Courses

Courses by semester

Courses for

Complete Cornell University course descriptions are in the Courses of Study .

Course ID Title Offered
ROMS1102 FWS: The Craft of Storytelling
We tell stories for many reasons: to entertain; to seduce; to complain; to think. This course draws upon the literatures and cultures of the romance languages to explore the role of narrative in our construction and understanding of the world.

Full details for ROMS 1102 - FWS: The Craft of Storytelling

Fall, Spring.
ROMS1109 FWS: Image and Imagination
What kind of information do images - in photography, painting, and/or film - convey?  What kind of impact do they have on the minds and the bodies of their audiences?  This course foregrounds the role of visual culture in the societies where Spanish, French, Portuguese, and/or Italian is spoken, and it asks students to dwell upon how visual material interacts with spoken and written language.

Full details for ROMS 1109 - FWS: Image and Imagination

Fall, Spring.
ROMS1113 FWS: Thinking and Thought
Some of the most important and intriguing thinkers, from the Middle Ages to postmodernity, have done their thinking in the romance languages.  This course explores a body of work that would be called philosophical by some, theoretical by others, and that, beyond these names, struggles to articulate fundamental concepts, problems, discourses, and situations.

Full details for ROMS 1113 - FWS: Thinking and Thought

Fall, Spring.
ROMS1114 FWS: Semiotics
What allows us to make assumptions about people based on the way they speak or dress? How can we understand the deeper meaning of a fairy tale or an episode of The Simpsons? What does macaroni and cheese mean, and why is it not on the menu at most upscale Manhattan eateries? This seminar introduces semiotics, the study of signs and the meaning-bearing sign systems they form; sign systems that include not only human language but also literature, painting, sculpture, film, music, dance and also such aspects of popular culture as advertising, fashion, food, and television, to name just a few. The diversity of semiotic systems provides many possibilities for thinking and writing critically about the world we live in.

Full details for ROMS 1114 - FWS: Semiotics

Fall, Spring.
ROMS1120 FWS: Animals in Global Cinema: Human and Nonhuman
In this class, students will learn about animal welfare and conservation through international films. We will discuss wildlife, companion, farm, and lab animals in conjunction with human cultures, politics, and geography. The course will cover various animal species in fiction films, documentaries, and animated movies. In some motion pictures, animals will be central, in other more peripheral. Students will learn how to compose a film review, assess sources, and write a critical essay. The class includes guest speakers and a field trip to Cornell Teaching & Research Barns. All films are digital for students to watch in their free time

Full details for ROMS 1120 - FWS: Animals in Global Cinema: Human and Nonhuman

Fall.
ROMS3210 History of Romance Languages I
The Romance languages are the lasting imprint of all that happened to the Latin language as it moved through time, territories, and people of many ethnicities.  While the Latin of antiquity retained its prestige in high culture, the natural untutored usage of ordinary people was always free to go its own way.  This course covers the following topics, selected to create a panoramic view:  Formation of the general Romance seven-vowel system from Latin.  Early and widespread sound changes in popular Latin.  Finding and interpreting evidence for trends in popular Latin pronunciation.  The comparative method and its limitations.  Essential later sound changes, some of which ceate a whole new order of consonants unknown to Latin but conspicuous in Romance.  Nouns and adjectives from Latin to Romance.  Formation of the present indicative: the competing forces of sound change and analogical adjustment.  A brief overview of Portuguese.  Variants of the seven-vowel system.  Salient features of Romanian.  Factors that helped shape the vocabulary of Romance.  Medieval diglossia.  Emergence of Romance vernaculars newly recognized by their speakers as languages distinct from Latin and from each other.  Close analysis of the oldest surviving document written unmistakably in Romance (842 C. E.).

Full details for ROMS 3210 - History of Romance Languages I

Fall.
ROMS5080 Pedagogy Practicum
This practicum is designed to better enable the TAs to meet the needs of their students in the understanding and acquisition of the linguistic forms, notions, and functions covered in their course.

Full details for ROMS 5080 - Pedagogy Practicum

Fall.
ROMS6100 Romance Studies Colloquium
Designed to give insight into how to formulate projects, conduct research, and publish one's work, the colloquium offers a venue for faculty-graduate student dialogue in a collegial, intellectual setting.  Meetings are biweekly, 2-3 hours, and are open to all students and faculty in Romance Studies, but required for first year students in the program.  Each meeting, two faculty members will be invited to discuss their scholarship and also a short text of their choice, to be distributed beforehand.

Full details for ROMS 6100 - Romance Studies Colloquium

Fall.
ROMS6310 Design Justice Workshop
Design Justice Workshops bring students and faculty in the humanities and the design disciplines together around a common and pressing urban issue related to race, social justice, and the urban environment. The intent of the Design Justice Workshop is to study complex urban conditions using theoretical and analytic tools derived in equal part from the design disciplines and humanist studies. The course emphasizes the social reciprocity of learning through faculty and students might advance understanding of race and social justice while also being impacted by both external visitors and the communities with which they interact. The Design Justice Workshop, organized annually around a specific theme and co-taught faculty in A&S and AAP, includes a one-week site visit to experience the conditions under study and meet with local experts, designers, and authorities. Design Justice Workshops are offered under the auspices of Cornell University's Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Collaborative Studies in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities grant. Visit our website for current special topic seminar description and application instructions.

Full details for ROMS 6310 - Design Justice Workshop

Fall.
ROMS6650 Revolution: An Intellectual History
For more than two centuries, revolutions have marked the rhythm of modernity. In 1780, the original meaning of revolution - an astronomical rotation - was transformed in order to apprehend a social and political overthrow. This course will investigate the multiple uses of this crucial concept of political theory, from the revolutionary canon (Blanqui, Marx, Fanon...) to the classics of conservatism (Maistre, Cortés, Schmitt...), which depict contemporary history as a conflict between revolutions and counter-revolutions, socialist and fascist revolutions. We will explore the connections between history and theory, and stress the global dimension of revolutions, forged by a permanent transfer of ideas and people from one continent to another.

Full details for ROMS 6650 - Revolution: An Intellectual History

Fall.
FREN1210 Elementary French
FREN 1210-FREN 1220 is a two-semester sequence.  FREN 1210 is the first half of the sequence designed to provide a thorough grounding in French language and an introduction to intercultural competence.  French is used in contextualized, meaningful activities to provide practice in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.  Development of analytical skills for grammar leads students toward greater autonomy as language learners.  Students develop their writing skills by writing and editing compositions.  Readings are varied and include literary texts.  Daily preparation and active participation are required.

Full details for FREN 1210 - Elementary French

Fall.
FREN1230 Continuing French
FREN 1230 is an all-skills course designed to improve oral communication, listening comprehension, and reading ability, to establish a groundwork for correct writing, and to provide a substantial grammar review. The approach in the course encourages the student to see the language within the context of its culture.

Full details for FREN 1230 - Continuing French

Fall, Spring.
FREN2080 French for Business
This intermediate conversation and composition French course is designed for students interested in business fields such as Hospitality, Business Management, and Marketing, those looking for an internship or a job in French-speaking businesses or students interested in exploring the language and cultures of the French-speaking business world.  The course will focus on improving oral and written skills through the acquisition of specific vocabulary and the review of essential grammatical structures commonly used in business.  Students will use authentic written, visual and listening materials and engage in interactive activities relevant to the professional world and its intercultural dimension.

Full details for FREN 2080 - French for Business

Fall.
FREN2090 French Intermediate Composition and Conversation I
This intermediate-level course is designed for students who want to focus on their speaking and writing skills. Emphasis is placed on strengthening of grammar skills, expansion of vocabulary and discourse levels to increase communicative fluency and accuracy. The course also provides continued reading and listening practice as well as development of effective language learning strategies.

Full details for FREN 2090 - French Intermediate Composition and Conversation I

Fall, Spring.
FREN2095 French Intermediate Composition and Conversation II
This advanced-intermediate course is highly recommended for students planning to study abroad as it aims to develop the writing and speaking skills needed to function in a French speaking university environment. A comprehensive review of fundamental and advanced grammatical structures is integrated with the study of selected texts (short stories, literary excerpts, poems, articles from French periodicals, videos) all chosen for thematic or cultural interest. Students write weekly papers, participate in class discussions of the topics at hand, and give at least one oral presentation in class.

Full details for FREN 2095 - French Intermediate Composition and Conversation II

Fall, Spring.
FREN2180 Advanced French
In this course, furthering oral communication skills and writing skills is emphasized. A comprehensive review of fundamental and advanced grammatical structures is integrated through a variety of topics such as social unrest and inequality, immigration crisis, social and geopolitical issues within and outside the Eurozone, post-Brexit, cutting-edge technology, media, environment, and pop-culture via short stories, literary excerpts, videos, poems, and articles fromFrench magazines or newspapers, all chosen for thematic or cultural interest.  Students write weekly papers (essays and translations), have daily conversations focusing on the topics at hand, and give at least one presentation in class.  This course is highly recommended for students planning to study abroad in a French speaking university.

Full details for FREN 2180 - Advanced French

Fall, Spring.
FREN2310 Introduction to French and Francophone Literature and Culture
This course, designed to follow FREN 2095, introduces students to an array of literary and visual material from the French and Francophone world.  It aims to develop students' proficiency in critical writing and thinking, as well as presenting students with the vocabulary and tools of literary and visual analysis.  Each section of FREN 2310 will have a different focus-for example, colonialism and the other, or the importance of women and sexual minorities in French and Francophone history, performance in literature and film, or image and narrative-but all sections of FREN 2310 will emphasize through writing assignments and in-class discussions, the development of those linguistic and conceptual tools necessary for cultural and critical fluency.

Full details for FREN 2310 - Introduction to French and Francophone Literature and Culture

Fall, Spring.
FREN3270 French Laughter: Comedic Literature, films and Caricature (15th-21st C)
"I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of  being obliged to weep" is a famous quote of 18th C. French writer Beamarchais;it presents a durable trait of French culture, where laughter used to be - and still remains - a powerful way to interact socially.  From humour bon enfant to comedic transgressions, from biting irony to conservative strategies fueling the "fear of ridicule," laughter in France is neither marginal nor anodyne.  Our course will bring together literary texts from the 15th C. onward (theatrical plays as well as poetic satires or novels) with visual media (including political caricatures from the French Revolution up to Charlie Hebdo, or 20th C. movies).  Studied authors could include: Rabelais, Moliere, Voltaire, Jarry, Bergson.  Conducted in French.

Full details for FREN 3270 - French Laughter: Comedic Literature, films and Caricature (15th-21st C)

Fall.
FREN3460 Intellectuals: A French History
The concept of "intellectual" - the writer or scholar who takes a political commitment - was born in France at the end of the nineteenth century.  From the Dreyfus Affaire to the recent polemics on French "identity," passing through Vichy, the Algerian War and May 68, intellectuals established a symbiotic relationship between culture and politics, becoming a sort of national brand, object of both admiration and contempt outside of the country.  The aim of this course is to revisit some crucial moments of this history, focusing on different attempts to define the nature and function of the intellectual, from Emile Zola to Jean-Paul Sartre, from Simone de Beavoir to Michel Foucault.

Full details for FREN 3460 - Intellectuals: A French History

Fall.
FREN3770 On Practice and Perfection
Practice makes perfect, the old saying goes, but the nature of that connection remains opaque.  This course, conducted in English and intended as a sequel to FREN 3540 - [On Paying Attention], gives students the opportunity to engage with everyday material and spiritual practices, and to reflect upon the kids of things these practices "make."  What is the place of routine and repetition in our lives?  How can we open a conversation about our habits?  We'll look for models to the long history of writing on the subject, largely but not exclusively by Christian thinkers (e.g. Augustine, Benedict, Aelred, Francis, Ignatius), even as we develop new ways of accounting for, and developing, the practices that make our lives meaningful.  Artists, athletes, and introverts especially welcome.

Full details for FREN 3770 - On Practice and Perfection

Fall.
FREN3880 La Princesse de Cleves: The World of Mme de Lafayette
We will take La Princesse de Cleves, considered the first psychological novel of love, in order to explore the world of its author, Mme de Lafayette, her social and cultural milieu, her many literary friends (Mme de Sevigne, Madeleine de Scudery, La Rochefoucauld, Racine) the court life of Versailles, and the political problems of her time in an effort to understand how and why she constructed the novel's complicated story of impossible love.  We will take La Princesse de Cleves, considered the first psychological novel of love, to explore the world of its author, Mme de Lafayette, her social and cultural milieu, her friends, the court life of Versailles, and the political problems of her time in an effort to understand how and why she constructed the novel's complicated story of impossible love.

Full details for FREN 3880 - La Princesse de Cleves: The World of Mme de Lafayette

Fall.
FREN4190 Special Topics in French Literature
Guided independent study of special topics.

Full details for FREN 4190 - Special Topics in French Literature

Fall.
FREN4290 Honors Work in French
Consult director of undergraduate studies for more information.

Full details for FREN 4290 - Honors Work in French

Fall.
FREN4720 Women's Stories from the Margins
This course will examine a rich literary, artistic and cinematic collection of women's stories and gendered narratives that were usually considered as belonging to the margins of History. Simone de Beavoir's Second Sex was one of the first to attempt to unveil the philosophical and ideological workings of the sexual ordering of the Occident, its prejudiced and obfuscations. While analyzing some of the West's traditional myths, tales, representations and narratives, this course will extend the scope of Beauvoir's inquiry into a non-Western and transnational perspective. The texts and material to be examined will include works by Germaine de Staël, George Sand, Flora Tristan, Marguerite Duras, Hélène Cixous, Assia Djebar, Maryse Condé among others.

Full details for FREN 4720 - Women's Stories from the Margins

Fall.
FREN6390 Special Topics in French Literature
Guided independent study for graduate students.

Full details for FREN 6390 - Special Topics in French Literature

Fall.
FREN6720 On Difficulty: Simone Weil and Others
This seminar is about the pleasures and perils, the uses and abuses, of difficulty.  It takes as its point of departure and return Simone Weil, the short-lived French philosopher and activist who died during World War II.  We'll be looking at what it could mean for someone to choose a life of brief intensity and uncompromising integrity over the more usual concessions to everyday needs and desires.  In the process, we'll place Weil into dialogue with other figures (from the medieval beguine Marguerite Porete to the Canadian poet Anne Carson and the English political philosopher Gillian Rose) for whom difficulty is something paraticularly true to human striving and human culture; something, in other words, to be cultivated.

Full details for FREN 6720 - On Difficulty: Simone Weil and Others

Fall.
FREN6725 Women's Stories from the Margin
This course will examine a rich literary, artistic and cinematic collection of women's stories and gendered narratives that were usually considered as belonging to the margins of History. Simone de Beavoir's Second Sex was one of the first to attempt to unveil the philosophical and ideological workings of the sexual ordering of the Occident, its prejudiced and obfuscations. While analyzing some of the West's traditional myths, tales, representations and narratives, this course will extend the scope of Beauvoir's inquiry into a non-Western and transnational perspective. The texts and material to be examined will include works by Germaine de Staël, George Sand, Flora Tristan, Marguerite Duras, Hélène Cixous, Assia Djebar, Maryse Condé among others.

Full details for FREN 6725 - Women's Stories from the Margin

Fall.
ITAL1110 Elementary Italian In Rome I
This introductory course provides a thorough grounding in all the language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with practice in small groups.

Full details for ITAL 1110 - Elementary Italian In Rome I

Fall or Spring.
ITAL1113 FWS: Writing Italy, Writing the Self: Jewish-Italian Lit and the Long 20th Century
The Jewish community of Rome is the oldest one in all of Europe, dating back to 200 B. C., and the authors of some of the most important twentieth century works of Italian literature are Jewish. In this course we will examine how some of these writers (Moravia, Bassani, Primo Levi, Carlo Levi, Ginzburg, Sereni, Bruck, Loewenthal, Janaczek, Elkann and Pipermo) have articulated the self against the background of the historical events that have shaped the past hundred years; two world wars and different social movements of the pre- and post- WWII eras. This seminar includes two film screenings.

Full details for ITAL 1113 - FWS: Writing Italy, Writing the Self: Jewish-Italian Lit and the Long 20th Century

Fall.
ITAL1120 Elementary Italian In Rome II
This introductory course provides a thorough grounding in all the language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with practice in small groups.

Full details for ITAL 1120 - Elementary Italian In Rome II

Fall or Spring.
ITAL1201 Italian I
ITAL 1201 is a fast-paced, introductory-level course, designed for students with no previous knowledge of Italian.  Students will be guided in developing four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in the context of everyday topics (school, housing, travel personal preferences, simple exchanges about past, future and possible events, etc.).  They will also be introduced to culturally acceptable modes of oral and written communication in Italian, some fundamentals of Italian history, and select current social and political issues.

Full details for ITAL 1201 - Italian I

Fall.
ITAL2110 Italian Intermediate Composition and Conversation I in Rome
This is an all-skills course designed to improve speaking and reading ability, establish a groundwork for correct writing, and provide a substantial grammar review.

Full details for ITAL 2110 - Italian Intermediate Composition and Conversation I in Rome

Fall or Spring.
ITAL2130 Italian Intermediate Composition and Conversation II in Rome
This course provides a review of composition, reading, pronunciation, and grammar review, as well as guided practice in conversation.  It emphasizes the development of accurate and idiomatic expression in the language.

Full details for ITAL 2130 - Italian Intermediate Composition and Conversation II in Rome

Fall or Spring.
ITAL2201 Italian III
An intermediate-level course that aims to further develop intercultural, reading, listening, speaking, and writing abilities.   Students will be guided in perfecting their communications skills, improving their cultural proficiency, and developing a critical eye toward printed and visual material drawn from literature, history, politics, arts in the Italophone world.  Conversation skills will be practiced in daily discussions and in individual or group projects and presentations.  A variety of written assignments will help students increase the range, accuracy, and stylistic appropriateness of their writing.  Review of  select grammar topics is part of this course, as is reading parts of contemporary novels.

Full details for ITAL 2201 - Italian III

Fall.
ITAL2203 Languages-Literatures-Identities
This course aims to introduce students to Italian literature mainly through readings in prose and poetry from the 20th and 21st century. The course includes significant practice in grammar, vocabulary building, and composition. Course Topic: Living Together in a multicultural society. Our principal reading will be Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a piazza Vittorio, a 2006 award-winning novel by Algerian-Italian writer Amara Lakhous who came to Italy in 1995 as a political refugee; with this novel, he invites Italian readers to examine their 21st-century reality through the eyes of the immigrant.

Full details for ITAL 2203 - Languages-Literatures-Identities

Fall.
ITAL3750 Pinocchio: Adventures in Literature and Film
Pinocchio: The Adventures of a Puppet is of course a beloved tale of a puppet who wants to become a boy. Written in 1883 by the Italian author, Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio has been the subject of numerous books and films and in this course, we will take up some of them in order to ask important questions, including: what does it mean to be human and what makes one a puppet? Beginning with a close reading of the fable, we will then read different literary and philosophical retellings. We will also look at cinematic treatments, from Walt Disney to Spielberg to Garrone.

Full details for ITAL 3750 - Pinocchio: Adventures in Literature and Film

Fall.
ITAL4190 Special Topics in Italian Literature
Guided independent study of special topics.

Full details for ITAL 4190 - Special Topics in Italian Literature

Fall.
ITAL4250 Introduction to Biopolitics
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the relation between biological and the political, power and resistance, and life and death.  Fifty years ago, the philosopher Michel Foucault offered two terms to describe it: biopolitics and biopower.  In this introduction to both, we take up Foucault's writings on biopolitics in a series of interdisciplinary contexts, including but not limited to the philosophical, anthropological, and political.  In addition to Foucault, w will be reading elaborations on what has been called "the biopolitical paradigm" from writers as diverse as Agamben, Arendt, Arif, Biehl, Butler, Esposito, Fassin, Mbembe, and Sloterdijk.  Questions to be asked include how to describe relation between biopolitics and racism and in what ways has the pandemic altered our understanding of biopolitics.

Full details for ITAL 4250 - Introduction to Biopolitics

Fall.
ITAL4290 Honors in Italian Literature
Consult director of undergraduate studies for more information.

Full details for ITAL 4290 - Honors in Italian Literature

Fall or Spring.
ITAL6250 Introduction to Biopolitics
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the relation between biological and the political, power and resistance, and life and death.  Fifty years ago, the philosopher Michel Foucault offered two terms to describe it: biopolitics and biopower.  In this introduction to both, we take up Foucault's writings on biopolitics in a series of interdisciplinary contexts, including but not limited to the philosophical, anthropological, and political.  In addition to Foucault, w will be reading elaborations on what has been called "the biopolitical paradigm" from writers as diverse as Agamben, Arendt, Arif, Biehl, Butler, Esposito, Fassin, Mbembe, and Sloterdijk.  Questions to be asked include how to describe relation between biopolitics and racism and in what ways has the pandemic altered our understanding of biopolitics.

Full details for ITAL 6250 - Introduction to Biopolitics

Fall.
ITAL6270 Dante's Commedia
In this seminar, dedicated to a close reading of Dante's Commedia (1321), we will consider how Dante's poem explores such issues as: the search for language adequate to convey experience surpassing human comprehension; the creation of a narrating "I"; the education of the reader; the relation between truth and enterprise; the redemptive potential of art (and its ability to deceive as well as to enlighten and console): the call to bear witness, both to life and to loss.

Full details for ITAL 6270 - Dante's Commedia

Fall.
ITAL6390 Special Topics in Italian Literature
Guided independent study for graduate students.

Full details for ITAL 6390 - Special Topics in Italian Literature

Fall.
POLSH1131 Elementary Polish I
In this course, students work on their ability to speak, write, read, and understand contemporary Polish. Students will also develop their intercultural competency. The instructor uses communicative language teaching with emphasis on structured input. Students use the textbook and workbook "Hurra! Po polsku 1" supplemented by Polish-English chapter dictionaries. This class covers chapters 0-9. If a student is not sure of his or her language level, he or she can contact the Polish instructor, Ewa Bachminska, at eb583@cornell.edu.

Full details for POLSH 1131 - Elementary Polish I

Fall, Spring.
POLSH2103 Advanced Polish I
In this class, students master their language skills: oral communication, listening and reading comprehension as well as creative and formal writing.  Students also deepen their cultural competence.  Classroom discussions include issues of contemporary Poland and various aspects of Polish culture.  Students have writing assignments and one oral presentation in class.

Full details for POLSH 2103 - Advanced Polish I

Fall, Spring.
PORT1210 Elementary Portuguese I
This course introduces students with no knowledge of Portuguese and with limited or no knowledge of Spanish to the Lusophone (Portuguese speaking) world.  Emphasis is given to the development of language skills (e.g., speaking, listening, reading, and writing), as well as the appreciation and awareness of Global Portuguese-speaking cultures, prompting students to make comparisons to their own culture.

Full details for PORT 1210 - Elementary Portuguese I

Fall.
PORT2010 Intermediate Portuguese for Spanish Speakers I
This is an intensive introductory course for those who are native/near native speakers of Spanish.  Emphasis will be given in the development of the four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing), as well as the appreciation and awareness of Portuguese-speaking cultures.  Students will engage with a broad range of topics related to Afro-Luso-Brazilian culture through art (e.g., painting, theater, cinema, literature, photography, dance sculpture, etc).

Full details for PORT 2010 - Intermediate Portuguese for Spanish Speakers I

Fall, Spring.
PORT2500 Intro to Lusophone Cultures
Spanning six centuries, this course offers students an introduction to the Portuguese-speaking world. Students will practice analytical skills and gain familiarity with the culture and history of Brazil, Angola, Portugal and Mozambique by engaging with literature, art, music and cinema.  Historical moments that we will cover in this course include Portugal's colonialist expansion (1450-1700), the Kingdom of Kongo's response to it (1500-1700), the independence movements in Brazil, Angola and Mozambique (1820-1970), and the most recent cultural movements in music and cinema (1970-2000s).  Students will examine different forms of colonialism, and how the legacy of colonialism has shaped today's Lusophone world.  Moreover, students will contemplate topics of broader humanistic interest, such as national  identities, colonialism, transcontinental cultural exchanges, and forms of resistance to colonial oppression.

Full details for PORT 2500 - Intro to Lusophone Cultures

Fall.
PORT3100 Advanced Portuguese I
This course provides intermediate level students with the opportunity to advance their oral and written fluency, proficiency, and understanding of the grammar of Portuguese. In addition, students will be introduced to several cultural aspects of the Lusophone world, including regionalisms of Portuguese language. This goal will be achieved with the aid of literary and journalistic texts. Students will be expected to give individual and group presentations, as well as to write short pieces in the target language. The course is tailored to bridge language learning and content-based courses and research in Portuguese.  

Full details for PORT 3100 - Advanced Portuguese I

Fall.
SPAN1120 Elementary Spanish: Review and Continuation
While building language proficiency and accuracy through communicative activities, the course encourages students to actively interact with one another. The instructor facilitates communication and provides feedback and language learning strategies that guide students to take responsibility for their own learning and become active participants in the process. The course also introduces students to the many peoples and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, prompting them to make comparisons with their own culture. Additionally, lectures provide students with opportunities to reflect on relevant grammar topics and assist students in developing language learning strategies.

Full details for SPAN 1120 - Elementary Spanish: Review and Continuation

Fall.
SPAN1210 Elementary Spanish I
While building language proficiency and accuracy through communicative activities, the course encourages students to actively interact with one another. The instructor facilitates communication and provides feedback and language learning strategies that guide students to take responsibility of their own learning and become active participants in the process. The course also introduces students to the many peoples and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, prompting them to make comparisons with their own culture. Additionally, lectures provide students with opportunities to reflect on relevant grammar topics and assist students in developing language learning strategies. Class discussions are conducted entirely in Spanish. After 1210 students may take SPAN 1120 (fall) or SPAN 1220 (spring).

Full details for SPAN 1210 - Elementary Spanish I

Fall.
SPAN1230 Continuing Spanish
The goal of this low-intermediate course is to achieve a higher level of comprehension as well as to advance oral and written expression in a cultural context. Classes are in Spanish and the language is actively used in communicative and creative activities. Students engage in linguistic and literary analysis of texts to acquire new vocabulary, complete analytical exercises, and develop reading strategies. Students continue developing writing skills through composition, and review grammatical structures independently with some clarification by the instructor as needed.

Full details for SPAN 1230 - Continuing Spanish

Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.
SPAN1250 Spanish for Heritage Speakers I
This low-intermediate course expands Heritage students' confidence and competence in Spanish by providing opportunities to build upon the conversational skills they have. Through literary texts, other readings, music, films and the visual arts students broaden their vocabulary, improve grammatical accuracy, develop writing skills and enrich their understanding of the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. The heritage student grew up speaking Spanish and finished high school in the U.S. 

Full details for SPAN 1250 - Spanish for Heritage Speakers I

Fall or spring.
SPAN1501 Strategies for Spanish Abroad
This innovative topics course focuses on oral communication in Spanish for students concurrently enrolled in courses offering special projects abroad or short term study abroad trips. Emphasis is placed on developing speaking and listening skills and strategies in a culturally relevant context. It is intended for students with limited or no knowledge of Spanish and active class participation is required.

Full details for SPAN 1501 - Strategies for Spanish Abroad

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2000 Spanish for Heritage Speakers
Designed to expand bilingual Heritage students' knowledge of Spanish by providing them with ample opportunities to develop and improve each of the basic language skills, with a particular focus on writing vocabulary. The heritage student has at least one parent of Hispanic origin and grew up speaking Spanish at home; s/he also finished high school here in the US. After this course, students may take SPAN 2095.

Full details for SPAN 2000 - Spanish for Heritage Speakers

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2070 Intermediate Spanish for the Medical and Health Professions
Provides a conversational grammar review, with dialogues, debates, compositions, and authentic readings on health-related themes. Special attention is given to relevant cultural differences and how cultural notions may affect medical care and communication between doctor and patient. The objective of 2070 is to provide practice in real-life application, such as taking a medical history, calming a patient, and how to speak to a Hispanic patient in a culturally acceptable manner. After this course, a student may take or SPAN 2095.

Full details for SPAN 2070 - Intermediate Spanish for the Medical and Health Professions

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2090 Intermediate Spanish I (Composition and Conversation)
This intermediate course develops accurate and idiomatic oral and written expression in a cultural context. Students achieve a higher level of syntactical and lexical competence through reading and discussing literary texts and viewing films. Particular emphasis is on writing and editing academic essays with peer/instructor feedback. Classes are in Spanish and the language is actively used in oral presentations and communicative, creative, and critical-thinking activities. Students review grammar structures on their own, with clarification and support of the instructor. After this course, students may take SPAN 2095.

Full details for SPAN 2090 - Intermediate Spanish I (Composition and Conversation)

Fall, Spring, Summer.
SPAN2095 Spanish Intermediate Composition and Conversation II
This advanced-intermediate course is designed to prepare students for study abroad and is required for any Cornell CASA program in a Spanish speaking country.  It also serves as an entryway into the major, and advanced-level courses. Students study stylistics, analyze and discuss texts, view films, and acquire advanced reading strategies. Continued emphasis is on writing and editing academic essays with peer and instructor feedback. Classes are in Spanish, and the language is actively used in oral presentations and communicative, creative, and critical-thinking activities. Students review grammar structures on their own, although the instructor may clarify as needed.

Full details for SPAN 2095 - Spanish Intermediate Composition and Conversation II

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2140 Modern Spanish Survey
Introductory survey of modern Spanish literature. Students develop their analytical skills and learn basic literary concepts such as genre (drama, lyric, short story, and novel) and style (romanticism, realism, etc.) as well as male/female perspectives and the translation of literature to film language. The survey introduces students to Spain's cultural complexity through readings of works by authors representative of its diverse linguistic and literary traditions.

Full details for SPAN 2140 - Modern Spanish Survey

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2150 Contemporary Latin American Survey
Readings and discussion of representative texts of the 19th and 20th centuries from various regions of Latin America. Among the authors considered are Sarmiento, Hernández, Martí, Darío, Agustini, Cortázar, García Márquez, Poniatowska, and Valenzuela.

Full details for SPAN 2150 - Contemporary Latin American Survey

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2170 Early Modern Iberian Survey
This course explores major texts and themes of the Hispanic tradition from the 11th to the 17th centuries. We will examine general questions on literary analysis and the relationship between literature and history around certain events, such as medieval multicultural Iberia, the creation of the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492; the encounter between the Old and the New Worlds; the 'opposition' of high and low in popular culture, and of the secular and the sacred in poetry and prose. Readings may be drawn from medieval short stories and miracle collections; chivalric romances, Columbus, Lazarillo de Tormes, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderón, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, among others.

Full details for SPAN 2170 - Early Modern Iberian Survey

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2180 Advanced Spanish Writing Workshop
This course, which is required for the major, is designed to help the learner develop increased accuracy and sophistication in writing in Spanish for academic purposes and continued oral practice in Spanish. To this end, there will be ample writing and revising practice, with a focus on specific grammatical and lexical areas, customized to the needs of the students enrolled in the course.  All writing will be based on a particular theme relating to Latin America with a focus on film, literary texts, newspaper readings and conducting an interview.

Full details for SPAN 2180 - Advanced Spanish Writing Workshop

Fall, Spring.
SPAN2230 Perspectives on Spain
An introduction to Spain's history, plural cultures, and present-day society. Through a series of key literary works, films, and other visual representations we will explore such topics as the place of tradition, religion, and the family in modern Spain. Our focus will be on the transformation of Spain from an authoritarian state under General Franco's dictatorship (1939-1975) into a remarkably diverse and pluralistic nation in which linguistic, cultural, political, and gender differences have been consecrated in a very progressive legislation. This course satisfies the main requirement for the minor in Spanish, may be used as an elective for the major, and is crucial to those planning to study abroad in Spain in the near future.

Full details for SPAN 2230 - Perspectives on Spain

Fall.
SPAN2235 Perspectives on Spain in Spanish
This course offers a broad introduction to Iberian cultures from the Middle Ages to the present.  Focusing on three main themes-space, culture, and everyday life-our main objective throughout the term will be to explore different perspectives unique to the ever-evolving place we now call "Spain." The first half of the term will concentrate on aspects of space, culture, and everyday life in the medieval and early modern context, while the second half of the term will examine the same themes, questions, and concepts but from a modern and contemporary point of view using a wide variety of disciplines and media to explore them, from history, newspapers and music, to painting, film, and television.

Full details for SPAN 2235 - Perspectives on Spain in Spanish

Fall.
SPAN3020 Spanish Language Across the Curriculum (LAC)
This 1-credit optional course aims to expand the students' vocabulary, and advance their speaking and reading skills as well as enhance their knowledge and deepen their cultural understanding by supplementing non-language courses throughout the University.

Full details for SPAN 3020 - Spanish Language Across the Curriculum (LAC)

Fall, Spring.
SPAN3170 Creative Writing Workshop (in Spanish)
Focuses on the practice of narrative writing in Spanish. Explores what makes a novel and a short story work, paying close attention to narrative structure, plot, beginnings/endings, character development, theme, etc. Students read classic novels and short stories as points of departure for the discussion. Because the course is a workshop, students are expected to write their own fiction.

Full details for SPAN 3170 - Creative Writing Workshop (in Spanish)

Fall.
SPAN3445 Resisting Totalitarianism: Art, Literature and Film in Post-1973 Coup Chile
What is the logic of totalitarianism? How can we develop ways of resisting totalitarianism? What role can art, film, literature and theory play in counteracting totalitarianism violence? This course studies the various strategies that artists, filmmakers, writers and thinkers devised to resist the totalitarianism that established itself in Chile via coup d'état in 1973. Examining the main works of Chilean writers, artists and filmmakers, including Diamela Eltit, Raúl Zurita, Pedro Lemebel, Eugenio Dittborn, and Raúl Ruiz, we study the way these individuals took the image, the body and language as sites to contest the dictatorship and neutralize its control. We further look at how these struggles continued throughout the post-dictatorship period and have informed recent events in Chile.

Full details for SPAN 3445 - Resisting Totalitarianism: Art, Literature and Film in Post-1973 Coup Chile

Fall.
SPAN4190 Special Topics in Spanish Literature
Guided independent study of special topics. For undergraduates interested in special problems not covered in courses.

Full details for SPAN 4190 - Special Topics in Spanish Literature

Fall.
SPAN4290 Honors Work I
Consult director of undergraduate studies for more information.

Full details for SPAN 4290 - Honors Work I

Multi-semester course: (Fall, Spring).
SPAN4365 El gran Mexico - Greater Mexico
"El gran Mexico" refers to the vast expanse of land that includes the current geopolitical boundaries of Mexico as well as the territories that Mexico lost to the USA with the Texas Revolution (1836) and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). While recent media commentary centers around challenges of immigration policy at the US/Mexico and Mexico/Guatemala borders, there is a long and rich history of literary, artistic, and cultural mutuality and exchange. This course will offer a bifocal view of Mexican and Mexican-American texts that address topics ranging from cultural understandings of the historical break point in the 19th century to explorations of new cultural forms in the 21st century, alongside probing assumptions derived from northern theory using Mexican and Mexican American tools.

Full details for SPAN 4365 - El gran Mexico - Greater Mexico

Fall.
SPAN4735 Cultures of the Digital in Latin America
This course explores the different ways in which the digital has shaped narratives of memory in contemporary Latin America, transformed artistic practices, and complicated our understanding of time, space, identity, and the body.  We will look at works of literature, film, and performance that mobilize the digital in order to re-represent and re-activate the past, challenge authority, create new forms of political activism, and establish new relationships between bodies both human and nonhuman.  In discussing these works, we will also consider the ethical questions that they ask, whether explicitly of implicitly: Who owns our digital remains?  What are the advantages and the limitations of online social movements?  How far should we push the boundaries of the body? Should there be a right to a digital afterlife?

Full details for SPAN 4735 - Cultures of the Digital in Latin America

Fall.
SPAN4820 Latin American Film
This course introduces students to a panoramic view of Latin American film, from silent cinema through Third Cinema to today. Along the way, we will study how Latin American cinema has developed as an industry, as well as how it has functioned as medium to mold and contest what it means to be Latin American. Attention will be placed on the cinematic treatment of regional difference, religion, race, and politics. Films will be supplemented by readings representative of new scholarly approaches to the study of cinema, with a particular focus on industry studies.

Full details for SPAN 4820 - Latin American Film

Fall.
SPAN6365 El gran Mexico/Greater Mexico
"El gran Mexico" refers to the vast expanse of land that includes the current geopolitical boundaries of Mexico as well as the territories that Mexico lost to the USA with the Texas Revolution (1836) and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).  While recent media commentary centers around challenges of immigration policy at the US/Mexico and Mexico/Guatemala borders, there is a long and rich history of literary, artistic, and cultural mutuality and exchange.  This course will offer a bifocal view of Mexican and Mexican-American texts that address topics ranging from cultural understandings of the historical break point in the 19th century to explorations of new cultural forms in the 21st century, alongside probing assumptions derived from northern theory using Mexican and Mexican American tools.

Full details for SPAN 6365 - El gran Mexico/Greater Mexico

Fall.
SPAN6390 Special Topics in Spanish Literature
Guided independent study of specific topics. For graduate students interested in special problems not covered in courses.

Full details for SPAN 6390 - Special Topics in Spanish Literature

Fall.
SPAN6810 Latin American Film
This course introduces students to a panoramic view of Latin American film, from silent cinema through Third Cinema to today. Along the way, we will study how Latin American cinema has developed as an industry, as well as how it has functioned as medium to mold and contest what it means to be Latin American. Attention will be placed on the cinematic treatment of regional difference, religion, race, and politics. Films will be supplemented by readings representative of new scholarly approaches to the study of cinema, with a particular focus on industry studies.

Full details for SPAN 6810 - Latin American Film

Fall.
SPAN6855 Latin American Horror
The fantastic and the supernatural are the fundamental elements of this course, in which we will analyze Latin American short stories, novels, and films, featuring ghosts, vampires, monsters, witches, zombies, haunted houses, and ecological horror. We will explore issues relating to colonialism, feminism, hybridity, and miscegenation. The texts range from the 19th century to present.

Full details for SPAN 6855 - Latin American Horror

Fall.
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