory and practice of consecutive interpretation and sight translation. It focuses on a review of complex legal and medical concepts; policy and law relevant to interpreter practice; theory; skill development; and special issues in interpretation in legal, medical, and business settings using authentic materials and contextually meaningful situations. Focus is on intensive skill development.

Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment.

A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.

An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

Spanish Proficiency 4th Semester