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2011-2012 Undergraduate Concentration Advisor: Professor Aldo Mazzucchelli

Spanish has become the second language of the United States and the third most spoken language in the world. Constituting over fifteen percent of the U.S. population, Hispanics play a major role in nearly every aspect of private and public life in the nation. Knowledge of Spanish and Hispanic literatures and cultures thus constitutes an essential tool in personal interactions, professional training, and international dialogue.

The Department of Hispanic Studies aims to foster in its undergraduates the necessary competence, curiosity, sensitivity, and creativity to act in an increasingly multicultural and internationalized society deeply inflected by Hispanic cultures from around the globe.

In addition to training students to speak, read, and write in Spanish, the Department aims to offer them the basic tools and contextual knowledge to properly interpret and negotiate a broad range of materials, subjects, and real-world situations involving Spanish and its cultures. And while the specialty of our faculty is language, literature, and culture, Hispanic Studies, in the spirit of Brown’s commitment to liberal education, encourages students to complement their learning in the Department with courses from a broad spectrum of fields at Brown, and with study and internship opportunities outside our university and abroad in Spain and Spanish America.

Hispanic Studies at Brown believes that an undergraduate concentration in the field should provide a comprehensive appreciation of the richness and variety of Hispanic cultures. Our students look forward to implementing their training in a range of personal and professional settings, including business and finance, education, medicine and public health, arts, law, politics, diplomacy, and humanitarian and environmental work.


The New Concentration in Hispanic Studies: Greater Leg Room for Your Imagination - PENDING APPROVAL

This year, Hispanic Studies is very excited to be launching a vastly revised concentration program. The new concentration is designed to challenge our undergraduates to prepare themselves as broadly and rigorously as possible in the study of Hispanic literatures and cultures while taking advantage of the vast opportunities offered by Brown as an institution committed to the highest liberal arts standards and by study abroad opportunities in Spain and Spanish America.

Briefly, our concentrators now have greater leg-room than ever before to explore Hispanic literatures and cultures more intensely and to complement their studies with electives from other departments at Brown or in other countries:

  • The Hispanic Studies concentration now spans ten requirements.
  • For our track in literature and culture (Option A), two of these requirements (HISP730 and HISP0740) provide a general roadmap of Hispanic Studies, introducing students to standards and methods of interpretation in the field, as well as to major works, genres, and movements in the literatures and cultures of both sides of the Atlantic.
  • Eight of these requirements (generally, 1000-level courses) provide more specific preparation in major areas of Hispanic Studies and the opportunity to complement those areas of study with electives from elsewhere at Brown or abroad.
  • Concentrators now take four advanced-level courses in the principal areas of Hispanic studies -- from medieval and early modern works all the way to works in the twenty-first century.
  • In consultation with the concentration advisor, students also choose from four elective courses that best suit their specific needs and interests.
  • Students can now also take up to four advanced-level courses in relevant fields other than Hispanic literature and culture, whether in other departments at Brown or in approved university programs in Spain or Spanish America.

The Department of Hispanic Studies offers two standard concentration programs.

A. Concentration in Hispanic Language, Literature and Culture. The concentration provides students with a comprehensive view of Hispanic (Spain and Latin America) language, literature and culture. Both introductory and upper-level courses offer opportunities to explore a particular author, genre, period, or special topic, and to learn and use diverse analytical approaches. Prerequisite: HISP 0600. The overall requirement is a minimum of ten courses. Required courses: HISP 0730, 0740, and 1900 (or 1980) for students writing an honors thesis (see below). Elective courses: at least EIGHT (1000 level courses). Consider taking one upper-level language course (i.e. HISP1210C or 1700).

B. Concentration in Hispanic Linguistics. The concentration in language AND LINGUISTICS helps students combine advanced proficiency in uses of the language with an understanding of language as a human phenomenon, through work both in Hispanic Studies and in other disciplines that, variously, analyze the functioning of language (e.g., Linguistics), use linguistic models to study other fields of human behavior (e.g., Anthropology), or provide other specialized insight (e.g., Semiotics, Philosophy, Language Pathology). Prerequisite: HISP 0600. The overall requirement is for a minimum of ten courses. Required courses: two 700 level courses (from HISP0730, 0740 and 0750); a) One introductory course in COGS (410); two of the following courses (pre-requisite: COGS410): COGS1210 and COGS1310 OR COGS1110; one of the following language Courses (POBS0110, POBS0400 or higher, or Catalan); one course in Spanish linguistics (HISP1210C); two upper-level courses such as HISP2900, ANTH1800 or SLAV1300. A final independent study course taken during the senior year provide a synthesis of the knowledge acquired in various areas of study and leading to a senior paper (20 pages) or media project, which could be developed into a senior thesis. Elective courses: three 1000- or 2000-level courses in other departments, to be distributed among at least two of the following categories: anthropology, linguistics, philosophy, semiotics, theory of literature.

Electives for Concentrations in Hispanic Literature and Culture and Language and Linguistics: The following list is more than indicative but may not be complete. Students may suggest any pertinent course to the concentration advisor for possible credit. Not all courses are offered in a given year. Where "pertinent topics" is indicated, please confer with the concentration advisor for approval of specific sections.

List of Electives:

LAST 1993 Senior Seminar

HIST 1620 Colonial Latin America

HIST 1640 Clash of Empires

HIST 1973 Maya in the Modern World

COLT 0610 Crisis & Identity in Mexico, 1519-1968

COLT 1420F Fantastic and Existentialist Literatures of Argentina

MUSC 0021 Latino Diaspora Music

RELS 085 Liberation Theology in the Americas

Concentrators are reminded that courses from Comparative Literature, History and other disciplines may be applied toward the concentration in Hispanic Studies as long as they deal with Spanish or Latin American themes, or with questions or topics that are pertinent for the study of Peninsular or Latin American culture. Individual courses may be discussed with the Concentration Advisor on a case by case basis. Up to two courses from outside of Hispanic Studies may be counted toward the concentration.

As many as four courses taken abroad may be applied towards the concentration in Hispanic Studies. These courses must meet the requirements of the concentration and be approved by the Concentration Advisor (note that they must first be approved for Brown University credit.) If you are planning to fulfill concentration requirements with courses taken abroad, please keep the syllabi and work (exams, papers) for evaluation.

Concentration Advisor:

Professor Aldo Mazzucchelli is the Concentration Advisor for the Department. A worksheet (PDF) is available to help you organize and visualize different concentration requirements. Please print it out and go over it before you see the Advisor.