Fall 2022
- SPAN 300: PRE CAPSTONE
Directed toward Spanish majors preparing for their Capstone experience, this course aims to guide the student in the process of completing a capstone proposal and initiating the preliminary steps toward the graduation ePortfolio. The ePortfolio provides evidence that a student is making satisfactory progress toward meeting the Core requirements and Major Learning Outcomes (MLOs) for the Spanish B.A.
In the Fall of 2022 I had taken the course of Spanish 300: Pre-Capstone with Professor Pozzi which fulfills MLO 6: Research and Methodology. Through this course I had learned about techniques when conducting research . The course materials were based on collecting, managing, and analyzing current technology-based resources to develop our scholarly work such as the CAPSTONE. The Capstone project had to be done in groups. I had planned to do my capstone alone since I wanted to focus on the indigenous community. Most of the other groups focused on feminism and bilingual education. Good topic, I just could not relate to the topic. Therefore, I partnered up with Samuel since both of us were a minority in the Hispanic/Latino community. We both could relate in a few things such as an identity crisis. In the process we looked for scholarly articles. Moving forward, we started with rough drafts of the abstract and investigation. In addition, to the rough drafts. In class we also had to start on our E portfolio. For our E portfolio we did course reflective narratives about the classes we have taken to fulfill our major requirements in order. The Pre-Capstone prepared me for the Capstone project.
- SPAN 304: INTRO TO HISPANIC LITERATURE
This course introduces the principles of literary analysis, based on reading and discussion of Hispanic literary texts. Includes fiction, drama, essay, and poetry from Spain and Spanish America.
In the fall of 2022 I had taken the course of Spanish 304: Intro to Hispanic Literature with Professor Oliva which fulfills MLO 3 : Literary and Cultural Knowledge. Through this course I had learned about hispanic literature text. The course materials were based on literary analysis, on reading and discussion of fiction, drama, essay, and poetry from Spain and Spanish America. The class was full of discussions and group work that helped students develop a better understanding and a better perspective of literary analysis. I had enjoyed working with my classmates on a presentation “ La canción del Pirata,” which is a poem written by Jose Espronceda that addresses liberty and independence. Each member of the team was given a task on the presentation. My task was to analyze the poem structure. In my analysis I had found that the poem was divided into 5 parts each discussing different aspects of liberty and independence. Also, I had to find how many verses and strophe it has? and, how it affects the rhythm of the poem. Aside from the presentation, I enjoyed the moral of the poem. It discusses liberty and independence the sailor rather be in his bout navigating the world fighting death everyday without following the norms of society living like a marginalized person.
- SPAN 306: CULTURE/CIVILIZATION SPAIN & LATIN AMERICA
This course presents a historical and cultural overview of Hispanic Latin America from its pre-Columbian origins to the present through works of literature, art, music, and video clips.
In the fall of 2022 I had taken the course Spanish 306: Culture/Civilization of Span Ltn Amer with professor Oliva which fulfilled MLO 3. Through this course I had learned about the Civilization of Latin America. This course was based on literature, art, music, presentation and video clips. These sources help me understand pre-columbian history. In order to understand pre-columbian history we had to do our own research, pick a civilization and research their lifestyle before the conquest. The presentations consisted of different topics; the topic that my group had was, “Mayan Civilization,”we explained the importance of the Maya civilization and their development and lifestyle. My contribution to the presentation was to discuss Popol Vuh and Chilam Balam, both are narratives. Popol Vuh illustrates history, legend, religion, astrology that contributes the origin of the world and nature of the quiche community. The book is divided into four sections which discusses the formation of earth and the first man, time and death, how the man praises its gods, lastly the formation of the quiche tribe and the relationship with other tribes. On the other hand, Chilam Balam illustrates prophecies that will reveal the future. Chilam Balam's purpose is to hold the secrets of the Maya Civilization.
- SPAN 345: BILINGUALISM IN THE SPANISH WORLD
This course will first explore the nature of bilingualism, focusing on its neurolinguistic, psycholinguistic, and linguistic aspects. Students will examine the most important concepts and research questions in these areas. In addition, the class will focus on bilingualism in the United States and the Spanish-speaking world, including the examination of bilingual education programs (e.g., immersion programs) and important political matters connected to them.
In the Fall 0f 2022 I had taken the course of Spanish 345: Bilingualism in the Spanish World with Professor Pozzi, which fulfills MLO 5. Throughout the course I actively immersed myself into the emphasis on Latin America, Spain, and the United States and the nature of bilingualism. During the course I had really enjoyed reading El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante by Montrul. The book had a range of topics about Spanish bilingualism regarding the social, political, and cultural contexts of bilingualism in the US, Spain, and Latin America. This book is fundamental because it addresses issues of bilingualism. Bilingualism is complex as a sociopolitical and cultural phenomenon. The book focuses both in society and as an individual it also includes bilingualism in education. Three things I got from this book is the following: The book gives us an insight of who is considered bilingual and how people view what being bilingual is supposed to be like. The United States opts for monolingualism, whereas Europe opts for multilingualism, yet, in Mexico there has been a decline in indigenous languages. Also, how learning two languages can affect the individual to be fluent depending at what age they learn the languages.