Spanish

Overview

Students who study Spanish become explorers and discoverers in many dimensions. They intensify their awareness of the structures and complexity of language itself, including their native tongue, and they also learn that Spanish represents more than an alternate means for expressing what we see and think -- that it also serves as a cultural lens predisposing its speakers to see and think in unique ways.

In studying Spanish, therefore, students diversify their perceptions of the world and multiply their opportunities for interacting with it. Such opportunities may include engaging the mind of Miguel de Cervantes in the pages of Don Quijote, serving as an interpreter for an immigrant family in Northfield, carrying out a study of primary education in the public schools of Bogotá, Colombia, selling produce to wholesalers in Mexico, establishing a program for teaching violin to the children of Nicaragua, experiencing the magical and compelling complexity of Latin American life within the mythic confines of Macondo, or discussing cultural stereotypes with university students in Seville, Spain. Whatever the channels opened -- and they are countless -- students who become proficient in Spanish discover that "Quien sabe dos lenguas, vale por dos."

General Education Credit

Spanish courses that fulfill General Education Requirements are listed in the Class and Lab Schedules. Completion of Spanish 232 or a higher numbered course taught in the Spanish language fulfills the foreign language graduation requirement for students who entered after May 1994.

Comprehensive Credit

Successful completion of Spanish 231 or a higher numbered course taught in the Spanish language, or demonstrated equivalent proficiency, satisfies the college foreign language graduation requirement for students who entered prior to May of 1994. The Area A literature requirement is fulfilled by courses 373, 374, 375, 387, 388, or 399.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites are stated in the course descriptions or may be determined through consultation with the instructor.

Special Programs

To foster communication in Spanish beyond the classroom, the department promotes a Spanish conversation table, and St. Olaf provides an Honor House (Casa hispánica) which serves as a focal point for lectures, films, musical groups and social activities with Hispanic themes. Spanish faculty participate in the Applied Foreign Language Component program (see the Index) to provide students who have completed the fourth or fifth semester college semester of Spanish the opportunity to continue to develop their proficiency in specially-designed courses which span the college curriculum.

St. Olaf also sponsors its own Interims in Costa Rica and is affiliated closely with semester programs in Spain, Costa Rica and South America, as well as off-campus programs in the United States. For details concerning the International Studies Program in Seville, Spain, ACM Studies in Latin American Culture and Society, Bilingual Teacher Training in Chicago, and the South American Urban Studies Term, consult the Index.

Requirements for The Majors

Requirements for a Graduation Major

251, 254, 261; plus five courses above the 261 level. A minimum of two literature courses in Spanish must be taken on the home campus. A maximum of two courses above the 251 level may be counted from off-campus. Independent study or research may not be counted in lieu of any of the courses referred to above.

Requirements for a Teaching Major

251, 254, 261; plus six courses above the 261 level. A minimum of two literature courses in Spanish must be taken on the home campus. A maximum of two courses above the 251 level may be counted from off-campus. Independent study or research may not be counted in lieu of any of the courses referred to above. Education 353.

Requirements for a Teaching Minor

251, 254, 261; plus two courses above the 261 level, one of which must be from among the following: 373, 374, 375, 387, 388, 399. The second course may be an Interim or a semester course taken either on the home campus or abroad. Education 353.

Courses

Beginning courses are taught primarily in Spanish; Intermediate courses, almost entirely in Spanish; and courses from 251 and above, exclusively in Spanish (with the exception of occasional reference works).

111 Beginning Spanish I

Students begin learning Spanish through reading, writing, listening and speaking about topics familiar to them, including their families and daily routines. They reinforce these skills through complementary exercises in the language laboratory.

112 Beginning Spanish II

Students expand their skills by continuing to listen, read, speak and write on familiar topics such as health, entertainment and personality traits. Prerequisite: Spanish 111 or placement.

231 Intermediate Spanish I

Through studying and discussing the customs and lifestyles of people living in Spanish-speaking countries, and comparing them to their own, students develop increasingly complex skills for communicating in Spanish. Prerequisite: Spanish 112 or placement.

232 Intermediate Spanish II

Through conversing in small groups and writing compositions based on essays and stories, students consolidate their language skills while exploring the experiences of Latinos in the United States. In addition, they review the Spanish verb system and other structures commonly difficult for speakers of English. Prerequisite: Spanish 231 or placement.

251 Culture and Civilization of Spain

Students attain a global view of Spain through reading, discussing and writing about a variety of print and/or video materials on historical, religious, artistic, literary, economic, scientific, and political topics as well as events of current interest. In so doing, they begin to define the terms "civilization" and "culture." Prerequisite: Spanish 232 or placement.

254 Culture and Civilization of Latin America

Students attain a global view of Latin America through reading, discussing and writing about short stories and essays written by prominent Latin American writers and scholars on historical, religious, economic, scientific and political topics and events of defining interest. In so doing, they begin to evolve a definition of the terms "civilization" and "culture." Prerequisite: Spanish 251.

261 Applied Linguistics

Addressing language from a linguistic perspective, students explore the sound system, dialects, history and grammatical structures of Spanish. The linguistic overview they thus achieve helps them to recognize, understand and respond to the variations in language they will encounter as they interact with native speakers of Spanish from many countries and backgrounds. Prerequisite: Spanish 254.

298 Independent Study

373 Spanish Novel and Essay

Students explore the rich tradition of the Spanish novel and essay through reading representative works from various periods, which may include the Renaissance, the Baroque, Realism, Naturalism, the Generation of 98, and contemporary movements. Prerequisite: Spanish 254.

374 Spanish Theater

After studying the principles of versification, students read eight masterpieces from the Spanish theater of the 17th through 20th centuries. They discuss and write on classic themes (love, honor, duty) as portrayed by such great Spanish dramatists as Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, García Lorca, etc. Prerequisite: Spanish 254.

375 Spanish Poetry

Following a review of the principles of Spanish versification and fundamental approaches to the explication of verse, students undertake a close study of representative Spanish poetry. This study extends from the narrative verse of the 11th century (El Cid) to the contemporary verses of Vicente Aleixandre, the recent recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Prerequisite: Spanish 254.

379 Oral and Written Expression on Contemporary Issues

Using contemporary texts from the press, pertinent journals, and books, students develop the ability to read, discuss, and write in Spanish on a wide variety of non-literary topics at an advanced level of linguistic difficulty and stylistic diversity. Prerequisite: Spanish 254.

387 Latin American Literature to 1940

Through reading chronicles, poetry, essays and novels, with emphasis on works of the early 20th century, students explore the origins and development of Latin American literature from the arrival of the Spanish in this hemisphere to the early 20th century. Their encounter with representative works, from the era of the conquest and colonial period through independence and the early republics to modern times, acquaints them with the persistent theme of "the search for Latin American identity." Prerequisite: Spanish 254.

388 Latin American Literature from 1940 to the Present

Neruda, Rulfo, García Márquez, Fuentes: through reading such universally acclaimed writers, among others, students become acquainted with the development of contemporary artistic and literary movements in Latin America. Prerequisite: Spanish 254.

398 Independent Research

399 Seminar

Seminars involve in-depth study of a specified topic through readings, research, and oral and written student reports. Special attention is paid to theoretical and bibliographic issues where appropriate. Topics will vary according to the areas of expertise and professional interests of departmental faculty. Students may register more than once provided a different topic is offered. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisites: Spanish 251, 254, and one additional advanced Spanish course.

Interim

The following Interim courses were offered in January 1996:

Spanish 112 Beginning Spanish II

Faculty

Frank Odd (Chair)
Associate Professor of Romance Languages, 1972-
B.A., Utah; M.A., Stanford; Ph.D., Colorado

Gwendolyn Barnes-Karol
Associate Professor of Romance Languages, 1988-
B.A., Central; M.A., Middlebury; Ph.D., Minnesota

Linda Burdell
Assistant Professor of Romance Languages, 1992-
B.A., Kalamazoo College; M.A., University of Michigan; M.A., Ph.D., Kansas

Sylvia Carullo
Associate Professor of Romance Languages, 1990-
M.A., Ph.D., SUNY-Buffalo

John F. Day
Assistant Professor of Romance Languages, 1995-
B.M., Utah; M.A., Northern Iowa; Ph.D., Texas

James Dunlop
Professor of Romance Languages, 1968-
B.A., Carleton; M.A., Ph.D., Minnesota

Michael Hasbrouck
Instructor in Romance Languages, 1994-
B.S., St. Cloud State; M.A., Penn State

María Angeles Martín-Morán
Instructor in Romance Languages, 1996-
Licenciatura, Duesto; M.A., Minnesota

León Narváez
Professor of Romance Languages, 1970-
B.A., Ph.D., Minnesota

Joan Odd
Instructor in Romance Languages, 1975-
B.A., Idaho

Thomas Waldemar
Assistant Professor of Romance Languages, 1996-
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., California-Santa Barbara