Intensive introduction to the Portuguese language for graduate students proficient in Spanish. Supports the Portuguese minor for the Spanish M.A. and Ph.D. programs.

While we have technology that translates diverse languages, translation tools cannot always capture the complexities of a language such as tone, dialects, or the intended meaning in diverse cultures. We all know that speaking a heritage language (HL) and a second language (L2) entails more than learning vocabulary; it requires time and effort.

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In this course, we will examine the role of landscape and the natural world in shaping local identities, while exploring transnational, post-nationalist, and hemispheric approaches to understanding US Latinx/e cultural production as part of a global dialogue. We will assess the benefits and limits of geographically bound area studies frameworks by investigating geographic particularity while at the same time highlighting Chicana and Mexicana authors' historical continuity and ongoing dialogue with critical thought throughout Latin America. We will explore a range of theoretical frameworks for approaching this material, including ecocriticism, spatial theory, border theory, third space Chicana feminism, and transnational approaches. Objects of study in the course include poetry, photography, short stories, film, and novels.

In this course, we will examine the role of landscape and the natural world in shaping local identities, while exploring transnational, post-nationalist, and hemispheric approaches to understanding US Latinx/e cultural production as part of a global dialogue. We will assess the benefits and limits of geographically bound area studies frameworks by investigating geographic particularity while at the same time highlighting Chicana and Mexicana authors' historical continuity and ongoing dialogue with critical thought throughout Latin America. We will explore a range of theoretical frameworks for approaching this material, including ecocriticism, spatial theory, border theory, third space Chicana feminism, and transnational approaches. Objects of study in the course include poetry, photography, short stories, film, and novels.

Through recent scholarship in the humanities and social sciences that questions the concept of bodies as fixed, material entities subject to the empirical rules of biology (the theories of Rosi Braidotti, Donna Haraway and Susan Suleiman in particular), this course Embodying the Spanish Avant-Garde will look at the work of authors such as Benjamín Jarnés, Rosa Chacel, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Federico García Lorca, Carmen de Burgos and Francisco Ayala as well as filmmakers Benito Perojo, Nemesio Sobrevila  and Luis Buñuel in order to explain the narrative depictions of these struggles between a rebellious male creator and a number of highly feminized artistic and social institutions.

Understanding the Heritage Speaker: Theoretical and Pedagogical Perspectives

This course has a twofold objective: 1) to understand the sociolinguistic and socio-affective needs of the heritage speaker, and how they are different from those of second language learners, and 2) to familiarize with the best teaching practices for heritage speakers in mixed classrooms as well as in the heritage language classroom. 

Thursdays 4:00 pm to 6:50 pm, CMLL 116

Statistical Methods in Linguistics

Nowadays, being able to perform statistical analyses is increasingly becoming a non-negotiable part of job descriptions in linguistics. Similarly, scientific journals in the field are more demanding than ever when it comes to the handling of quantitative data. This course provides graduate students with an updated conceptual foundation and methodological toolkit to face these demands. In addition to serving as a general introduction to statistical thought (covering key concepts such as those of correlation, causation, and interaction), the course will provide an overview of methods and techniques used in linguistic research, from chi-squares to mixed-effects models. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on the unique characteristics of linguistic data (both experimental and observational) and the challenges emerging therefrom. 

Tuesdays 3:30 pm to 6:20 pm, CMLL 118

Contemporary Issues in L2/HL Lang Scholarship: Transforming Lang Perspectives

Our views of L2 writing are shifting due to globalization, new technologies, and the diverse needs of students. These factors shape how we address pedagogy in the classroom and also influence the incorporation of new research methods. This course will explore these changes so that instructors and researchers can better understand how to develop students' composing skills that align with current times, using mixed-method approaches and new data collection instruments.

Fridays 9:30 am to 12:20 pm, CMLL 104

PORT 5341 is the first part of a beginning intensive course of Portuguese for Graduate students proficient in Spanish. The course will include, in one semester, the materials taught in Portuguese 1501 and 1502 in addition to comparative approaches to Portuguese and Spanish relevant to Graduate students. The course will cover basic vocabulary, fundamentalsof grammar and will introduce the cultures of the Portuguese/speaking countries around the world such as Brazil, Portugal, Cape-Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea/Bissau. Practice in speaking, reading, and writing will be attained through communicative activities. Students will also engage in discussions of scholarly materials relevant to their field of interest. Presentation of audio/visual materials and subsequent debate constitute an important feature of the course. The course includes the analysis of common and contrasting aspects of Portuguese and Spanish. Readings in Portuguese. Class will be conducted in Portuguese. Satisfies requirements for MA/PhD minors in Portuguese at CMLL and it is geared toward students majoring in Spanish, Linguistics, etc. 

Wednesdays 3:30 pm to 6:20 pm, CMLL 106

Race, Gender, and Hybridities from Another Border in Brazil

This course will explore some novels that engage with issues of race and gender interjectionally, such as Ana Maria Goncalves’ Um defeito de cor and Itamar Vieira Junior’s new novel, Salvar o Fogo. Additionally, we will read some literary productions from the border of Brazil and Paraguay / Uruguay, written in a mix of Spanish and Portuguese, e.g. Wilson Bueno’s Mar Paraguayo and Douglas Diegues’ Era Uma veren la FronteiraSelvagem. 

Mondays 4:00 pm to 6:50 pm, CMLL 118

 L2/HL Writing: Redesigning Pedagogy and Research

This course critically examines the complex factors that influence and reshape contemporary language perspectives. Its primary aim is to explore language through diverse, interconnected frameworks, including: (1) individual differences—encompassing identity, gender, disability, and group affiliation; (2) sociolinguistic dimensions—focusing on multilingualism, language contact, and literacy practices; and (3) the impact of artificial intelligence on the sustainability, agency, and creativity of (minority) languages. Designed as an interactive seminar, the course invites students to engage with both local and global linguistic communities. Participants will conduct original research in one of the three thematic areas, fostering a deeper understanding of language in a rapidly evolving world. 

Mondays 4:00 pm to 6:50 pm, CMLL 116

 Hispanic Crime Fiction

Crime and detective fiction serves as a mass-marketed commodity, a captivating spectacle filled with scandal and suspense, and a complex puzzle that reveals social norms. This genre highlights the blurred lines between high and low art, as well as the contradictions of modern morality. In this course, students will explore the structure of detective stories and examine how historical events have shaped this popular genre, with a particular focus on crime fiction in the Hispanic world. We will also delve into the contributions of Hispanic writers to the genre, especially the emergence of neopolicial and narcoliteratura, and investigate the representation of violence and crime in Spanish-speaking countries. 

Thursdays 3:30 pm to 6:20 pm, CMLL 

Critical Conversations between Queer and Indigenous Studies in the Américas

In the last twenty years, queer theory has been radically questioned, expanded and pushed in new directions by intellectual currents including queer-of-color critique, Black studies, cuir-ification, transfeminism, queer ecologies, and trans/travesti theory. This course asks how Indigenous studies, as well as Indigenous knowledges, histories, activisms and cultural expressions beyond the academy, have transformed and troubled queer theory in the hemispheric Américas. Building on the genealogies of Two Spirit/queer Native studies in North America and decolonial queer/cuir/travesti studies in Latin America, we will study works of literature, film and visual art that trigger different ways of conceiving the “conversation” between queer and Indigenous perspectives, whether as “doubleweaving” (Driskill), “contrapunteo” (Pierce, et al), “bondings” (Rodríguez-Ulloa, et al), or work to be done in the “intersticios” (Rangiñtulewfü) and “spaces between us” (Morgensen). A primary objective of this course is to familiarize students with a wide range of cultural productions and theoretical contributions produced at the contentious crossroads of “queer” and “Indigenous” in Latin America, including muxe, champurria, cholx, and wërapara interventions. Key questions that we will consider include: to what extent has queer theory—and LGBTQ movements—reproduced settler-colonial and imperialist relations of knowledge and power? When and how can we read Indigenous cultural production through the lens of queer studies, and queer cultural production through the lens of Indigenous studies? How have Indigenous artists and activists woven the politics of land and collective autonomy together with the politics of the body and sexuality? What do queer subversions of the settler-colonial structures of family, nature, nation-state and capital look like at the level of form? Can we think about not only politics, but erotics of autonomy?  

Materials may include works by José María Arguedas, Giuseppe Campuzano, Daniela Catrileo, Paula Baeza Pailamilla, Kütral, Carlos Motta, Lukas Avendaño, Elivs Guerra, Natalie Díaz, Ángeles Cruz, Las Traviesas and Simon(e) Jaikiruma. 

Wednesdays 3:30 pm to 6:20 pm, CMLL 118

Archive and Canon in 19th Century Latin American Literature and Culture

This class explores how Latin American archival materials complicate and enrich our understanding of key 19th-century literary works. We will examine a comprehensive range of canonical texts, including epic poetry, slave narratives, romantic novels, and the transformative poetics of the Modernista movement. Yet our approach goes beyond traditional literary analysis by situating these works within their archival contexts. 

By recentering the archive in our study of literature, we will investigate how archival materials influence our interpretation of canonical texts. This approach allows us to uncover the dynamics of power reflected in both literary and archival sources, bringing to light marginalized voices that emerge from archival research. We'll explore the role of racialized institutions in shaping 19th century literary production and examine how archival study reveals challenges to the gender norms of the period. Through this framework, we will uncover new perspectives on the literary and cultural landscape of 19th-century Latin America, offering a more comprehensive view of the era's literary production and its rich sociocultural contexts. 

Online, Asychronous

The importance of languages to scholars is incalculable in the process of research through their careers. Unlike other language courses, which attempt to balance the acquisition of the four skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) in a communicative way, this class will focus primarily on the development of reading proficiency. Students will be provided with extensive work with the most common lexical items in Spanish; practice with recognizing the main processes of Spanish derivational morphology (how words are formed from other words); an analytical approach to Spanish syntax (sentence structure); applying familiar reading comprehension techniques to reading tasks in the target language; and daily reading and translation exercises.

Online, Synchronous
MW 10:00 am - 11:50 am

Time, Space and Memory in Hispanic Cinema

This course introduces students to cinematic formal elements, genre, and narrative structure with the purpose of 1) developing the basic skills of film analysis; and 2) learning how to teach film and audiovisual culture in their own classes. Students will be introduced to the basic “building blocks” of cinema (narrative structure, mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and editing) and reflect on some key concepts that explain how films create the times, spaces and memoryscapes that shape the Hispanic collective imaginary. This course will be conducted primarily in Spanish.

Online, Asynchronous

The importance of languages to scholars is incalculable in the process of research through their careers. Unlike other language courses, which attempt to balance the acquisition of the four skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) in a communicative way, this class will focus primarily on the development of reading proficiency. Students will be provided with extensive work with the most common lexical items in Spanish; practice with recognizing the main processes of Spanish derivational morphology (how words are formed from other words); an analytical approach to Spanish syntax (sentence structure); applying familiar reading comprehension techniques to reading tasks in the target language; and daily reading and translation exercises.