Iberian and Latin American Cultures

Courses offered by the Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures, formerly the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, are listed under the subject code ILAC on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses web site. For courses in Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish language instruction with the subject codes CATLANG, PORTLANG and SPANLANG, see the "Language Center" section of this bulletin.

The Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures offers courses focused on the languages, literatures, and cultures of the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, and Latina/o populations in the United States. To achieve its goal of training students as experts in the cultures of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America, the department balances an emphasis on literary studies with philosophical, historical, and social approaches to cultural issues.

The department's faculty is made up of scholars in fields as diverse as medieval and contemporary Catalan literature and culture, modern and contemporary Spanish literature and cinema, contemporary Latin American literature and cinema, Aljamiado and medieval Spanish literature, early modern Portuguese literature, modern and contemporary Brazilian literature, and Chicana/o culture and literature. In general, the department's courses are characterized by an intercultural and interdisciplinary focus that combines the study of literature with wide ranging intellectual concerns.

The department nurtures cooperative relationships with other departments and programs at Stanford, thus facilitating intellectual inquiry in areas such as anthropology, philosophy, history, Mediterranean studies, medieval and Renaissance studies, European and Latin American politics, feminist studies, Chicana/o studies, and film studies.

The department is committed to three main educational goals: (1) to provide students with a contextualized knowledge of the literatures and cultures of the Iberian Peninsula from the medieval period to the present, of the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Latin America, and of the Spanish-speaking communities of the United States; (2) to prepare undergraduates for advanced study in those areas and/or in a range of professional fields; and (3) to provide doctoral students with advanced training as research scholars and teachers in preparation for careers as university professors or in related roles.

In addition, the department regularly hosts visiting faculty, including the Ginebre Serra visiting chair in Catalan Studies and the Eusko Ikaskuntza Visiting Professor in Basque Culture.

Courses are open to all interested students. The department awards B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Iberian and Latin American Cultures to eligible candidates, as well as undergraduate minors in Spanish and Portuguese and a Ph.D. minor in Spanish.

Courses for Heritage Language Speakers—The Language Center offers a series of second- and third-year courses designed for students who grew up in homes where Spanish is spoken and who wish to develop their existing linguistic strengths. See the "Language Center" section of this bulletin for these courses.

MISSION OF THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM IN IBERIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN CULTURES

The mission of the undergraduate program in Iberian and Latin American Cultures is to expose students to a variety of perspectives in languages, literatures, and cultures of the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, and Latina/o populations in the United States. The program balances an emphasis on literary studies with a more diverse, humanistic set of approaches to cultural and social issues. Courses in the program provide students with a contextualized knowledge of the literatures and cultures of the Iberian Peninsula from the medieval period to the present; the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of Latin America; and the Spanish-speaking communities of the United States. Students in the major are prepared for advanced study in these areas and for a range of professional fields.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The department expects undergraduate majors in the program to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are used in evaluating students and the department's undergraduate program. Students are expected to demonstrate:

the ability to develop effective and nuanced lines of interpretation.
critical thinking skills using course's primary source materials.
facility with the methodologies and presuppositions underlying interpretive positions in secondary literature and in their own work
analytical writing skills and close reading skills.
expository oral skills.

TEACHING CREDENTIALS

For information concerning the requirements for teaching credentials, see the "School of Education" section of this bulletin and the credentials administrator, School of Education.

Graduate Programs in Iberian and Latin American Cultures

University requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees are discussed in the "Graduate Degrees" section of this bulletin.

COTERMINAL B.A. AND M.A.

The requirements for the coterminal M.A. are the same as those outlined below for the M.A. No course can count for both the B.A. and M.A. degrees. For University coterminal degree program rules and application forms, see http://registrar.stanford.edu/shared/publications.htm#Coterm.

Explore Degrees Archive, 2009-10

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