A beginning course designed for students who wish to start their study of Portuguese and have no proficiency in another Romance language. The four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing are developed at the basic level.
Prerequisites: a score of 0-279 on the department's Spanish as a Second Language Placement exam. An introduction to Spanish communicative competence, with stress on basic oral interaction, reading, writing, and cultural knowledge. Principal objectives are to understand and produce commonly used sentences to satisfy immediate needs; ask and answer questions about personal details such as where we live, people we know and things we have; interact in a simple manner with people who speak clearly, slowly and are ready to cooperate; and understand simple and short written and audiovisual texts in Spanish. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Prerequisites: PORT W1101 or the equivalent. A course designed to acquaint students with the Portuguese verbal, prepositional, and pronominal systems. As a continuation of Elementary Portuguese I (PORT W1101), this course focuses on the uses of characteristic forms and expressions of the language as it is spoken and written in Brazil today.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN1101 or a score of 280-379 on the department’s Spanish as a Second Language Placement exam. An intensive introduction to Spanish language communicative competence, with stress on basic oral interaction, reading, writing and cultural knowledge as a continuation of SPAN UN1101. The principal objectives are to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of immediate relevance; communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a direct exchange of information on familiar matters; describe in simple terms aspects of our background and personal history; understand the main point, the basic content, and the plot of filmic as well as short written texts. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
An extensive introduction to the Catalan language with an emphasis on oral communication as well as the reading and writing practice that will allow the student to function comfortably in a Catalan environment.
Intensive, fast-paced elementary Spanish course for
multilingual learners who have had little to no formal education in Spanish
. Replaces the sequence SPAN UN1101-SPAN UN1102.
Prerequisites
:
Take the Department's
Language Placement Examination
. (It is only for diagnostic purposes, to assess your language learning skills, not your knowledge of Spanish).
If you score approximately 330 OR MORE, you may qualify for this course if:
-
you have had little to no formal education in Spanish
, AND
- you identify with ONE of the following language learner profiles:
Learners of Spanish as a 3rd language
: fluent in a language other than English
Informal learners of Spanish
: English speakers who have “picked up” Spanish by interacting with Spanish speakers in informal settings
“Receptive” Spanish heritage learners
: English dominant, but you understand Spanish spoken by family and community members
(The exam is only an initial assessment for diagnostic purposes. Your score might be high, even if you have never studied Spanish in a formal setting).
You do not need my permission to register*. I will further assess your level during the Change of Program period. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if you are unsure about your placement in this course.
*Students who do not have the necessary proficiency level may not remain in this course. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Prerequisites: knowledge of Spanish or another Romance language. An intensive beginning language course in Brazilian Portuguese with emphasis on Brazilian culture through multimedia materials related to culture and society in contemporary Brazil. Recommended for students who have studied Spanish or another Romance language. The course is the equivalent of two full semesters of elementary Portuguese with stress on reading and conversing, and may be taken in place of PORT W1101-W1102. For students unable to dedicate the time needed cover two semesters in one, the regularly paced sequence PORT W1101-W1102 is preferable.
Prerequisites: CATL W1120. The first part of Columbia University´s comprehensive intermediate Catalan sequence. The main objectives of this course are to continue developing communicative competence - reading, writing, speaking and listening comprehension - and to further acquaint students with Catalan cultures.
Prerequisites: PORT W1120 or the equivalent. General review of grammar, with emphasis on self-expression through oral and written composition, reading, conversation, and discussion.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN1102 or SPAN UN1120 or or a score of 380-449 in the departments Placement Examination. An intensive course in Spanish language communicative competence, with stress on oral interaction, reading, writing, and culture as a continuation of SPAN UN1102 or SPAN UN1120. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Prerequisites: CATL UN2101 or equivalent Catalan 1202 is the second part of Columbia Universitys intermediate Catalan sequence. Course goals are to enhance student exposure to various aspects of Catalan culture and to consolidate and expand reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
Prerequisites: PORT UN1120 or PORT UN1320 or the equivalent. General review of grammar, with emphasis on self-expression through oral and written composition, reading, conversation, and discussion.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN2101 or a score of 450-625 in the departments Placement Examination. An intensive course in Spanish language communicative competence, with stress on oral interaction, reading, writing and culture as a continuation of SPAN UN2101. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN2101 or a score of 450-625 on the Department’s placement examination. This is an intensive course in Spanish language communicative competence with an emphasis on oral interaction, reading, writing, and culture at an Intermediate II level with focus on health-related topics in the Spanish-speaking world. In an increasingly interconnected world, and in multilingual global cities such as New York City, the study of a foreign language is fundamental not only in the field of the humanities but also in the natural sciences. This interdisciplinary course analyzes the intersection between these two disciplines through the study of health-related topics in Iberian and Latin American cultural expressions (literature, film, documentaries, among other sources) in order to explore new critical perspectives across both domains. Students will learn health-related vocabulary and usage-based grammar in Spanish. Students will develop a cultural understanding of medicine, illness, and treatment in the Spanish-speaking world. Finally, students will be able to carry out specific collaborative tasks in Spanish with the aim of integrating language, culture, and health. * This course fulfills the last semester of the foreign language requirement. Therefore, students who have taken SPAN UN 2101 (Intermediate Spanish I), or have a score of 450-625 on the Department’s placement exam, and are interested in health-related topics may proceed and enroll in SPAN UN 2103 (Intermediate Spanish II: Health-Related Topics in the Spanish-Speaking World). Pre-med and pre-health students, as well as those students majoring in the natural sciences—including biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physics—will be given registration priority. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN1108 or scoring at this level on the department’s Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement test (https://columbia-barnard.vega-labs.com).
The principal aim of SPAN UN2108 is to build upon and further develop the knowledge of Spanish that heritage learners bring to the classroom – from SPAN UN1108 and/or from family and neighborhood exposure to the language. This course cultivates intermediate-level formal speaking, listening, reading, and writing abilities.
Spanish heritage language courses at Columbia/Barnard focus on the development of communicative abilities and literacy from sociolinguistic and sociocultural approaches. Throughout the semester, students will be reviewing spelling patterns, building vocabulary, acquiring and effectively using learning strategies, and strengthening composition skills in Spanish. Cultural projects and readings reinforce learners’ understanding of the multiple issues related to Hispanic cultures in the United States and in other Spanish-speaking societies.
Prerequisites: PORT UN1102 or PORT UN1320. Prerequisites: this course is an intensive and fast-paced coverage of both PORT UN2101 and PORT UN2102. Students MUST demonstrate a strong foundation in Portuguese and meet the following REQUIREMENT: A- or higher in PORT UN1102 or PORT UN1320. If you fulfill the above requirement, you do not need the instructors permission to register. HOWEVER the instructor will additionally assess student proficiency during the Change of Program Period. Students who do not have the necessary proficiency level may not remain in this course. This course replaces the sequence PORT UN2101-PORT UN2102.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN2102 or AP score of 4 or 5; or SAT score. An intensive exposure to advanced points of Spanish grammar and structure through written and oral practice, along with an introduction to the basic principles of academic composition in Spanish. Each section is based on the exploration of an ample theme that serves as the organizing principle for the work done in class (Please consult the Directory of Classes for the topic of each section.) This course is required for the major and the concentration in Hispanic Studies. Formerly SPAN W3200 and SPAN BC3004. If you have taken either of these courses before you cannot take SPAN UN3300. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN2102 or AP score of 4 or 5; or SAT score. An intensive exposure to advanced points of Spanish grammar and structure through written and oral practice, along with an introduction to the basic principles of academic composition in Spanish. Each section is based on the exploration of an ample theme that serves as the organizing principle for the work done in class (Please consult the Directory of Classes for the topic of each section.) This course is required for the major and the concentration in Hispanic Studies. Formerly SPAN W3200 and SPAN BC3004. If you have taken either of these courses before you cannot take SPAN UN3300. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
This course presents the students with the information and basic tools needed to interpret a broad range of topics and cultural production from the Portuguese-speaking world: literary, filmic, artisitic, architectural, urban, etc. We will use a continuing cross-disciplinary dialogue to study everyday acts as a location of culture. This course will center on interpretation as an activity and as the principal operation though which culturally sited meaning is created and analyzed. Among the categories and topics discussed will be history, national and popular cultures, literature (high/low), cultural institutions, migration, and globalization. Students will also acquire the fundamental vocabulary for the analysis of cultural objects. This course is required for the concentration in Portuguese Studies.
Prerequisites: L course: enrollment limited to 15 students. Completion of language requirement, third-year language sequence (W3300). Provides students with an overview of the cultural history of the Hispanic world, from eighth-century Islamic and Christian Spain and the pre-Hispanic Americas through the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period until about 1700, covering texts and cultural artifacts from both Spain and the Americas.
This course focuses on Lusophone African and African Brazilian cultures and the relations, continuities, ruptures and influences between them. Brazil is the result of the miscegenation of Ameridians, African and Europeans, and this means that is also a cultural mélange of these groups. The African cultural contribution to Brazilian culture and grand-narrative is the primary focus of this course, however, to understand Brazil one needs to understand the cultural diversity found in Lusophone Africa, with which Brazil has had a long relationship. The readings for this course include texts from different disciplines and genres. We will study texts, movies and other forms of visual arts from the following authors: José Eduardo Agualusa, Pepetela, Mia Couto, Jorge Amado, Achille, Mbembe, Hilton Costa, Jocélio Teles dos Santos, Livio Sansone, José Luis Cabaço, Benedita da Silva and Solano Trindade.
This course surveys cultural production of Spain and Spanish America from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Students will acquire the knowledge needed for the study of the cultural manifestations of the Hispanic world in the context of modernity. Among the issues and events studied will be the Enlightenment as ideology and practice, the Napoleonic invasion of Spain, the wars of Spanish American independence, the fin-de-siecle and the cultural avant-gardes, the wars and revolutions of the twentieth century (Spanish Civil War, the Mexican and Cuban revolutions), neoliberalism, globalization, and the Hispanic presence in the United States. The goal of the course is to study some key moments of this trajectory through the analysis of representative texts, documents, and works of art. Class discussions will seek to situate the works studied within the political and cultural currents and debates of the time. All primary materials, class discussion, and assignments are in Spanish. This course is required for the major and the concentration in Hispanic Studies.
From a cognitive and operational point of view, this course aims to reflect on the theoretical and, mainly, practical limits of traditional grammar explanations, contributing with a new meaningful, experiential and representational understanding of Spanish as a human mean of communication. Within this framework, some of the most representative aspects of the grammar of Spanish will be studied from a fully practical perspective, favoring the comparison with the grammar of English. In each case, the reflection will lead to turn the traditional rules and their exceptions, into operational laws without exceptions, as well as to highlight the natural logic underlying every single grammar decision in the use of language.
Each week, a historical period is studied in connection to a particular theme of ongoing cultural expression. While diverse elements of popular culture are included, fiction is privileged as a source of cultural commentary. Students are expected to assimilate the background information but are also encouraged to develop their own perspective and interest, whether in the social sciences, the humanities (including the fine arts), or other areas.
The course focuses on public and private nature of dissent in twentieth-century Spain in the frame of cultural studies. We will explore different forms of political dissent and attempt to produce a conceptual framework for the definition of dissent as a historically produced--and therefore historically changing--notion. Historical dictatorships, nation-building processes, class and gender conflicts, human rights, poverty, legal rights, freedom of expression and censorship, the workplace, social movements, communal rights, and environmental dispossession will be at the center of our discussion. Several questions will be raised (and hopefully answered) along this journey: How can we engage with dissent as not simply a moment of protest or resistance? How can cultural and aesthetic practices challenge or modify a given social order or way of living/thinking? What is the specificity of Spanish forms of political dissent in the Euro-Atlantic scenario? To address these issues, we will read essays, short stories, graphic novels, as well as theoretical texts that offer varied approaches to history, aesthetics, and politics. The works by writers Federico García Lorca, Ángela Figuera Aymerich, Carmen Martín Gaite; film-makers like Cecilia Bartolomé, Carlos Saura, Helena Lumbreras; or philosophers and historians such as Marina Garcés and Helen Graham, among others, will be some of the materials from which to study the logics and moments of dissent.
This graduate seminar serves as an introduction to second language (SL) teaching for in-service instructors of language, and language and content courses. It highlights pedagogical principles, methodological strategies, and practical activities that are critical for new instructors teaching SL courses at the university level for the first time at Columbia University.
Students consider major theoretical constructs (culture, language, mind, metaphor, communication, context) and contemporary teaching approaches in the field of instructed second language acquisition (concept-based teaching, communicative language teaching, literacy-oriented approaches, task-project based learning). They will also engage with basic teaching techniques (lesson planning, use of the target language, technology integration, task design, grammar teaching, utilization of written and oral authentic materials in the classroom), reflective teaching practices (teachers as learners of teaching, dynamics of classroom communication, the role of teachers’ beliefs about pedagogical practices), and the design of testing and assessment measures (contextualized test design, portfolios, and grading criteria).
The main goal of the course is to connect critical pedagogy as well as sociocultural and cognitive theories with classroom practice through guest workshops, collaborative discussion, online forums, lesson plan design, observation of SL classrooms, peer feedback, and portfolio development.
To what extent has the Strait of Gibraltar—and by extension the broader Mediterraenean— connected the communities and nations that line its shores? Alternatively, is the channel better understood as a continental frontier, one that divides Europe and Africa? How has the medieval and early modern history of conquest, migration, and expulsion in the western Mediterranean shaped our understanding of the Mediterranean refugee crises of the past few decades? What is the relationship between the representation and management of these crises and the struggles of African immigrants—both Maghrebi and sub-Saharan—to assimilate into Spain and other Europe Union nations? In a parallel way, how might the contemporary crises, as experienced and documented by refugees, journalists, novelists, and filmmakers, prompt a critical reassessment of the history and representation of previous periods of migration and displacement across the Strait of Gibraltar?
Focusing on the Strait of Gibraltar, this class is an experiment in cultural history that foregrounds the Mediterranean’s present-day political and humanitarian crises. A mixture of history, drama, fiction, and legal texts comprise the majority of our primary-source readings. In addition, we will discuss a variety of material and visual culture, including monuments, antiquities, archeological sites, photographs, and films. Historical and critical readings will include essays and book- chapters culled from the field of Mediterranean studies, as well as more specialized scholarship on captivity, migration, displacement, and the interwoven cultural and political histories of Spain and Morocco.
This graduate seminar will examine theories on territory, and their relation to affective constructs regarding social bodies, race, gender, sexuality, and religious acts. We will examine a number of issues related to spatial theory, affect theory, and performance. We will study the constructions of territory, affect, and performances of race and gender as historically and geographically situated phenomena. How are territory and affect racialized or gendered? What can affect theory bring to the geographical imagination, and how do geopolitical fantasies shape imaginaries of distance, nearness, foreignness, and self? We will engage a comparative lens and examine these issues across processes of globalization, migration, cultural production and circulation, and infrastructural changes of cartographic constructs such as East/West, Transpacific, circum-Altantic, and the Global South.
Bodies, homes, rooms, streets, cities, museums, are conceived in the materials selected for this course as spaces of re-invention where the private and the public come together to cultivate creative intersections for the opening and transformation of the social and the aesthetic in constant mutual complicities and tensions.
At the crossroads of geography, urbanism, architecture, textuality, and anatomy, the self and the collective build each other as new subjects creating new ways of habitation.
The emblematic occupation and re-invention of public spaces that took place in Spain in 2011 following the example of the Arab Spring but also the dangers of turning that re-invention into spectacle and fetishistic display serve as the point of departure to consider both the possibilities and the dangers of processes in which the structures of the project, the spectacle and the ruin, of experimentation and precarity, feed each other in a space in which difference and the commons establish difficult balances.
Performance (Pilar Albarracín, Diana Torres, Maria Llopis...), Feminist and queer essays (Paul Preciado, Briggitte Vasallo, Aixa de la Cruz, Remedios Zafra...), literature (Sara Mesa, Cristina Morales, Eva Baltasar, Marta Sanz...) Film (Amalia Ullman, Celia Rico, María Ruido...) will be put in dialogue with ways in which activism, alternative architectures and urbanisms are starting to conceive and create new spaces and modes of habitation.