Katherine Hedeen

No Comparison: The Practice of Comparative Literature

CWL 220

This is a methods course that trains students to think and write like a comparativist. Where CWL 120 is an introduction to World Literature as methodology, CWL 220 builds on that foundation by situating world literatures within the broader discipline of Comparative Literature. This is a theoretically-focused course that integrates the study of literary texts with the founding and dominant theoretical movements of the 20th century. Building upon the close reading skills that students will have developed in their first-year core course, students will learn specific strategies of reading literature, including contrapuntal reading, distant reading, and surface reading. Course readings may include Kalidasa’s “Shakuntala, Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” Jorge Luis Borges’s “Labyrinths,” Sophocles’ “Antigone” and Kamila Shamsie’s “Home Fire”. The theme and texts taught in the course will vary each year and students are encouraged to contact the course instructor to find out the specific reading list for a given year. This counts toward the core course requirement for the concentration. Permission of instructor required. Prerequisite: CWL 120 or select, cross-listed sections of ENGL 103/104 or MLL 100- or 200-level courses (in translation) or CLAS 130 or 225. Offered every spring.

Self and Society: Intensive Introductory Spanish

SPAN 111Y

This first half of a yearlong course is focused on the self in a broader social context for students who are beginning the study of Spanish or who have had minimal exposure to the language. The course offers the equivalent of conventional beginning and intermediate language study. The first semester's work comprises an introduction to Spanish as a spoken and written language. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course will be automatically added to SPAN 112Y for the spring semester. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

Self and Society: Intensive Introductory Spanish

SPAN 112Y

This second half of a yearlong course is a continuation of SPAN 111Y. The second semester consists of and continued study of the fundamentals of Spanish, while incorporating literary and cultural materials to develop techniques of reading, cultural awareness, and mastery of the spoken and written language. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 111Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Language and Culture: Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 213Y

This first half of the yearlong intermediate-level language course is focused on language and culture for students who are interested in developing their ability to speak, read, write and understand Spanish. In addition to a comprehensive grammar review, the primary texts chosen for the course serve as a general introduction to Hispanic culture and literature. Other materials include short essays, newspaper articles, films, television series and songs, which together will provide a point of departure for discussions on a range of issues. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course will automatically be added to SPAN 214Y for the spring semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 111Y-112Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Language and Culture: Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 214Y

This second half of the yearlong intermediate-level language course is focused on language and culture for students who are interested in developing their ability to speak, read, write and understand Spanish. In addition to a comprehensive grammar review, the primary texts chosen for the course serve as a general introduction to Hispanic culture and literature. Other materials include short essays, newspaper articles, films, television series and songs, which together will provide a point of departure for discussions on a range of issues. This course includes required practice sessions with an apprentice teacher (AT), which will be scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y or equivalent. Offered every year.

Introduction to Spanish American Literature

SPAN 325

This is a foundational survey of Spanish American literature from its pre-Hispanic manifestations to the present. The course covers major historical periods and literary movements, including the narrative of discovery and conquest, Renaissance and Baroque poetry, and the literatures of Romanticism, modernism, the avant-gardes, the Boom and postmodernity. Fundamental concepts of literary theory and techniques of literary analysis are discussed. Historical readings, critical essays and films provide the background for textual analysis. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or placement exam or permission of instructor. Generally offered every other year.

Literature and Popular Culture in Spanish America

SPAN 335

One of the features of the most exciting and innovative Spanish American literature is that it seeks to speak directly through and with popular culture. This course has as its focus precisely this relationship. Topics that may be covered include the ties between witchcraft and sexuality, literary appropriations of different musical genres (son, tango, nueva Canción or salsa) and testimonial literature and legends. Special attention also may be paid to the cultures created by the three major revolutions from the region; Mexico (1910), Cuba (1959) and Nicaragua (1979). Writers and artists may include Rubén Blades, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Rosario Ferré, Juan Gelman, Nicolás Guillén, Pedro Lemebel, Carlos Monsiváis, Elena Poniatowska and Silvio Rodríguez. Selected films, compact discs and multimedia will be part of class materials. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Resisting Borders: Contemporary Latino(a) Literature and Film

SPAN 381

In this course we will study the experience of Latinos/as in the United States and the idea of borders as conceived by Latino writers and filmmakers who have lived between cultures, territories and value systems. We will study the Hispanic and Indigenous heritage, with special emphasis on Mexican-American, Puerto Rican and Cuban American productions, and especially those works that while produced in the United States are written in Spanish. While we will play close attention to local constructions of identity, we will also focus on how these representations and constructions are connected to global processes. The course also offers students opportunities to learn through community-engaged learning. \n

From the Empire's Backyard: Literature of the Spanish Caribbean

SPAN 382

For García Márquez, the Caribbean is a "hallucinated and hallucinating world where the maddest of illusions end up being true and the other side of reality is discovered." In this class, we will study the writing that such a reality has produced, focusing on contemporary works that represent and challenge colonialism and neocolonialism. We will consider essay, narrative, poetry and theater by a variety of authors from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. The course will use as a theoretical perspective postcolonial studies and give particular emphasis to concepts like alterity, appropriation, counter-discourse, decolonization, diaspora, ethnicity and transculturation, among others. Relevant theoretical voices from the region that have created a culture of resistance to the imperial order, and an introduction to the history of the region, also will be incorporated.The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.

Literary Translation

SPAN 388

This course focuses on both the theoretical and practical aspects of literary translation from Spanish into English. Numerous essays on translation provide the opportunity to think critically about this cultural practice and to question the imperialist, ethnocentric and gendered notions that have historically driven it. Much of the class is taught using a workshop format in which this theoretical framework is used to compare original works to translations and to practice the art of translation itself. In addition to weekly writing assignments and the sharing and critiquing of peer work, students complete an extensive literary translation. Permission of instructor required. No prerequisite. Generally offered every two years.

Special Topics

SPAN 391

Individual Study

SPAN 493

This course offers an opportunity to study on an individual basis an area of special interest — literary, cultural or linguistic — under the regular supervision of a faculty member. It is offered primarily to candidates for honors, to majors and, under special circumstances, to potential majors and minors. Individual study is intended to supplement, not to take the place of, regular courses in the curriculum of each language program. Staff limitations restrict this offering to a very few students. To enroll in an individual study, a student must identify a member of the MLL department willing to direct the project and, in consultation with them, write up a one-page proposal for the IS which must be approved by the department chair before the individual study can go forward. The proposal should specify the schedule of reading and/or writing assignments and the schedule of meeting periods. The amount of work in an IS should approximate that required on average in regular courses of corresponding levels. It is suggested that students begin their planning of an IS well in advance, so that they can devise a proposal and seek departmental approval before the registrar's deadline. Typically, an IS will earn the student 0.25 or 0.50 units of credit. At a minimum, the department expects the student to meet with the instructor one hour per week. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the registrar’s deadline.