SPAN305-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025

Journey Through Hispanic Civilisation and Culture

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2025
End Date: Sunday, 22 June 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 2 March 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 11 May 2025

Description

This course employs a historical approach to study Hispanic civilisation and culture. The first part of the course will focus on Spanish history and culture and the second part will be devoted to the history and the culture of Latin America. This course requires previous knowledge of Spanish as part of its content and some assessments will be entirely in Spanish.

SPAN305 is a half-year course designed to introduce the student to significant people, events, places and cultural practices throughout the Spanish-speaking world from the early days of their civilisations until the present. This course employs a historical approach to study Hispanic culture, thus creating an inter-textual dialogue between the past and the present. It is structured so that the first part of the course will focus on Spanish history and culture, and the second part will be dedicated to the history and the culture of Latin America; emphasis will be placed throughout the course on their interaction and its consequences. Since it is impossible to cover in depth all aspects of civilisations that have existed for a period of more than 2,000 years, the course will cover only those features most important to the exploration of the ways in which both Spain and Latin America have evolved to its present state.  

This course requires knowledge of Spanish at 200 level as part of it is taught in Spanish.

Learning Outcomes

  • Have a thorough overview and understanding of the history and the development of Spanish and Latin American culture and civilization, and their inter-textual dialogue between the past and the present, through the knowledge of major events and important movements, figures, and influences on and from Spain and Latin America throughout history.
  • Have an understanding of the multifaceted nature of the people who inhabit Spain and Latin America today, and be able to develop a sense of solidarity with the hopes, dreams and struggles of the people in Latin America.
  • Have a more in-depth knowledge of the major European/Spanish and Latin American cultural and artistic movements, and of a variety of examples of art, literature and architecture of Spain and the native people of the Americas before the conquest, as well as artistic, literary and architectural examples resulting of the cultural blending after the conquest. By analogy, this knowledge can make students more attuned to bicultural contexts in the modern world.
  • Have developed intellectual curiosity and be able to comprehend the influence of global conditions on Spain and Latin America and, thus, acquired enhanced global and intercultural understanding and competency in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.
  • Have acquired a heightened understanding of biculturalism in New Zealand, by reflecting on and establishing parallels between the processes of colonisation of Hispanic America and Aotearoa.
  • Be able to conduct research and write some appropriate length papers in Spanish language (informative and analytical) on Spanish and Latin American culture.
  • Show a good level of critical thinking and argumentative skills, thus further engraining critical competence in students, which extends far beyond Spanish studies, through active
    participation in class, and writing up of the analytical essays.
  • Have gained confidence in public speaking (rhetoric: argumentation and persuasion), a highly employable trait for many disciplines, thanks to brief oral presentations in English for the junior students (200 level), in consistence with the Māori mentoring scheme tuakanateina, and oral presentations in Spanish for classmates at 300 level.
  • Have developed competence in reading a variety of texts in their original language (Spanish), such as historical, political, and literary documents.
  • Have developed heightened linguistic proficiency in written and oral Spanish expression, thanks to the writing up of two analytical essays, and an oral presentation.
    • University Graduate Attributes

      This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

      Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

      Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

      Employable, innovative and enterprising

      Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

      Biculturally competent and confident

      Students will be aware of and understand the nature of biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, and its relevance to their area of study and/or their degree.

      Engaged with the community

      Students will have observed and understood a culture within a community by reflecting on their own performance and experiences within that community.

      Globally aware

      Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.

Prerequisites

Any 45 points at 200 level from any subject, including SPAN202 or placement test.

Restrictions

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Monday 12:00 - 13:00 Jack Erskine 315
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00 Jack Erskine 315
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Lecture C
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 12:00 - 13:00 Jack Erskine 315
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Lecture D
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 13:00 - 14:00 Jack Erskine 315
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Victoria Escaip

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Test 1 25%
Test 2 25%
Analytical Essay 1 (Spanish) 15%
Analytical Essay 2 (Spanish) 15%
Participation 10% attendence + class discussion
Comprehensive oral presentation (in Spanish) 10% Due dateTBA

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Fuentes, C; The buried mirror: Reflections on Spain and the New World ; 1st Edition; Mariner Books, 1999.

*This book is currently out of print. Therefore you will be able to find a copy on LEARN, on the Course Information section:

Additional materials will be handed in in class. Links for additional material for homework and/or
self-learning will be posted on Learn.

Other material, which may be helpful, can be found in the Library Subject Guides:

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,788.00

International fee $8,200.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .

All SPAN305 Occurrences

  • SPAN305-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025