HISP 151 - Freshman Seminar

Fall or Spring (3) Staff

Exploration of specific topics in Hispanic literary and cultural studies to be conducted in Spanish. Normally available only to freshmen with advanced skills in Spanish, such as those with AP scores of 4 or 5. May be used for minor. Taught in Spanish. Fall 2012. Issues of Immigration in Film. Buck. This course focuses on the experiences of emigrants from Mexico, Latin America and Africa to the US and Spain expressed through film and short story. Using cultural studies of travel and displacement, we will examine some of the following issues arising out of cinematic, literary, and theoretical texts on migration: the complexities of adaptation or resistance to new cultures; the journey as metaphor, physical and psychological odyssey; the meanings of nostalgia and home; intergenerational conflicts; representations of national and ethnic identities; the cultural and psychological consequences of border crossings; and the interconnections of language, culture and sense of self. Fall 2012. Poetry, Literacy and Prison. Arries. Combines the field of Hispanic Cultural Studies with academic service-learning. We read and analyze Spanish poetry – from both Spain and Latin America - written by political prisoners. We also study scholarship about adult literacy programs in the U.S. and teach Spanish or English literacy skills to Spanish-speaking members of the local community, including those incarcerated at a regional jail. Our goals are to provide a needed service to a marginalized community, to investigate the power of poetry as a tool for literacy as well as emancipation, and to prepare students to be leaders in community programs. Spanish is the language of instruction in this course; students should have studied Spanish 4 or AP Spanish. Co-enrollment in HISP 389, a one-credit lab course.