Hispanic Studies - BA (Hons)

This module is for Post-A-level students and students who have mastered level A2 but not yet B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). On successfully completing the module students will have mastered level B1. The emphasis in this course is on furthering knowledge of the structure of the language as well as vocabulary and cultural insights while further developing the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

Find out more about LS300

This is an intensive module for absolute beginners, Post-GCSE students and students who have not yet mastered level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). On successfully completing the module students will have mastered level A2. The emphasis in this course is on acquiring a sound knowledge of the structure of the language as well as basic vocabulary and cultural insights while developing the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

Find out more about LS302

The module aims to provide students with a general understanding of the development of the Spain, the Spanish American nations, and their cultures, in order to establish the general historical and cultural framework.

The key periods covered include the emergence of the Spanish nation (711-1492); the Spanish Golden Age; the emergence of Spanish America (1492-1812); 19th Century Spain and the end of the Empire; Spanish America: the way to Independence (1812-1898); Spain from 1898 to the Civil War; Spain under Franco (1936-1975); Spanish America in the 20th Century (1898-1975); Transition to a Modern Spain (1975-2000); and Modern Spanish America (1975-2000).

Find out more about LS312

This module introduces Latin America through the lens of state formation. It examines the nineteenth century from the end of the colonial period and independence through to the decolonisation of Cuba. It has a particular focus on the cases of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Topics include the recurrence of internal and external wars, tensions between the center and regions, the development of export markets and its links to the creation of stability, caudillismo, and the importance of ideology in state building.

Find out more about LS319

This module offers an introduction to the history and culture of Latin America through a reading of short stories from different regions. Links are made between political events and circumstances, such as the Mexican Revolution and the subsequent Cristero Rebellion, 'La Violencia' of Colombia, the literary ‘Boom’ of the 1960s, and cultural genres, such as political writing and Magical Realism, in order to highlight how different writers explore key issues affecting their countries. The module begins by outlining common themes in Latin American literature, such as the experience of colonialism, independence indigenismo, and mestizaje, and the question of identity in a post-colonial context. It then focuses on individual short stories and explores the ways in which they communicate these themes.

Find out more about LS308

This module concentrates on listening, reading and speaking, and will also introduce writing. These various elements will facilitate students' achievement of the intended learning outcomes by developing their communication, reading, writing and general knowledge of the Catalan language. Students are encouraged to use resources specially selected for them and which are available online through Moodle.

Find out more about LS310

This module concentrates on listening, reading and speaking, and will also introduce writing. These various elements will facilitate students' achievement of the intended learning outcomes by developing their communication, reading, writing and general knowledge of the Catalan language. Students are encouraged to use resources specially selected for them and which are available online through Moodle.

Find out more about LS311

This module is the natural follow-on for those who have, in the previous academic year, successfully taken an intensive beginners Spanish course such as HISP3020 (LS302), and who have covered the basics of grammar, acquired a stock of high frequency vocabulary and reached a degree of proficiency beyond GCSE and approaching A-level (A2 way stage in terms of the Common European Framework of Reference).

The module is designed to allow students, upon completion, to demonstrate a level of ability up to the B2 threshold, turning students into independent users of Spanish, in both oral and written contexts. The course is thus also designed to prepare students for their year abroad and independent life in Spain as a foreign country. It is an intensive course, which develops the student's active and passive aural and written skills.

Find out more about LS504

This is an intermediate level module. Its aims are to strengthen and widen the linguistic knowledge provided in HISP3000 (Spanish Lower Intermediate B1), to consolidate students' vocabulary and improve their knowledge of written and spoken Spanish through immersion in a variety of texts, and to practise translation skills both from and into Spanish.

Find out more about LS505

This module will provide an examination of the incorporation of indigenous and slave populations to political life in different Latin American countries from the colonial period to the present. It will focus on two main issues, namely the relationship between the state and indigenous populations as well as the process of abolition of slavery. These topics will be explored in a comparative perspective with an aim to understanding the legacies of unequal societies and their impact on current realities.

Find out more about LS562

This module aims to provide an introduction to Catalan culture and to place it in the wider context of Spain and Europe. To this purpose students will be exploring different aspects of Catalan life and history, to include the language, the arts and the relationship between the Catalan-speaking lands and the rest of the state. The result of this exploration will be used as the basis for an analysis of the distinctive traits of Catalan culture. A selection of texts and audio-visual material will be studied and so will relevant criticism.

Find out more about LS515

This module will cover aspects of contemporary Spanish history and culture with specific focus on post-1975 filmic production but in the wider context of pre- and post-Franco society, history and politics. Students will become familiar with important issues such as national stereotypes, gender and sexuality, social transformations, as well as relevant concepts in Film Studies such as cinematic genre, spectatorship, and representation. While the module will focus to some extent on the individual voice of each of the directors, it will to analyse how their work represents major currents of development in Spanish cinema, both in relation to form and content.

Find out more about LS548

This module explores the different ways in which Spain and Latin American countries have attempted to make transitions from dictatorship to democracy. The course provides an overview of the political, social and cultural developments in Spain and Latin America after conditions of dictatorship, from 1975 onwards in the case of Spain and from the 1980s and 1990s in the case of specific Latin American countries (Chile, Argentina and Peru, among others). The course takes a comparative and interdisciplinary approach by combining history, literature, film, journalism and comics. The chosen texts provide an insight into the political, social and cultural attitudes of post-dictatorship societies as well as into the changing role and conditions of cultural production in post-dictatorial democracies. Issues such as historical trauma and historical memory, forgetting and collective memory, and justice and truth commissions cut across the module.

Find out more about LS571

What is sustainability? It has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from 'Our Common Future', also known as the Brundtland Report (1987) which refers to 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' While the concept of sustainability has its roots in the natural sciences, it is becoming evident that theories and practices of sustainability are of relevance in social and cultural studies as much as biophysical relationships.

The module begins with an examination of the wide-ranging definitions of sustainability and of the contribution to the discourse from Humanities subjects. We proceed to analyse a range of case studies representing the four disciplines of Modern Languages in SECL at Kent: French, German, Italian and Hispanic Studies. The case studies highlight cultural practices ranging across time periods and geographies in which sustainable processes are key. They may include the cultural history of sustainability or 'Nachhaltigkeit' in the German context; the Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Italy; the debate in psychoanalysis on the themes of exploitation/sustainability and competition/cooperation in relation to ecological practices and the environment; the works of Martinique author Patrick Chamoiseau and the challenges to French/Eurocentric concepts of sustainability; and the culture and practice of urban organic farming – organopónicos – that arose out of the economic crisis in Cuba in the 1990s and which have circular economics, cultural development and educational practices at their core.

The module concludes with a consideration of how the case studies illustrate theories and practices of sustainability, and how in turn they may be considered catalysts for further engagement in questions of sustainability.

Find out more about SCL505

Students either study at a relevant foreign university or work abroad (either as British Council language teaching assistants or in some other approved capacity).

Find out more about LA514

The module develops advanced proficiency in writing, speaking and comprehending Spanish. It concentrates on translation into Spanish and English and the development of analytical skills in the production of written and spoken Spanish. Translation exercises confront students with a variety of advanced texts in different styles and registers, and encourage accuracy and critical reflection as well as acquisition and consolidation of grammatical structures. The language skills component combines discursive writing on advanced topics with the development of proper oral competence through discussion. Conversation classes with a native speaker develop presentational ability, and enable students to speak fluently and idiomatically at the advanced level.

Find out more about LS506

This module will improve communicative competence in Catalan; develop written expressive competence in Catalan through study of Catalan syntax and grammar structures; improve the ability to develop reading speed, fluency and oral accuracy, and the capacity to interpret educated written Catalan. It will develop translation skills, and provide a thematic framework for language study by analysing texts related to cultural and socio-linguistic Catalan issues.

Find out more about LS552

This module explores the difficult experiences of terrorism and state terror in Latin America through films and documentaries. Between the 1970s and the 1990s Argentina, Chile, Central America and Peru lived through extreme instances of insurgency and state sponsored violence. The course will examine the tensions in society brought by these experiences as well as the efforts to come to terms with these memories. The main texts that will accompany this course will be the reports produced by the different commissions that sought truth and redress from the 1980s to the present.

Find out more about LS563

This module is intended to introduce undergraduate students to independent research and provide the opportunity for sustained, detailed study of a topic of their choosing. The topic chosen must relate to a specific aspect of Hispanic culture or language. Originality and feasibility are important aspects of writing dissertations and topics must be scrutinised and approved in advance by the module convenor or dissertation supervisor. Students can expect guidance from the module convenor and an academic supervisor throughout the process, including one-to-one tutorials.

Find out more about LS567

This module will take a close look at the figure of the "monster" in Iberian culture, ranging from medieval considerations of the monster in medieval bestiaries to eighteenth-century medical treatises of monstrous forms to twentieth-century depictions of monsters. The module will focus on the historical context out of which a particular meaning of the monster emerges. In order to do so, the course will draw on high and popular culture, a variety of disciplines, and a variety of media (literature, prints, paintings, films). Discussions will be supplemented with relevant historical, critical and theoretical readings. The monster in this course will be an interpretative model for an understanding of how notions such as “normalcy”, “beauty”, the “classical body” are constructed and will enable us to look at issues of otherness, gender, and race. Drawing on theoretical approaches to literary and visual representations, it aims to raise questions around concepts such as the gaze, power and identity.

Find out more about LS550

This module is aimed at those students who would like to follow a career as Primary or Secondary School teachers, but is also suitable to those who would like to consider a career in HE language teaching by providing them with the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of Languages in the primary and secondary school context as well as in HE.

Find out more about SCL502

This module examines the various ways in which cinema can be used to articulate a political message or advance a political cause. Drawing on films from the major Western European nations (e.g. France, German, Italy and Spain) and from a variety of historical periods from the 1930s to the present, it will examine and contrast the ideological functions of cinema in a range of different geopolitical contexts. The films studied will encompass a range of forms such as explicit propaganda films of the totalitarian regimes, left-wing counter-cultural filmmaking of the sixties, and popular genres such as the 'political thriller'.

Find out more about SCL504