SPAN 331: Spanish Culture and Civilization
SPAN 331: Spanish Culture and Civilization
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Course Description
Course Description
This course is designed as a virtual study abroad to Spain, where the course aims to offer an overview of Spanish culture and civilization throughout history up to the contemporary and current period. The course looks at a set of ideas and cultural and political customs that have shaped the historical trajectory of the Spanish people. Students will analyze how these ideas, behaviors and customs are a reflection or contradiction of cultural patterns that emerged throughout the history of Spain.
Students will “travel” through Spain to learn about its diversity and the richness of languages and cultures that exist in the country. By being there, students will participate in a variety of activities and have the opportunity to meet other American students from the University of Wisconsin, Platteville who are “studying abroad" as well.
Course prerequisites: Spanish 301
Degree/Program: This class is part of the Spanish major and minor. It is a required course for Pre-Credential Spanish majors and an elective for the general Spanish major or minor.
Course Modality
Course Modality
Fall 2021: In-person and asynchronous online.
Students meet in person on Mondays and Wednesdays. Fridays they do asynchronous work.
The class is set-up as a flipped classroom model. In-class time will be utilized to work with groups as they “tour” Spain. Students receive an itinerary for the class instead of a calendar.
Elements of Course Design
Elements of Course Design
Course content is organized in a weekly folder. In the weekly folder, there are daily folders with work to complete.
Virtual experiences: This includes things like interactive visits to museums, You Tube videos that showcase a particular aspect of Spanish culture [for instance, the food of Madrid, where they watch a food blogger go around the city and sample traditional food. As a follow-up, I set up a Poll Everywhere to vote which food they would most like to try that they saw in the video], websites to hotels where we are staying, menus of restaurants we will visit, movies [we will go to the movie theater in several cities we visit], etc. The class is a simulation- we are pretending we are in Spain, instead of talking about Spain.
Student Engagement
Student Engagement
Students have “travel groups”. Students are in groups they will “travel” with all semester. There are certain excursions or activities where travel groups will be able to make choices based on their interest. Travel groups will also be planning one excursion to a place the class is not visiting. They will create a presentation about their adventure. Students feel part of a community by working/traveling with their group. Travel groups will create a group name, a set of group rules and establish a form of group communication.
Students have pen pals from the University of Wisconsin who are also “in Spain” for the semester. They write emails all semester about what they are seeing and doing.
Zoom Tertulias with University of Wisconsin students: Students from Chico and Wisconsin are invited to three evening zoom sessions. Topics from the trip are discussed in break-out rooms that consist of a mix of students from both universities.
Assessment of Student Learning
Assessment of Student Learning
The final project for the class has six options. Students select the option that best aligns with their interests. All students will create a video to showcase the project. This project serves as a culminating project for the class.
The midterm is a letter home to family about the trip. There are specific items the students need to include in the letter.
Grades:
Participation/Attendance 20%
Homework 35%
Midterm 15%
Final project 30%
Technology & Tool
Technology & Tool
Students use Blackboard and Zoom.
During the semester we “go to the movies” in Spain and watch films from Spain. Travel groups will write group blog posts that respond to an analytical question about the films. Students will then read group posts and make individual comments. We will discuss all of the posts and comments while drinking coffee in one of Spain’s great cafés.
Virtual visits to museums and monuments
Opportunities for Active Learning/Civic & Community Engagement
Opportunities for Active Learning/Civic & Community Engagement
Students introduce themselves using Flipgrid. For homework, students are asked to watch the videos from their classmates. On the ”airplane” to Spain, we play a guessing game of who is who based on information students included in the video.
One night on the trip, we go out for tapas and trivia. Using Kahoot, we pretend to participate in a trivia night at a bar.
After visiting the Route of Don Quijote de La Mancha and reading a selection from the text, students create a comic strip of Don Quijote that they then narrate in their own words and share out in groups. This activity makes the story of DQ interactive and personalized to their own interests.
Elements of Climate Change and Resilience & Environmental Justice
Elements of Climate Change and Resilience & Environmental Justice
One topic we focus on throughout our tour of Spain is the environment. Two guest speakers meet with the class on Zoom when we are “visiting” their region. One is from northern Spain and the other is from the south. Each speaker shares some of the negative effects of climate change in their region and what people are doing to make positive changes to combat the issues.
Students then research other issues related to climate change in Spain and with a group prepare an informal presentation. Utilizing a round-table discussion format [we pretend it takes place in a café], groups share the issue and propose ideas/solutions.
Training in Course Design
Training in Course Design
Go Virtual: I redesigned this course during the summer of 2020. During the fall of 2020, I taught it as an online course. This semester, I’m using the same course design but I will be teaching it in person with some asynchronous work.
AEL Institute: I first attended this many years ago. I learned so much that I have used in all of my courses over the years! One tip I remember: little details can make a class feel more authentic. For example, in this class, students had to fill out a packing list and name three other items they would take on the trip and why.
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