Transatlantic Encounters: Spain and the Americas
Study in Madrid, Spain March 6-15, 2009.
For information, please contact Ginny Pellam-Montalbano at 443-9417 or gapellam@syr.edu
Application packets are available online or at SU Abroad, 106 Walnut Place.
Courses
SPA300.1/ETS300.1/LAS300.1: Spain and the Americas: Cultural Encounters, Transatlantic Connections (1 credit)
This 10-day, one-credit course will take you to Spain to examine some of the cultural history that through several centuries has linked the Iberian Peninsula and the Western Hemisphere. Through exciting readings, lectures, and site-visits, this course will survey the rich and complex web of exchanges reflected in the many U.S. and Latin American writers with personal ties to Spain as well as Spanish authors who have interacted with the United States and Latin America.
You will visit the Archivo de Indias in Seville, the Naval Museum of Madrid, the Museum of America, Madrid Literario, Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofía, and Casa de América, among other sites that are particularly relevant to the American, Spanish, and Latin American writers on the syllabus. The visits will highlight the work of men and women of letters moving physically and imaginatively across a Transatlantic continuum, revealing thus a triangular cultural intersection that has shaped visions of race, ethnicity, nation, citizenship, and belonging in Spain, Latin America, and the United States.
The long encounter of groups, individuals, political constituencies, and intellectual projects from each of these geopolitical sites has often helped to affirm both the elasticity and the rigidity of national and cultural identities. The readings and site visits will show this Euro-US-Latin American interplay of bodies of writing in historical perspective, concluding with a look at current interconnections between Spain and the Americas.
Eligibility: With permission of the instructors, the course is open to students in 300-level SPA courses and ETS students with relevant competencies. The course is designed to be taken jointly with Professor Lara-Bonilla’s SPA 321,“Introduction to Spanish Literature” or Professor Torres-Saillant’s ETS 350/LAS 300, “Transatlantic Letters: America and Spain,” whose students will be given priority during registration. The course will be conducted in Spanish and English, following a two-track language proficiency model. Class size will be limited to 25.
Faculty
Silvio Torres-Saillant, Associate Professor in the English Department and Director of the Latino-Latin American Studies Program at Syracuse University, teaches ethnic American literatures, Caribbean writing and intellectual history, diasporic voices, and Latino texts.
Inmaculada Lara-Bonilla, Assistant Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at Syracuse University. Has taught courses in Latin American Literature, US Latina Literature, and Spanish Literature at Syracuse University, Oberlin College and Harvard University.
Costs
Tuition for the course will be covered as part of regular spring semester tuition as long as you do not exceed 19 credits. The cost for the Spring Break component of the course is approximately $TBD, which includes round trip transportation from Syracuse to Spain, local travel, housing, daily breakfast, some group dinners, and entrance fees. It also includes all activities and services for which a separate fee is not charged. The final fee will be set once airfare and other expenses have been confirmed.
Application, Selections & Payment Procedures
Students will be expected to submit the special application and a $60 non-refundable application fee to SU Abroad by October 15, 2008. All applications will be reviewed by an admissions committee made up of Professors Lara-Bonilla & Torres-Saillant and a SU Abroad representative. Students will be notified of their acceptance by October 25. Upon acceptance, $ 450 non-refundable deposit is required to confirm your participation in the program. This is due within 10 days. Final payment will be due December 12, 2008.