Spanish Culture I
A.Y. 2020/2021
Learning objectives
The course aims at perfecting and refining skills acquired during the bachelor, providing a wide and solid knowledge concerning Spanish contemporary culture, examining in depth its historical and cultural roots and the long-lasting phenomena that have influenced the evolution of the country. The main political, social, economical and cultural changes in Spain will be analyzed through the circumstantial examination of some historical moments and correlated cultural productions. The relationships among culture, discursive strategies, social phenomena, mass communication, production and consumption of cultural products (especially pertaining literary, visual and musical disciplines) will be studied using a humanities approach and an interdisciplinary angle. To reach this goal and facilitate the understanding of topics presented during the course, appropriate semiotic and linguistic tools will be provided.
Expected learning outcomes
The course aims at further perfecting, compared to the bachelor, the ability to understand the most significant cultural changes that have characterized contemporary Spain, taking also into account its relationship with the past, whose reading and interpretation allows to understand the present and contributes at entering critically and projectually into the future. Students will acquire the necessary tools to deal with the topic under study from an interdisciplinary perspective. Moreover, they will be able to communicate with command, linguistically and content-wise, the knowledge they acquired during the course. Finally, students will gain a particular methodological expertise concerning cultural studies; they will be able to gather, analyze and use the best critical bibliography and, if needed, perform research on the subject.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Lesson period
First semester
The course will be held entirely online, alternating synchronous (Teams) and asynchronous modes (Ariel). Full instructions will be regularly found on the Ariel website of the course.
Course syllabus
The course is entitled "Atlantic Spain (Galicia, Basque Country, Canary Islands)" and is divided into two parts, which will be developed in sequence:
A: Spain of the Autonomous Communities. Galicia and the "Camino de Santiago".
B: The Basque Country and the Canary Islands.
Starting from the idea of a "plural" Spain, with its marked regional differences, and the division of the country into Autonomous Communities, the course proposes a trip to three regions of Atlantic Spain with a strong cultural personality: Galicia, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands.
We will study elements of history and geography of each of them, then we will look at tourism (landscapes, artistic heritage, gastronomy, etc.), the image offered by contemporary Spanish cinema and especially literature (with authors such as E. Pardo Bazán and M. Rivas for Galicia, B. Atxaga for the Basque Country and A. Rodríguez Concepción for the Canary Islands). We will also acquire linguistic rudiments relating to Galician, Basque or Euskara and the Canarian dialect. Finally, we will reflect on the special links of these lands with the other side of the Atlantic, Hispanic America.
This syllabus is valid until December 2022.
A: Spain of the Autonomous Communities. Galicia and the "Camino de Santiago".
B: The Basque Country and the Canary Islands.
Starting from the idea of a "plural" Spain, with its marked regional differences, and the division of the country into Autonomous Communities, the course proposes a trip to three regions of Atlantic Spain with a strong cultural personality: Galicia, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands.
We will study elements of history and geography of each of them, then we will look at tourism (landscapes, artistic heritage, gastronomy, etc.), the image offered by contemporary Spanish cinema and especially literature (with authors such as E. Pardo Bazán and M. Rivas for Galicia, B. Atxaga for the Basque Country and A. Rodríguez Concepción for the Canary Islands). We will also acquire linguistic rudiments relating to Galician, Basque or Euskara and the Canarian dialect. Finally, we will reflect on the special links of these lands with the other side of the Atlantic, Hispanic America.
This syllabus is valid until December 2022.
Prerequisites for admission
The prerequisites for admission are essentially two: 1) knowledge of the Spanish language, since study materials, course, and exams will all be in Spanish; 2) knowledge of Spanish culture at a bachelor course level.
Teaching methods
The course adopts the following teaching methods: frontal lectures; reading and commentary of texts; seminar discussions; individual and group work; viewing and commentary of films and documentaries.
Teaching Resources
The course has a website on the online platform Ariel (https://dmaneracsiiilin.ariel.ctu.unimi.it) where students will find a detailed bibliography of each didactic unit, critical articles for in-depth studies and a large digital anthology of original texts that will be commented in class.
The teacher provides in digital format all the reference materials and links necessary for the exam.
The program is the same for both attending and non-attending students. Attendance will therefore not be recorded, but it is advisable to register for the course by sending an email to the teacher.
The teacher provides in digital format all the reference materials and links necessary for the exam.
The program is the same for both attending and non-attending students. Attendance will therefore not be recorded, but it is advisable to register for the course by sending an email to the teacher.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of an individual interview, which includes questions asked by the professor, interactions between professor and student and the analysis and commentary of one or more passages taken from the works in the syllabus. It will normally take place in Spanish.
The interview aims to verify the knowledge and understanding of the texts, the expression skills, the precision in the use of specific terminology, the ability to reflect critically and personally on the proposed issues. The exam will be assessed especially concerning the ability to present learning outcomes through a communicative and argumentative discourse that can transversally integrate socio-political, historical, economic and cultural notions acquired during the course.
A space will be dedicated during the course to the presentation of collective works by students, on a voluntary basis, which will be evaluated for the exam.
The final grade is expressed in a scale up to 30, and the student has the right to refuse it (in which case it will be recorded as "withdrawn").
The exam will take place in presence or online according to the guidelines in force at the time.
International students or incoming Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor as soon as possible. The examination procedures for students with disabilities and/or with DSA must be agreed with the professor and the competent office.
The interview aims to verify the knowledge and understanding of the texts, the expression skills, the precision in the use of specific terminology, the ability to reflect critically and personally on the proposed issues. The exam will be assessed especially concerning the ability to present learning outcomes through a communicative and argumentative discourse that can transversally integrate socio-political, historical, economic and cultural notions acquired during the course.
A space will be dedicated during the course to the presentation of collective works by students, on a voluntary basis, which will be evaluated for the exam.
The final grade is expressed in a scale up to 30, and the student has the right to refuse it (in which case it will be recorded as "withdrawn").
The exam will take place in presence or online according to the guidelines in force at the time.
International students or incoming Erasmus students are invited to contact the professor as soon as possible. The examination procedures for students with disabilities and/or with DSA must be agreed with the professor and the competent office.
L-LIN/05 - SPANISH LITERATURE - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor:
Manera Danilo