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Recent Courses

Please find course descriptions below. Click the images to access the course syllabi.

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Portada, Novelas ejemplares de Cervantes [Public domain], via Biblioteca Nacional de España (bne.es)

Graduate Seminar: Studies in Golden Age Spanish Literature

As a point of departure,  this course explores the major genres of literary production in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish Iberia. There are two goals for the seminar. The first is to guide students to improve their ability to frame questions related to literary analysis competently. We will begin with the technical aspects of literary interpretation (form, voice, imagery, etc.) as the basis for persuasive commentaries about what a text means, and how that meaning is produced. It is by asking these types of questions that one refines their analytical skills whether their interests lie in early modern Spanish literature or elsewhere. 
            Achieving the first goal leads to the second. This class will provide students with a panorama of the major authors and their representative works from the period. At the end of the course, it should be the student's objective (as well as mine for him or her) to have the ability to speak cogently and confidently about the major trends in the literature of Renaissance and Baroque Spain, and the socio-historical context in which they developed. To that end, each of the major literary works that we read will be supplemented by works of criticism and theory that serve to illuminate our discussions and interpretations of the literary works and their function within the culture of Baroque Spain.
            Furthermore, we will consider the implications of the term “early modernity”, and the extent to which the course readings signal the beginning of a worldview that we, as moderns, share. In this regard, the literature of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain may be surprising. At moments, it will be clear that a text was produced in a context that was utterly different from our own. At others, it will become clear that the study of early modern cultural production illuminates the elements that comprise today’s social, political, and economic realities. ​

Wild Things of the Baroque: Staging Monstrosity in Early Modern Iberian Theater

The object of this course is twofold. First, we will read important works of theater from the seventeenth century in order to understand more fully Spain’s literary history, while also furthering our knowledge of the cultural realities of Spanish society at the epicenter of its global empire. Furthermore, we will approach theatrical works that portray monsters of various types. In so doing, we will analyze the nature of monstrosity during the period, and compare it to our own, contemporary notions of monsters and their function in our society and worldview. You may be surprised by the similarities that you find, not to mention the entertainment value these works retain even for current audiences and readers. These types of comparisons improve our ability to view the world around us with a more critical eye, and to develop our ability to engage more responsibly as stewards of knowledge in a complex global society.