Rei Berroa
Department of Modern & Cassical Languages
Tel: 993-1241 E-mail: rberroa@gmu.edu Internet: http://mason.gmu.edu/~rberroa/
 

COURSE DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES

The Many Cultural Traditions of Spain: Madrid & Barcelona is a course designed to give students direct, on site contact with the unique past and present cultural life of Spain, with emphasis on Madrid and Barcelona, capitals of Castille and Catalonia, for centuries two of the most influential regions in the country in terms of culture, politics, and economics. Through visits to Valencia [with stops in Tarragona, Sagunto and Peñíscola] in the Mediterranean coast and to Segovia in the central plateau, we will address the presence of Roman, Visigothic, and Arab traditions in the culture, music, and architecture of Spain. Through visits to the Picasso and Contemporary Art Museums in Barcelona and the Prado, the Reina Sofía, and the Thyssen- Bornemisza Museums in Madrid, we will assess the preeminent place occupied by these two cities in the history of the arts during the last 400 years.

Students may get credit for this course in either SPAN 323: Field Study in Hispanic Culture or in ARTH 303: National Traditions: Spain. In order to do so, participants must take active part in all lectures offered during the course, show written evidence of reading texts on Spain and its culture [a bibliography is supplied at the end of this syllabus], keep a diary with their findings on the subject they choose to study while in Spain, and write a 1200-word final paper to be handed in two weeks after their return from Spain.

We will work hard to make this program, for all participants, a most appetizing and unforgettable experience filled with Spanish art, history, culture and social adventure. Both Madrid and Barcelona have their own web site to inform their citizens and visitors about places of interest.  In the Schedule of Activities that follows in this cyberpage, I have selected places, sites, or activities that might interest you.  This information is provided as a sort of guide  to the culture, history, gastronomy, viniculture or nightlife to the cities we will visit.

FORMAT AND ASSESSMENT

Three one-page reports due Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
A diary with the student's observations on areas covered by lectures, visits, and field study, should be kept during the eight days of the duration of the course. Diary must be given to the instructor no later than Friday, April 2.

A 1200-word paper due Friday, April 2, at my office (215 E Thompson Hall). The paper must be on a topic approved by theFaculty Director or the student's advisor, double-spaced, typewritten, and should include footnotes, as well as a bibliography. Letter grade.
 

If you go to any bookstore in the area, you might find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of travel guides on Spain. You don't need to buy one of them, since I'll prepare a package for you in the web with information about everything we will be doing, but it is much better if you get your own guide. I suggest you consider any one of the following:

1999 Let's Go Spain & Portugal. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. ISBN: 0312146663. Originally started by the Harvard University students in 1960, this book has become "the"
budget guide for travelers (first-timers or veteran explorers).

Insight Guide: Spain. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999.  Published by the APA Insight Guides team (London), this book won the coveted 1995 Vega Inclán award from the Spanish Ministry of Tourism for its accurate and insightful information on Spanish history, life and culture. Superb photos by Joseph Viesti.

Porter, D. et al., Frommer's Spain. New York: McMillan, 1997. ISBN: 0028612027.

Porter, D. et al., Frommer's Barcelona, Madrid & Seville. New York: McMillan, 1997. ISBN: 0028611594.

Fodor's '99: Spain. New York: Fodor Travel Publications, 1999. ISBN: 0679035389.
Published since 1936, this guide has been called by Newsweek "the king of guidebooks." The guide offers a useful and concise overview of Spanish history and culture.

SOME OTHER RECOMMENDED READING:

Besides the classical works written by:

Graham Greene: Monsignor Quijote

Ernst Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls [At Fenwick Call # PS3515.E37 F6 1987]
                                The Sun Also Rises [At Johnson Center Call # PS3515.E37 S8 1954a]

Washington Irving: Tales of the Alhambra [At Fenwick Library Call # PS2052 1991]

André Malraux : Man's Hope [At Fenwick Library Call # PQ2625.A716 E713 1938]

George Orwell: Homage to Catalonia [At Fenwick Library Call #DP269.9 .O7 1952a]

There are non-fictional books that might help you make your experience of Spain much more rewarding. Here are just a few:

Castro, Américo.  The Spaniards: An Introduction to Their History. Transl. by Willard King and Selma Margaretten. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1971. In this book the author combines two previous works on the Spanish people and how they have become what they are now. A classic.

Crow, John A.  Spain: The Root and the Flower(An Interpretation of Spain and the Spanish People). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985. This monumental work is, above all, a study of the character of the Spanish people and their civilization.

Fuentes, Carlos. The Buried Mirror: Reflections on Spain and the New World. Public Media Video, 1991. [At Fenwick Media Library Call # DP96 .F84 1991] This collection of five videocassettes (59 mm. each) was written and presented by world-known author Carlos Fuentes on the ocassion of the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage. Fuentes looks for his forebears throughout Spain in the mix of people that created Latin America.
Gilmore, David D.  Carnival and Culture: Sex, Symbol, and Status in Spain. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1998.

Hooper, John.  The Spaniards: A Portrait of the New Spain. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. Study of the social conditions endured by the Spanish people during the 20th century.

Perceval, Michael.  The Spaniards: How They Live and Work. New York: Praeger, 1973. Although you will have some time to experience how the Spaniards live and work, it might help you to take a look at this book to get ready for the "labor shock" you might suffer in Spain.

Sieburth, Stephanie A.  Inventing High and Low: Literature, Mass Culture, and Uneven Modernity in Spain. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994. This book studies the relationship between the arts, especially literature, and the politics and culture of Spain during the 20th Century.  [At Fenwick, Call # PQ6144 .S54 1994]

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU BRING A CONCISE DICTIONARY