SPA-3306-01

Culture & Civilization of Spain

Fall 2003

 


Prof. William Keeth

E-mail: wkeeth@mnsfld.edu

Tel: 570-662-4605 or 570-662-4581

Office:  Belknap 110-C


 

 

Required material:

 

1)         Vicente Cantarino. Civilización y cultura de España. Fourth edition.  New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1999.

 

OR

 

Vicente Cantarino y Cheryl Johnson. Historia y Cultura de España,versión multimedia interactiva.  Ohio State University Foreign Lang. Public. & Services, CDRom.

 

2)         Gies, David Thatcher, ed.  The Cambridge Companion to Modern Spanish Culture.  Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002.

 

Other Resources:

 

http://faculty.mnsfld.edu/wkeeth

            http://www.cohums.ohio-state.edu/sppo/faculty/cantarino.1/CivyCultura/

 

Overview of course:

 

This course will consist of a panoramic study of the history, cultures, and civilizations that have led to the development of Spain as a modern nation, from its early origins to its most current events.  The organization of this course will be chronological.  During the course students will complete a series of readings, keep a journal, make brief group oral presentations, and research an area of Spain’s culture.  Classroom presentations and discussions will pivot around historical, anthropological, sociological, artistic, musical, and cultural themes. Student research and oral presentations may include the use of selected bibliography, media, and internet resources. The format of the class will include lectures, discussions, debates, oral presentations, and multimedia presentations. Students can expect to work in groups.

 

 

Specific Course Goals:

● Read and discuss the assigned readings

● Develop a vocabulary of analytical concepts that help organize, develop, and process the material presented in class.

● Recognize important events paying attention to their chronological order, cause, and effect.

● Recognize important ideological, ethnic, cultural, sociopolitical, geographic, and historic factors that have contributed to the formation of Spain’s modern civilization and identity.

● Reflect on the merits, conflicts, and contradictions that can be associated with the trends and themes presented in class.

 

 

System of Evaluation:

Standards of Measurement

 Criteria and Weight*

 

Research Project:

Preliminary bibliography..………….5%

Annotated bibliography…………..10%

Final Draft (5-7 pages)…….…….15%

 

Journal .…....…………………….10%

Class Participation.……….....….10%

Group Oral Presentations…..…20%

Exams …………………….……..30%

 

 

 

 

Total:                                           100%

*Specific due dates will be listed on the Class Calendar (See class web page) and/or assigned periodically in class.

 

Important Dates:

Sept 26 – Oral Presentation 1

Oct 3 – Exam 1

Oct 10 – Preliminary Bibliography

Oct 31 – Oral Presentation 2

Nov 7 – Exam 2

Dec 1 – Annotated Bibliography

Dec 5 – Oral Presentation 3

Dec 10 – Exam 3

Dec 10 – Final Project

 

 

Research Project:

 

The format of this 5-7-page document must follow MLA guidelines for Research papers. This Research essay will be completed and evaluated in a staged process (Preliminary bibliography, Annotated Bibliography, Final Draft, and Oral presentation). More detailed information regarding its content, method of evaluation, and purpose will be presented in class.

 

Journals:

 

Journal entries will be kept daily during this class. They must be written in Spanish and should include academic, emotional, creative, and intellectual comments. The instructor will explain in more detail the format for the journal, which will be turned in periodically. The journal entries will not be corrected for grammatical accuracy, rather for the reach of intellectual curiosity and discovery.

 

Class Participation:

 

All students are expected to attend and participate in every class. Any absence will result in a 15% reduction in the student’s Participation grade. Students, however, may request permission to miss a class and arrange to make-up missed work prior to their absence. This type of arrangement will wave the 15% attendance reduction, but must be completed at least 24 hours prior to an absence or illness.  Missing a class does not release a student from any class obligations. Electronic submission of written work is an effective way of handing in required written work by a specified deadline, especially when a student expects to be absent.

 

Exams:

 

These 3 written exams will be given during this course.  Each will represent a block of information presented in class. They can consist of recognition, map identification, multiple choice, and short essay exercises. They CANNOT be made up.  The idea of “dropping of low exam or quiz scores” does NOT exist in this course.

 

Oral Presentations:

 

At the beginning of the semester, the class will divide into small groups.  Throughout the semester, these groups will present 3 short oral presentations related to the following assigned topics.  The length of these presentations would be equivalent to a two page essay.   Students need to present their oral presentations with PowerPoint.

 

Presentation 1

Personas importantes

San Isidro de Sevilla

El Cid

Abd Rahman I

Almansor (Almansur)

Alfonso X el Sabio

Isabel I de Castilla

Fernando II de Aragón

el Cardinal Cisneros

Lugares, eventos, etc.

la Cueva de Atapuerca (restos prehistóricos)

la Cueva de Altamira (arte prehistórico)

una ciudad romana en España

los castillos de España

El Camino de Santiago

La Alhambra

La Mezquita de Cordoba

La Reconquista

 

Presentation 2

Personas importantes

Juana la Loca

Carlos I (Carlos V), Emperador

Felipe II, el Rey Prudente

Carlos II, el Hechizado

El Greco (pintor)

Diego Velázquez

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Lope de Vega

Francisco Goya 

Federico Garcia Lorca 

Lugares, eventos, etc.

La Armada Invencible

El Escorial 

El Siglo de Oro

La novela picaresca

Los Borbones

La Ilustración y los ilustrados

La Guerra de Independencia (contra Napoleón)

La 2a República

La Guerra Civil española (1936-1939)

 

Presentation 3

Personas importantes

Generalísimo Francisco Franco

Rey Juan Carlos de Borbón

Felipe González,
Pres. de Gobierno 1982-1996

José María Aznar
Presidente de Gobierno (primer ministro) desde 1996

Carlos Saura

Pedro Almodóvar

Camilo José Cela

Lugares, eventos, etc.

La Guerra Civil española (1936-1939)

El Valle de los Caídos

El golpe de estado abortivo 23 feb. 1981

La Movida (movimiento cultural popular)

La ETA

El desempleo en la actualidad

Los Juegos Olímpicos de 1992

El turismo

La situación de la mujer en España

La música popular

 

Other Operational Matters:

 

Conduct:

 

Academic honesty, the submission of original work, and student interaction is expected in this class. Any form of cheating may result in failure of the course. Additional information concerning academic honesty can be found in the Password.

 

The Syllabus:

 

This syllabus serves as a contractual agreement. Presence in this class means that you agree to the items stipulated in the syllabus and are aware of any modifications made throughout the semester. One should periodically check the course web site for any updates to the syllabus and/or class calendar.

 

Class records and Grades:

 

Oversee your grade by monitoring your progress and maintaining contact with your instructor. Any student material or record that has been returned to the student becomes the student's responsibility to maintain as a permanent record for the course. Students are responsible for picking up any materials that are made available to them or are returned in class. If a student loses these records and the professor does not have a copy of the material available, the student will receive a failing grade for the particular activity.

 

Other: 

 

If a student has a disability requiring any accommodations, s/he needs to contact the professor at the beginning of the semester.  100 or 200 level courses may not be taken pass/fail to fulfill any GE requirements.  Contact the Office of the Provost or Study Abroad advisor for information about studying abroad.