You will find this program different from those you have seen at other universities in that there are no beginning language classes during the academic year (see the section on intensive language programs for beginning and intermediate Spanish). Nor is there extensive study of literature in our advanced classes. Most of the classes are geared for our graduate students in international policy studies and international business. We have courses such as the Hispanic World Today, Business Spanish, and Challenges of Globalization (the latter in four languages including Spanish, with international-style meetings)
We also have courses taught within the graduate schools of business and policy studies by experts in their fields: Politics and Culture of Mexico and Doing Business in Latin America.
HS310 Contemporary Language & Culture I (Spring 2008)
Covers Spanish grammatical structures and idioms, combining oral practice and a systematic study of vocabulary. Expression of ideas on discussion topics related to contemporary trends, current events and everyday life.
HS320 Contemporary Language & Culture II (Spring 2008)
Continuation of Language and Culture I, review of structures, idiomatic expressions, and features of Hispanic cultures of several regions and countries. Written exercises, frequent oral reports, discussions of current issues from authentic sources.
HS370 Spanish Speaking World-21st Century (Spring 2008)
Based on authentic material from newspapers, magazines, cinema, internet resources, this course surveys briefly all the Spanish-speaking countries, including the United States. Students write brief essays, research and report on short items each week, and prepare a major presentation for a final project. Language study is based on student background.
HS367 Modern Day Colombia (Spring 2008)
This course explores modern day Colombia and current events focusing on major issues confronting contemporary Colombian society such as poverty, drugs, narco-terrorism, Free Trade Agreement, Plan Colombia, and globalization. Special attention will be given to grammar concepts that are still problematic to the majority of students through diverse exercises and oral and written reports related to the above topics.
HS382 Introduction to Business Spanish - Online (Spring)
This course is designed for intermediate students who seek to use Spanish in a global marketplace from a Hispanic cultural perspective. It introduces business terminology which will be used in oral presentations and develops writing skills through the writing of business correspondence and a review of grammar concepts that are still problematic for students. It will help prepare students for upper level courses in Business Spanish.
HS386 Spanish Online for Interns
Students who participate in an IPSS project in a Spanish-speaking country and have yet to fulfill the three course component will enroll in a class, HS390. While on assignment they will exchange regular written and oral reports with fellow students. The other students may be in several different countries. The course will assist individual students to build towards a final presentation to be shared online and critiqued there by faculty and fellow students. Where possible, these presentations will be gathered for presentation on campus as models for future participants in the program.
HS462 Topics in Latin American Politics
HS472 Pedagogical Grammar of Spanish
Offers students an approach to language understanding which involves the learner actively in the process of discovering the principles which constitute the language system. Provides future teachers of Spanish with a command of grammar and gives them the opportunity to explore different way of dealing with it in the classroom.
HS473 Teaching Spanish Grammar
Didáctica de la gramática española es un curso diseñado para proporcionar a los aspirantes a la enseñanza de la lengua española un conocimiento teórico y práctico sobre las características fundamentales de la gramática y el discurso español. El contenido del curso se basa en las siguientes premisas:
El aprendizaje de la gramática no debe ser un proceso intimidante, complicado, aburrido y limitado al análisis estructural de las oraciones. Cuando se adopta una perspectiva de concientización lingüística fundamentada en un contexto discursivo, la enseñanza de patrones y de aspectos gramaticales puede convertirse en un proceso dinámico, participativo y motivador.
La concientización lingüística es un aspecto fundamental de la práctica pedagógica responsable, basada en la reflexión y con una perspectiva de largo plazo.
Los docentes de español como lengua extranjera deben ser expertos en el idioma no solo a nivel lingüístico sino también cultural. Porque no es posible aplicar una teoría de la manera en que se aprende o se enseña una disciplina determinada “sin contar con una teoría que explique lo que es esa disciplina. En el caso de la adquisición de una lengua, esa disciplina es lógicamente el idioma en sí”. (Rutherford, 1998)
De acuerdo con estas premisas, los contenidos del curso están diseñados para dar a los estudiantes la oportunidad de desarrollar destrezas que les permitan investigar y explicar las dimensiones de la estructura del español en un contexto didáctico. Las lecturas y las asignaciones abordan temas relacionados con las propiedades del discurso, el léxico, la sintaxis, la morfología y la semántica del español; su último propósito es incrementar la conciencia implícita y explícita de las propiedades estructurales y comunicativas del español, en particular las que se especifican en el programa del curso. Las tareas y las dinámicas pedagógicas de grupo tienen como objetivo proporcionar al estudiante la oportunidad de adquirir nuevos conocimientos y aplicarlos de forma práctica. El curso combina las lecturas y explicaciones teóricas con los ejercicios prácticos.
En breve, el objetivo que este curso persigue es profundizar en aspectos concretos del conocimiento y uso de la lengua española. Es un curso orientado a perfeccionar el español de los propios alumnos y, al mismo tiempo, aprender sobre el sistema de la lengua. Puede beneficiar a estudiantes con un buen dominio del idioma español que deseen ampliar sus conocimientos sobre las destrezas de escritura, así como a quienes tengan como objetivo dedicarse a la enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera (ELE).
HS474 Topics in Teaching Spanish (Spring 2008)
In this class concepts, theories and trends of applied linguistics to the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language are going to analyzed in the target language. Some theories in language acquisition are going to be examined closely. Interlanguage studies. The relationship between input, interaction and intake (mother tongue, foreign talk). Communication strategies. Personal features that affect foreign language acquisition. Learning and communication strategies (L2 and the use of strategies). Different studies of courtesy in the Hispanic World.( La Cortesia y la cortesia verbal codificada y cortesia verbal interpretada en la conversacion Cortesia en el mundo Hispano. Turn taking in conversation , the grammar of echo. Distance learning and the study of spanish. Curriculum design. A new approach to Grammar in Spanish? Focus on form. Bibliography GRIFFIN, Kim (2005). Conceptos básicos de la lingüística aplicada a la enseñanza del español como 2/L. Madrid, Arco Libros, Colección "Manuales de formación de profesores de español como segunda lengua".
Readings will be drawn from a wide variety of published and on-line materials. Requirements include a take –home mid term, class presentations, quizzes, final test and regular participation in class discussions.
HS 476 Terrorism in the Hispanic World (Spring 2008)This course will introduce students to different issues in Latin America: State terrorism, Military Repressions, The Dirty War and the Disappearance of people: Human Rights, Drug Cartels in Latin America, Terrorist attacks on Amia (the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) Argentina is home of the largest Jewish population in Latin America and this was the Argentina's deadliest bombing. Truth Commissions in Latin America.
Readings will be drawn from a wide variety of published and on-line materials. Requirements include a take-home midterm, class presentations, quizzes, final test and regular participation in class discussion.
HS482 Business Spanish (Spring 2008)
Developed for advanced students of Spanish who are interested in pursuing a career in the world of marketing, finance, management or accounting. Provides future professionals with the necessary linguistic, cultural and situational practice needed to be successful in the world of international business.
HS 483 Environmental Issues: Spain (Spring 2008)
This course offers an introduction to environmental issues. Environmental concerns often appear in the news, and it can be difficult to tell what matters, or what choice we have. In fact, future international professionals, whether they work in the policy, business, or language sectors, will encounter environmental issues on their agendas. Today we are threatened by the big environmental issues of the 21st century: global warming, climate change, pollution, and gross contamination of the atmosphere, land and oceans. Every nation faces essentially the same task of achieving its environmental protection goals while balancing other economic and social demands. Yet they all construct environmental policy in their own way and pace: founded upon their unique political, economic, legal, cultural, and geographic realities... HS483 concentrates in the country of Spain: in its environmental conditions, its responses to the environmental problems, and the mechanisms that are used by both the State and private organizations to prevent, combat, control and reduce impacts of human activities on the environment.
HS486 Spanish Online for Interns (Spring 2)Students who participate in an IPSS project in a Spanish-speaking country and have yet to fulfill the three course component will enroll in a class, HS390. While on assignment they will exchange regular written and oral reports with fellow students. The other students may be in several different countries. The course will assist individual students to build towards a final presentation to be shared online and critiqued there by faculty and fellow students. Where possible, these presentations will be gathered for presentation on campus as models for future participants in the program.
HS489 Political and Social Issues in Contemporary Mexico Provides students with an opportunity to understand Mexico's socio-economic and political development through films and in depth readings in Spanish.
HS494 European Union Issues
Provides students of Spanish, Business, Translation, Interpretation and International Relations an opportunity to study the process of European integration, with special attention to Spain. The aim of the course is to answer the following broad questions. What is the European Union? How and why did it evolve? What does it do? How does it work? What difference does it make?
