Required Outcomes for this Goal.

Relevant Course/Institutional Components

Specific Assessment Method for Outcome

Outcome 1:  Understand major movements, themes, and values in one or more cultures as revealed in literature.

The entire course emphasizes culture, literary movements, and values in Spanish Literature from the 12^th-17^th centuries.  For example, from a cultural perspective students will study the Cantar del Mio Cid to learn the roles honor and religion played in Medieval Spanish History.  From a literary perspective, the study of El Cid will educate students of Spanish epic poetry and its impact on the Spanish literary tradition.

Students will write short essays that address orientation questions (Preguntas on syllabus).  These prepared questions will then help lead the next class discussion.

Specific Questions from the unit on the Cid:

1)  What epic characters are important in Anglo-Saxon culture?  Compare them to the Cid.

2)  In what sense does the Cid reflect the values of the Spanish people?  How do folkloric heroes in the U.S. represent a North American Mentality.

Tracking and reporting overall student performance:  Mean score for the class out of the total points available on the question set.

Outcome 2:  Analyze particular literary texts as reflections of cultural movements, themes, and values.

Reading and discussion for every unit require students to analyze literary texts within the context of cultural movements, themes, and values.  For example, the study of Golden Age Theater through Fuenteovejuna and El Burlador de Sevilla challenges students to comprehend the social role of public theater and their common themes as a reflection of 17^th century cultural values..

Sample activity:  Students will work in small groups to present a dramatic scene from a studied text.  The group will be required to interpret the text as they discuss the tone, setting, etc of the scene.  They will have to decide whether to present a historically accurate interpretation—based on class lecture and reading—or a more modern or creative version.  The class discussion that will follow the scene presentations will allow students to compare their classmates’ performances with their interpretation of the written text.

Tracking and reporting overall student performance:  Percentage of students in the class who receive 70% or above on the essay.

Outcome 3: Develop and defend interpretations of literary texts through written discourse.

See Essays I, II and III. Students also will produce significant essays for Question Sets, the Midterm, and the Final Exam.

Example:  Students will address the following final exam question worth 20% of the exam grade:  Some Hispanists argue that the concept of honor during the Golden Age is different from that of the Medieval Era, while other critics see little difference.  Through a comparison of one representative work from each era.  Argue your position on this debate using information learned during class discussion and lecture.   Central to your discussion will be an analysis of the differences between the words honor and honra.

Tracking and reporting overall student performance:  Mean score for the class out of the total points available on the question set.

General Education Course Criteria

Relevant Course Components

1.  Teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry and provide students with practice in applying inquiry, critical thinking, and problem solving.

Reading and discussion for each unit.  For example, weeks 5 & 6: students will learn the rules of scansion for Spanish poetry, as well as investigate different approaches to poetry analysis, including the study of form, meaning, and context   Essay Assignment, week 7: students will apply their newly acquired practical criticism skills through a 3-4 page analysis of a Golden-Age poem.

2.  Provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.

Reading and discussion, weeks 12-13, dramatic performance, week 14: comparison of staging techniques from 17^th-21^st Century of Don Juan. The dramatic performance will allow students to explore creatively and discuss how staging and interpretation of a work has changed over time.

3.  Consider questions of ethical values.

The consideration of ethical values will play a significant role in the study of nearly every text.  For example, reading, discussion, and question sets, weeks 2-3 and 8-10:  the investigation of religious conflicts and persecution during the Reconquest (714-1492) and the Spanish Inquisition.  Students will be asked to compare historical models to current religious conflict and levels of tolerance.

4.  Explore past, current, and future implications of disciplinary knowledge.

Weeks 3-4.  Reading/lecture and group discussion:  Students will discuss the impacts of epic and romance upon medieval histories.  Students will compare modern histories—Stanley Payne, Menendez-Pelayo—to medieval chronicles.  Students will discuss the difficulties of distinguishing between myth/legend and history, and the polemic this still creates for contemporary critics.

5.  Encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.

Lecture, discussion, and essay assignment, week 13:  investigating perspectives provided by different critical perspectives.  Students will be required to compare and contrast published critical articles on a specific text from the course and relate those interpretations to their own understanding of the text.

6.  Provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.

Week 3, Study of the Cantigas de Santa María.  Students will compare online facsimiles of different Medieval Manuscripts and access recordings of the songs.  Weeks 11-14.  Study of Golden-Age theater and dramatic reading. Students will access texts through the Asociación de Comediantes web site.  They will study 16^th Century blueprints, excavation photos, etc. of Spanish Theaters as well as view images from modern productions of the studied text.  Week 12, Discussion, Essay III:  Students will use electronic research tools, such as the MLA Bibliography, to find required library sources for their paper.  The class will discuss how to determine appropriate electronic resources.

7.  Require at least one substantive paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.

Essays I-III, Midterm and Final Exam: at least 50% of grade on Midterm and Final Exam based upon essay components.  Each of the three out-of-class essays must be 3-4 pages in length.

8.  Foster awareness of common elements among disciplines and interconnectedness of disciplines.

Week 1 Lecture, Introduction to the Middle Ages.  Week 10 Lecture, Introduction to the 16^th and 17^th Century Spanish History and Golden-Age Staging.  Students constantly will analyze texts within their historical contexts.  The interpretation of music—Cantigas de Santa María—Art History—Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Velazquez, etc.—and Theater also will form important components of the course.

9.  Provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen.

Week 4 Lecture, Alfonso el Sabio:  Students will explore the impact of Medieval codices of Alfonso X upon modern, including U.S., laws.  Week 13 Discussion, Don Juan:  Students will examine the roots of machismo and gender roles in Latino culture.  Weeks 11-13.  Students will view recorded excerpts of contemporary performances of Golden-Age by Latino theater companies in Cincinnati,  El Paso, and Washington D.C.  Through the illustration of connections between Medieval/Golden Age Literature and contemporary U.S. society, this class will enlighten students to the importance of Spanish literature not only within the context of world literary studies, but American culture as well.  Although the U.S. is now the 4^th largest Spanish speaking country in the world—with over 38 million Spanish speakers—Hispanic studies continues to be underrepresented in U.S. post-secondary curricula.