Spanish Courses

Key to Course Descriptions

For Distribution Requirement purposes, SPA courses are classified as HUMANITIES courses.

| Course Winter Timetable |

 

HUM 199Y1
First Year Seminar 52S

Undergraduate seminar that focuses on specific ideas, questions, phenomena or controversies, taught by a regular Faculty member deeply engaged in the discipline. Open only to newly admitted first year students. It may serve as a distribution requirement course; see page 47.

Notes

1. The Department reserves the right to place students in the language course best suited to their linguistic preparation.
2. Students with an adequate knowledge of Spanish may be required to substitute another Spanish literature or culture course for the language course at any level.

 


SPA100Y1
Spanish for Beginners        26L, 52T

Introduction to the Spanish language for beginning students; overview of basic grammatical structures, development of vocabulary and oral and written expression.
Exclusion: OAC/Grade 12 U Spanish or equivalent knowledge of Spanish


SPA220Y1
Intermediate Spanish        52L, 26T

Intermediate Spanish for non-natives. Intensive grammar review of the structures of Spanish integrated with an introduction to reading authentic Spanish material, with practice designed to build vocabulary and to improve oral and written expression.
Exclusion:SPA319Y1
Prerequisite: OAC/Grade 12 U Spanish/SPA100Y1


SPA254H0
Mexican Culture        50L

Survey of Mexican culture and society, with attention to central issues in history, politics, education, and popular tradition, and important thinkers of twentieth-century Mexico: Paz, Fuentes, and others. (Offered only in Guadalajara)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1 and Placement Examination for the Guadalajara Program


SPA258H1
Introduction to Hispanic Literary Studies       26L

Introduction to university literary studies in Spanish. Critical terminology and methods. Representative selections of modern Spanish and Spanish American prose, poetry, and drama. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: OAC/Grade 12 U Spanish/SPA100Y1
Co-requisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1


SPA259H1
Introduction to Hispanic Cultural Studies        26L

Forms of cultural expression in Spain, Latin America and Spanish-speaking North America, with study of representative media, including literature, journalism, film, visual art, and the urban environment. Introduction to methods of cultural analysis. (Offered in alternate years).
Prerequisite: SPA100Y1
Co-requisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1


SPA281Y0
Art and Politics in Contemporary Mexico 75L

Art and culture since the period of the Mexican Revolution, studied in the context of political and social developments. Lectures and readings in English. Field trips around the city of Guadalajara are offered as part of the course. (Offered only in Guadalajara)


SPA299Y1
Research Opportunity Program

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. See page 47 for details.


SPA317H0
Language Practice        50L

Communication practice in small groups, with an emphasis on skills in speaking, listening, and writing. Selective review of grammatical structures and active vocabulary. (Offered only in Guadalajara)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1and Placement Examination for the Guadalajara Program


SPA319Y1
Spanish for Bilingual and Native Speakers        26L

Survey of the mechanics of writing and basic grammar for fluent speakers of Spanish with limited or no exposure to written Spanish; English/Spanish spelling differences, written and spoken registers of Spanish, basic aspects of the grammatical system.

Exclusion: SPA100Y1, SPA220Y1, SPA320Y1


SPA320Y1
Advanced Spanish        52L, 26T

Advanced Spanish for non-natives. Selective review of grammar with emphasis on the complex sentence; intensive practice in written and oral expression to improve proficiency.

Exclusion: SPA319Y1
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1


SPA321H1
Spanish Phonetics and Pronunciation        26L

An introduction to articulatory phonetics, Spanish sound patterns, phonetics, phonology; the basic concepts of phonetic description and transcription; the study of Spanish vowel and consonant systems, stress and intonation.
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1


SPA322H1
Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics        26L

The basic concepts and analytic tools of linguistics applied to the study of Spanish, with a focus on the Spanish phonological, morphological, and syntactic systems. Theoretical discussion and practical exercises in analytic techniques.(offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA321H1


SPA323H1
Business Spanish        26L (formerly SPA323Y1)

Practical uses of spoken and written Spanish for business contexts. This course builds on grammar and vocabulary knowledge already acquired at the intermediate level, and is directed primarily at students pursuing a second major in Ibero-American Studies or European Studies. (Offered in alternate years)

Exclusion: SPA323Y1
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1


SPA324H1
Spanish Bilingualism        26L

Spanish bilingualism from three different perspectives: linguistic, sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic. Analysis of typical language contact phenomena with materials from Spanish. Case studies of Spanish in contact and discussion of the psychological consequences of bilingual childhood. Introduction to survey methods in sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics, and basic techniques for conducting language interviews.
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA321H1


SPA325H1
Catalan Language and Culture        26L

Study of Catalan language through an overview of grammatical structures and exercises in proficiency skills, complemented by readings in Catalan history and society to attain interdisciplinary cultural literacy . Analysis of works by Llull, March, d’Ors, Gaudi, Rodoreda, and others. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/PRT220Y1 or an equivalent course in French or Italian
Exclusion: SPA225Y1



SPA 341H1
Modernist Movements in Spain 26L

Literary and artistic movements in Spain from 1890 to 1940, with special attention to the convergence and mutual mediation of politics and art. Materials to be studied include novels, poetry, the urban environment, graphic art, literary journals and manifestos, and some early Hispanic film. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended Preparation: SPA258H1/SPA259H1


SPA345H1
Spanish Cinema        26L

Analysis of the development of Spanish Cinema within its social and political contexts. Directors studied include Buñuel, Bardem, Erice, Saura, Almodóvar and Bigas Luna. (Offered in alternate years).
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended Preparation: SPA258H1/SPA259H1


SPA352H1
Writing and Culture in Early Modern Spain        26L

Representative literary and cultural texts from the early modern period, studied in relation to the history and society of imperial Spain. Discussion will centre on such issues as the formation of the state, urbanization, court culture, social order and disorder, and cultural discourses of identity and difference. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended Preparation: SPA258H1/SPA259H1


SPA375H1
Latin American Cinema        26L

Latin American cinema within the framework of cultural studies, film theory, and film criticism. Analysis of representative films from Argentina (Solanas, Puenzo), Brazil (Babenco, Camus, Salles), Cuba (Ichaso, Gutiérrez Alea, Solás), Mexico (Ripstein, Cuarón, González Iñárritu), and Venezuela (Román Chalbaud). (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1/SPA259H1


SPA380H1
Colonial Literatures and Cultures        26L

Issues of gender, race, and identity in major texts from the colonial period, from the Conquest to the end of the eighteenth century. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA381H1
Nation, Identity and Literary Modernism in Spanish-America        26L

Analysis of poetry, short stories, essays, and graphic art in the context of nation-building and the question of identity during the nineteenth century. Modernismo studied as the first literary movement of Spanish American origin. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA382H1
Spanish American Women in Art, Film, and Literature        26L

Study of different creative expressions by women in Spanish America from the colonial period to the present; analysis of selected works of visual art, film, essays, poetry, and fiction. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA384H1
Avant-Garde Movements in Spanish America        26L

Study through representative works of major artistic and literary movements in 20th and 21st century Spanish America: avant-garde poetry, theatre of the absurd, surrealist art, neo-realism, postmodernism. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA385H1
Literature and Social Change in Spanish America       26L

Modern literature in its critical relation to social conditions. Emphasis on socio-historical context, ideologies of the period and writers’ views of their social responsibility as a framework for literary analysis (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA387H0
Contemporary Mexican Literature        50L

Social change and literary innovation in Mexican literature since the 1950s; analysis of selections from Agustín, Juan Rulfo, Carlos Fuentes, Fernando del Paso, Octavio Paz, Laura Esquivel, and others. (Offered only in Guadalajara)
Prerequisite: SPA220H1/SPA319Y1 and Placement Examination for the Guadalajara Program


SPA398H0/399Y0
Independent Experiential Study Project

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. See page 47 for details.


SPA420H1
Advanced Grammar        26L

Linguistic analysis with the objective of improving students’ command of Spanish grammar. Advanced review of traditional grammatical topics, including the verbal and pronominal systems, and Spanish copulas and embedded clauses. This course assumes familiarity with the grammatical terminology introduced in SPA220Y1.
Prerequisite: SPA319Y1/SPA320Y1


SPA421H1
The Structure of Spanish        26L

Study of Spanish morphology and syntax: syntactic categories in Spanish, the structure and interpretation of simple and complex sentences. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA319Y1/SPA320Y1, SPA321H1 or permission of department
Recommended preparation: SPA322H1


SPA422H1
Sociolinguistics of Spanish        26L

Study of linguistic variation across the Spanish-speaking world; central issues in phonological, morphological, and syntactic variation, analyzed from a geographical as well as from a social point of view. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA321H1, SPA420H1 or permission of the department
Recommended preparation: SPA322H1


SPA423H1
Spanish Phonology 26L

Theoretical and experimental approaches to Spanish phonology. Topics include: Spanish phonemic inventory, sound patterns, suprasegmentals (stress and intonation), synchronic and diachronic variation. Methods of data collection and analysis in the discipline, with practical applications.
Prerequisite: SPA321H1, SPA420H1, or permission of the Department
Recommended Preparation: SPA322H1


SPA425H1
History of the Spanish Language        26L

The evolution of Spanish. The dialectalization of Hispano-Latin through inherent linguistic changes and influences from other languages and the development of Castilian into one of the world’s most important languages. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1, SPA321H1; SPA421H1 strongly recommended


SPA435H1
Fictions of Contemporary Spain        26L

Study of major currents in narrative fiction during the last twenty years, a period of return to democratic government, the relaxing of censorship and the opening up of Spanish culture. Analysis of works from several generations of male and female writers. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA438H1
Topics in Modern Spanish        26S

Literature
A course on a specific topic in modern Spanish literature, designed for advanced students. Course content and instructor are established on a yearly basis.
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1


SPA450H1
Studies in Medieval Iberian Literature       26L

Medieval works studied in relation to literary and cultural traditions. Issues of genre, discourse, and ideology are scrutinized in various texts, including lyric, narrative, and moral and didactic writings. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA352H1


SPA452H1
Theatre and Representation in Golden Age Spain        26L

Study of theatre and the idea of representation, with reference to parallels in lyric poetry and visual art. Emphasis on the Spanish comedia as a genre, and on its interaction with other artistic forms in the Golden Age. (Offered in alternate years)

Exclusion: SPA350Y1
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA320Y1, SPA352H1


SPA454H1
Cervantes and Golden Age Narrative        26L

Detailed study of Don Quixote as a foundational text in the European literary tradition, with attention to the conventions, genres, and literary techniques that inform the text. Parallel readings in romance, picaresque fiction, and the ballad tradition.

Exclusion: SPA350Y1
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA329Y1, SPA352H1


SPA467H1
Topics in Spanish-American Culture       26L

A course on a specific topic in Spanish American culture, designed for advanced students. Course content and instructor are established on a yearly basis.
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1


SPA468H1
Topics in Modern Spanish-American Literature        26S

A course on a specific topic in Spanish American literature, designed for advanced students. Course content and instructor are established on a yearly basis.
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1


SPA471H1
The Historical Novel in Spanish America        26L

Issues of nationalism, historical awareness, and the rewriting of the past in Spanish American fiction, with detailed study of representative texts. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA480H1
Theories of Culture in Latin America       26l

Theories of cultural identity and production, as articulated by Latin American thinkers since the Independence period. Issues for study will include civilization and barbarity, cultural imperialism, the commodification and consumption of cultural icons, museums, the mass media and national identity, processes of transculturation and cultural hybridity. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended Preparation: SPA258H1/SPA259H1


SPA482H1
20th-Century Spanish American Narrative        26L

Detailed study of the major movements in Spanish-American narrative, including magic realism, fantastic literature, women’s writing, and testimonial literature, through analysis of representative novels and short stories. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA486H1
Contemporary Caribbean Literatures and Identities        26L

Literature studied as a socio-political space for the articulation of new concepts of cultural identity; examination of cultural change and aesthetic innovation in selected poetic, dramatic, and narrative texts from different national traditions (Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico). (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1


SPA487H1
The Culture of Revolution        26L

Detailed study of key moments and texts in Spanish American culture from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focussing on such topics as the creation of new nations, indigenismo, Caribbean anti-slavery literature, and the Mexican and Cuban Revolutions. (Offered in alternate years)
Prerequisite: SPA220Y1/SPA319Y1
Recommended preparation: SPA258H1/SPA259H1


SPA490H1/491H1
Independent Study        TBA

Individual study with a member of staff on a topic of common interest including readings, discussion and written assignments.
Prerequisite:SPA319Y1/SPA320Y1 and written approval of the Undergraduate Coordinator