ELEMENTARY PORTUGUESE I

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.

• Instructor: Ana P Huback
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY PORTUGUESE I

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.

• Instructor: Ana P Huback
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Aaron R Boalick
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Aaron R Boalick
  Info
• Instructor: Diana Romero
  CULPA: 27 Info
• Instructor: Lorena Garcia Barroso
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Lorena Garcia Barroso
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Lorena Garcia Barroso
  CULPA: 3 Info
• Instructor: Irene Alonso-Aparicio
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Irene Alonso-Aparicio
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Irene Alonso-Aparicio
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY PORTUGUESE II

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.

• Instructor: Ana P Huback
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Jose Placido Ruiz-Campillo
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Jose Placido Ruiz-Campillo
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Jose Placido Ruiz-Campillo
  Info
• Instructor: Juan P Jimenez-Caicedo
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Juan P Jimenez-Caicedo
  CULPA: 10 Info
• Instructor: Nicholas Figueroa
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Nicholas Figueroa
  Info
• 4 points

ELEMENTARY SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Nicholas Figueroa
  Info
• 4 points

Elementary Spanish for Heritage Speakers

Elem Spanish Heritage Spe

Prerequisites: 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 UN1108 is to build upon and further develop the informal knowledge of Spanish that heritage learners bring to the classroom—usually from family and neighborhood exposure to the language—and cultivate formal speaking, listening, reading, and writing abilities. Students are not expected to have any academic training in written Spanish prior to enrolling in this course.

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.

• Instructor: Diana Romero
  CULPA: 27 Info
• 4 points

Elementary Spanish for Heritage Speakers

Elem Spanish Heritage Spe

Prerequisites: 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 UN1108 is to build upon and further develop the informal knowledge of Spanish that heritage learners bring to the classroom—usually from family and neighborhood exposure to the language—and cultivate formal speaking, listening, reading, and writing abilities. Students are not expected to have any academic training in written Spanish prior to enrolling in this course.

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.

• Instructor: Diana Romero
  CULPA: 27 Info
• 4 points

RAPID READING AND TRANSLATION

This course, conducted in English, is designed to help graduate students from other departments gain proficiency in reading and translating Spanish texts for scholarly research. The course prepares students to take the Reading Proficiency Exam that most graduate departments demand to fulfill the foreign-language proficiency requirement in that language. Graduate students with any degree of knowledge of Spanish are welcome. A grade of A- or higher in this class will satisfy the GSAS foreign language proficiency requirement in Spanish.

• Instructor: Leyre Alejaldre Biel
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 5 Info
• 3 points

COMPREHENSIVE BEG CATALAN

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.

• Instructor: Elsa Ubeda
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 4 points

COMP ELEM PORT I/II-SPAN SPKRS

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.

• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE CATALAN I

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.

• Instructor: Elsa Ubeda
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE PORTUGUESE I

Prerequisites: PORT W1120 or the equivalent. General review of grammar, with emphasis on self-expression through oral and written composition, reading, conversation, and discussion.

• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Reyes Llopis-Garcia
  CULPA: 10 h-index: 10 Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Reyes Llopis-Garcia
  CULPA: 10 h-index: 10 Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Reyes Llopis-Garcia
  CULPA: 10 h-index: 10 Info
• Instructor: Lee B Abraham
  CULPA: 7 Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Lee B Abraham
  CULPA: 7 Info
• Instructor: Lola Barbazan Capeans
  Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Lola Barbazan Capeans
  Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Lola Barbazan Capeans
  Info
• Instructor: Angelina Craig-Florez
  CULPA: 14 Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

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.

• Instructor: Angelina Craig-Florez
  CULPA: 14 Info
• 4 points

Intermed. Portuguese II

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.

• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Ximena Gonzalez-Parada
  Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Ximena Gonzalez-Parada
  Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Ximena Gonzalez-Parada
  Info
• Instructor: Leyre Alejaldre Biel
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 5 Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Leyre Alejaldre Biel
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 5 Info
• Instructor: Juan Pablo Cominguez
  CULPA: 5 Info
• 4 points

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH II

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.

• Instructor: Juan Pablo Cominguez
  CULPA: 5 Info
• 4 points

INTERMED SPAN II - MEDICAL

HEALTH-RELATED TOPICS

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.

• Instructor: Juan Pablo Cominguez
  CULPA: 5 Info
• 4 points

Intermediate Spanish II: Telenovelas and

This is an intermediate II-level that fulfills the last semester of the foreign language requirement. It is a project-based course that integrates the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking culture through the study and the creation of a serial audiovisual fiction product, such as a soap opera (
telenovela
) or a series.

The class project consists of filming a three-episode original
telenovela
in Spanish. Students work in groups to film the episodes as scriptwriters, directors, cinematographers, camerapersons, and actors.

During the course, we will watch different soap operas (
telenovelas
) and series that will serve as inspiration for the students' creations. The course explores these products as cultural objects and vehicles of history and ideology as well as language samples of different varieties of Spanish, not only in terms of geographical differences but also of social ones. We will watch and analyze classics such as
Yo soy Betty, la fea
(
I am Betty la Fea)
to modern ones such as
La casa de las flores (The House of Flowers)
. All genres will be covered: melodramas, action, science fiction, comedies, and parodies, in productions from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. As they are not intended for language learning but for non-learners, students can address the challenge of listening to and understanding authentic cultural products with the help of an instructor and a project.

The course's language content is the same as the intermediate II syllabus of the Spanish Program of the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, with some additions, especially in interaction, cinematography, and audiovisual fiction.

 

At the end of the semester, and according the expectations of an intermediate level, the students should be able to…


Work as a team in Spanish.

Understand and discuss the contents and ideologies present in Latin American audiovisual fiction.

Create (Write a script, act and film) an audiovisual fiction product in Spanish.

Participate in conversations about personal topics, feelings, and emotions.

Summarize the main topics of various types of cultural texts for a speaker of my language.

Have the resources to express opinions in debates on course topics.

Be able to self-assess my own linguistic production and that of my classmates.

Understand and produce oral and w

• Instructor: Guadalupe Ruiz-Fajardo
  CULPA: 13 h-index: 5 Info
• 4 points

Intermediate Spanish II: Telenovelas and

This is an intermediate II-level that fulfills the last semester of the foreign language requirement. It is a project-based course that integrates the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking culture through the study and the creation of a serial audiovisual fiction product, such as a soap opera (
telenovela
) or a series.

The class project consists of filming a three-episode original
telenovela
in Spanish. Students work in groups to film the episodes as scriptwriters, directors, cinematographers, camerapersons, and actors.

During the course, we will watch different soap operas (
telenovelas
) and series that will serve as inspiration for the students' creations. The course explores these products as cultural objects and vehicles of history and ideology as well as language samples of different varieties of Spanish, not only in terms of geographical differences but also of social ones. We will watch and analyze classics such as
Yo soy Betty, la fea
(
I am Betty la Fea)
to modern ones such as
La casa de las flores (The House of Flowers)
. All genres will be covered: melodramas, action, science fiction, comedies, and parodies, in productions from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. As they are not intended for language learning but for non-learners, students can address the challenge of listening to and understanding authentic cultural products with the help of an instructor and a project.

The course's language content is the same as the intermediate II syllabus of the Spanish Program of the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, with some additions, especially in interaction, cinematography, and audiovisual fiction.

 

At the end of the semester, and according the expectations of an intermediate level, the students should be able to…


Work as a team in Spanish.

Understand and discuss the contents and ideologies present in Latin American audiovisual fiction.

Create (Write a script, act and film) an audiovisual fiction product in Spanish.

Participate in conversations about personal topics, feelings, and emotions.

Summarize the main topics of various types of cultural texts for a speaker of my language.

Have the resources to express opinions in debates on course topics.

Be able to self-assess my own linguistic production and that of my classmates.

Understand and produce oral and w

• Instructor: Guadalupe Ruiz-Fajardo
  CULPA: 13 h-index: 5 Info
• 4 points

COMPREHENSIVE INTERMED PORT

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.

• Instructor: Joao Nemi Neto
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

COMPREHENSIVE INTER SPANISH

Prerequisites: This course is an intensive and fast-paced coverage of both Spanish UN 2101-Intermediate Spanish I and Spanish UN 2102-Intermediate Spanish II. Students MUST demonstrate a strong foundation in Spanish and meet the following REQUIREMENTS: either a score ABOVE 480 on the Department’s Spanish as a Second Language Placement Examination; or an A or higher in SPAN UN 1102-Elementary Spanish II; or an A- or higher in SPAN UN 1120-Comprehensive Beginning Spanish. If you fulfill the above requirements, you do not need the instructor's 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. Replaces the sequence SPAN UN2101-SPAN UN2102. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.

• Instructor: Angelina Craig-Florez
  CULPA: 14 Info
• 4 points

ADV LANGUAGE THROUGH CONTENT

SEXUALIDADES LGBTT NO BRASIL

Corequisites: PORT UN1220 An intensive exposure to advanced points of Portuguese grammar and structure through written and oral practice, along with an introduction to the basic principles of academic composition in Portuguese. This course is required for the concentration in Portuguese Studies. This course is intended to improve Portuguese language skills in grammar, comprehension, and critical thinking through an archive of texts from literature, film, music, newspapers, critical reception and more. To do so, we will work through Portuguese-speaking communities and cultures from Brazil, to Portugal and Angola, during the twentieth and twenty-first century, to consider the mode in which genre, gender and sexuality materialize and are codified, disoriented, made, unmade and refigured through cultural productions, bodies, nation and resistant vernaculars of aesthetics and performance, always attentive to the intersections of gender with class and racism.

• Instructor: Joao Nemi Neto
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 3 points

ADV LANGUAGE THROUGH CONTENT

SALSA: AFRO-LATIN CUL STORIES

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.

• Instructor: Juan P Jimenez-Caicedo
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 3 points

ADV LANGUAGE THROUGH CONTENT

HISPANIC SCREEN MELODRAMA

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.

• Instructor: Aaron R Boalick
  Info
• 3 points

ADV LANGUAGE THROUGH CONTENT

INTRODUCTION CATALAN CULTURES

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.

• Instructor: Elsa Ubeda
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 3 points

HISPANIC CULTURES I (SP)

ISLAMIC SPAIN-COLONIAL PERIOD

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.

• 3 points

HISPANIC CULTURES II (SP)

ENLIGHTENMENT THROUGH PRESENT

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.

• Instructor: Graciela Montaldo
  Info
• 3 points

BRAZILIAN SOCIETY & CIV (ENG)

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.

• Instructor: Joao Nemi Neto
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 3 points

Women, Culture, Activism & Gender in Lat

Activism & Gender in Lati

The course focuses on women, culture, and activism in contemporary Latin America through the discussion of manifestos, essays, visual works, films, literature, blogs, music, and new cultural experiences. We will approach two main demands of women on the streets: claims against violence (“femicidios”) and the expansion of rights.

Students will be introduced to theoretical writing on Latin American feminisms in different contexts (mainly Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, Chile, Peru). This course will provide students with an accurate understanding of some of the topics of contemporary Latin American feminism and activism related to new subjectivities, politics, and culture. The course develops a wide range of cultural practices and includes topics as practices of resistance, representation of violence, gender as spectacle, and new phenomena such as urban protests. We will also trace a relevant genealogy of women struggles in Latin America. The class will be conducted in Spanish and all written assignments will also be in that language.

• Instructor: Graciela Montaldo
  Info
• 3 points

TOURISM&NATL ID-CONTEMP SPAIN

This course focuses on tourism in Spain by local and international travelers as a means for the construction and commodification of national identities both for external and internal audiences. Tourism gives the nation a performative quality not only to attract the gaze of visitors/consumers but also to validate its own unity and coherence as political and symbolic entity for its own citizens. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Spain occupied an ambiguous place in the mind of European and American visitors, a sort of an-other within, an Orientalized or anachronistic incursion in the south of Europe. It was the most marginal and exotic destination of the
Grand Tour
where only the most adventurous travelers chose to go, often instead of Greece, a threshold of Africa instead of the origins of Western Civilization.

After losing its American colonies in the 19th century, Spain sought to
replace
its lost economic and political power
with
cultural influence. It aimed to be the
threshold
through which Europe and Latin America engaged with one another. Key figures of Latin American
modernismo
such as Rubén Darío, José Martí or Gutiérrez Nájera traveled to Spain establishing a systematic dialogue between the former colonial power and the rising influence of the United States.

The arrival of consumer society in the 50’s and 60’s and the accessibility of travel and holidays for the middle classes, progressively turned Spaniards themselves into consumers of their own identity. In that context, the performance of the exotic “difference” that still made the nation marketable and attracted international interest and capital was simultaneous with a progressive assimilation of modern ideas and habits that threatened to erase that very same “difference”. At the same time, both conservative and progressive discourses reacted with fear and resentment towards what was perceived as the threat of secularism or the standardizing and capitalist values brought by a touristic industry that became essential for the economic survival of the nation.

Finally a democratic Spain, systematically dissolved the difference between culture and international relationships in an attempt to project the image of a re-imagined national project, putting in the hands of the Ministry of International Affairs a great part of the responsibility for Cultural Politics. At the same time, t

• Instructor: Alberto Medina
  Info
• 3 points

The Art of the Question in Latin America

The Question in Latin Ame

This course investigates the role of the question as a central artistic, political, and epistemological device in Latin American art from the early twentieth century to the present. We will explore how artists have deployed questions not merely as rhetorical devices or titles, but as strategies that shape form, content, and spectatorship—provoking reflection, resistance, and transformation.

Through case studies ranging from Oswald de Andrade’s provocative “Tupy or not Tupy?” (1928) and Marta Minujín’s playful “What types of materials turn you on?” (1968) to Alfredo Jaar’s public survey ¿Es usted feliz? (1981) and Clemencia Lucena’s feminist intervention ¿Qué hacen ellas mientras ellos trabajan? (1970), students will examine the diverse functions of questioning in visual art, performance, literature, and other media. Class discussions will focus on the aesthetic, political, and epistemic implications of questions in art: How do these works shape audience engagement? In what ways do they resist resolution? How do they generate critique, knowledge, or political action? We will also consider transnational and diasporic contexts, exploring how Latin American artists navigate questions across cultural and geographic boundaries.

The course is structured around five modules—Questioning Identity, Questioning the Patriarchy, Questioning Dictatorship, Questioning Spectatorship, and Questioning the Real—that highlight key moments in modern and contemporary Latin American art to uncover how uncertainty and questioning have shaped aesthetic and political imagination.

• Instructor: Jeronimo Duarte Riascos
  Info
• 3 points

Children and Youth in Caribbean Politica

Children/Youth Carib Poli

In this course, we will survey the many instances in which the bodies of children and teenagers have served as colonial tropes advancing mainstream depictions of Caribbean identities as feeble, dependent, and disabled; hints of hope amidst a narrative of disaster; and/or spaces for power negotiation in the contemporary Caribbean and its diaspora. Starting with some historical context from the 19th century, the course will primarily focus on the 20th- and 21st-century Hispanic Caribbean and Haiti by engaging with national formations, revolutions, and catastrophism. Among the questions to explore are: How have children and youth’s bodies been weaponized within Caribbean politics by diverse discourses, agents, and media? What roles have they played in diaspora and migration struggles faced by U.S. Latinx communities? How have they been used to either perpetuate or destabilize capitalism and totalitarianism? An array of diverse materials will include literature and visual arts (film, photography, painting) featuring infant/teen-like representations of the Caribbean and its diasporic communities through traditions such as the Puerto Rican
baquiné
, the Cuban
pionero
, the Dominican
rayano
children, and the
restavek
children in Haiti, among many others. In order to enhance students’ awareness of the impact of the different media at play, the course will also inquire into how diverse artifacts and medium’s infrastructures condition our relationship with these Caribbean bodies both as a trope and a material reality. This course will also foster a workshop on children/teens’s literature, accompanied by a community open house for students to share their works with migrant Caribbean and Latino/a children and youth. This course will also foster a workshop on children/teens’s literature, accompanied by a community open house for students to share their works with migrant Caribbean and Latino/a children and youth.

• Instructor: Jacqueline Garcia Suarez
  Info
• 3 points

CONVERSATION IN SPANISH:PRACTICE AND ANA

CONVERSATION IN SP: PRACTICE &

This is a course in Spanish conversation. Students will study and practice features of social interaction in Spanish that are crucial to participate in the new culture. This means the course has two learning objectives: One is learning to engage in regular conversations in Spanish; the other is to understand how conversation works. We will cover conversational issues such as gesture, narratives, intonation, opening and closing interactions, turn taking, etc. both in linguistics and social terms. Practice and analysis will be connected: Every week we will consider an aspect of oral interaction in Spanish. We will study those features in naturally occurring conversations among native speakers and we will practice in actual conversations inside and outside the classroom, by means of role play, simulation, film making, debates and interviews. We will use topics of conversation to provide a meaningful environment for the conversation practice.

• Instructor: Guadalupe Ruiz-Fajardo
  CULPA: 13 h-index: 5 Info
• 3 points

A Practical Approach to Second Language

Second Language Teaching

This graduate seminar serves as a continuation of SPPO GR6001 (“Theory and Practice of Second Language Teaching”) and it is intended for in-service instructors of language, and language and content courses at the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at Columbia University. It focuses on the application in the second language (SL) classroom of the pedagogical principles reviewed in the previous semester, with emphasis on methodological approaches and applied techniques.

Students will be directly mentored regarding the classroom treatment and presentation of grammatical, lexical, socio-cultural, and pragmatic aspects of the language in the SL classroom. From a communicative approach and beyond, they will also continue to engage with basic teaching techniques such as lesson planning, use of the target language, technology integration, task design, and the use of written and oral authentic materials. They will learn practically how to promote the development of students’ abilities for literacy and critical thinking. Finally, they will be carefully guided through the actual design and implementation of testing and assessment measures for the course they are teaching. In this seminar, we will also analyze real and potential case scenarios that will/may arise in the classroom and we will consider tactics to resolve problems that typically occur. Reflective teaching practices (teachers as learners of teaching, dynamics of classroom communication, the role of teachers’ beliefs about pedagogical practices) will be revisited and rethought.

• Instructor: Francisca Aguilo Mora
  CULPA: 5 Info
• 2 points

Across the Strait of Gibraltar

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.

• Instructor: Seth R Kimmel
  CULPA: 7 Info
• 4 points

In/disciplines of the Quotidian: Spanish

In/disciplines of Quotidi

“In/disciplines of the Quotidian: Spanish Still Lives and the Politics of the Overlooked” is an interdisciplinary cultural studies course that investigates how the ordinary becomes a site of tension, meaning, and critique across Spanish artistic traditions. Taking as its point of departure two productive contradictions—the paradox of still life/
Naturaleza muerta
(simultaneously immobile and vital) and the 
bodegón
 as both a lively social space and an emptied, object-filled scene—the course examines how the materiality of objects and backgrounds administer absence, presence and attention, reshape cultural narratives but also structure the political.

The course is grounded in a theoretical framework that treats materiality as inherently political, asking how objects participate in the organization of social life and regimes of value. Drawing on Thomas Lemke’s notion of the “government of things,” it considers how power operates not only through subjects but through arrangements of objects, infrastructures, and environments that shape conduct and perception. At the same time, it stages a dialogue between new materialist approaches—which emphasize the agency and vitality of matter—and Marxist materialisms, with their focus on labor, commodity relations, and historical conditions. Rather than opposing these traditions, the course explores their productive dialogue, showing how attention to lively matter can coexist with a critical social and political analysis ultimately reframing the overlooked object as both an active force, tool and sediment of social relations.

We will focus on very different contexts and objects of study from a comparative diachronic perspective, starting with seventeenth and eighteenth-century Spanish still life painting (Sánchez Cotán, Zurbarán, Meléndez, Goya) where everyday objects—food, vessels, tools—appear suspended in time yet charged with latent energy. These compositions negotiate life and stillness, abundance and austerity, the quotidian and the mystical, while also reflecting class structures, domestic labor, and consumption. The 
bodegón
emerges here as a conceptual hinge: a trace of human interaction or monastic solitude, but also a script of its outside, and a religious and  political pedagogy.

The course then turns to avant-garde literature and film of the 1920s, where writers and film-makers fragme

• Instructor: Alberto Medina
  Info
• 4 points

SUPERVISED INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH

Prerequisites: graduate standing. Students register in this course while preparing their M.Phil. examinations and prospectus--usually in the fall and spring of their third year.

• Instructor: Alberto Medina
  Info
• Instructor: Bruno Bosteels
  Wikipedia h-index: 21 Info
• Instructor: Jacqueline Garcia Suarez
  Info
• Instructor: Alessandra Russo
  CULPA: 5 Info
• Instructor: Jeronimo Duarte Riascos
  Info
• 3-6 points

SUPERVISED INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH

SUPERVISED INDIV. RESEARCH

Prerequisites: graduate standing. Students register in this course while preparing their M.Phil. examinations and prospectus--usually in the fall and spring of their third year.

• Instructor: Graciela Montaldo
  Info
• Instructor: Seth R Kimmel
  CULPA: 7 Info
• 3-6 points