Spanish 316-01_FA18: Culture and Civilization of Spain
Course description
Study of the development of Spanish culture & civilization through geography, religion, sociology, and the arts of the Iberian Peninsula with special reference to the ways of thinking and cultural products. Taught in Spanish.
(Prereq: SPAN 201 or SPAN 202 or SPAN 212 with a C- or better)
4 Units
Study of the development of Spanish culture & civilization through geography, religion, sociology, and the arts of the Iberian Peninsula with special reference to the ways of thinking and cultural products. Taught in Spanish.
(Prereq: SPAN 201 or SPAN 202 or SPAN 212 with a C- or better)
4 Units
To start the course professor Gomez asked about how much we knew about the Spanish culture. For instance, a question he asked us was “What have you been taught about the Spanish culture?” My answer to this question was that since elementary school they told me that Christopher Colobus discover America. The perspective of the people started to change once they started to find out that he was responsible of many tragedies. I was one of those people that considered him a hero, but everything started to change once I became more educated on the topic. This class did improve my knowledge on this topic and in many others. For example, it thought me about the life of the Spanish people before they started to expand their exploration missions. How they lost control of their territory to Muslims and then how they fought back to get back. To what now we know it's called “La Reconquista”. To further our knowledge Professor Gomez asked us to choose a topic on what we wanted to further our knowledge that we touch in class. The presentation had to be done with a class member and it had to be a Pecha Kucha Presentation 20X20 style. The focus our presentation was on "Las Pinturas Rupestres de Altamira". With this presentation I was able to gain some information on how the paintings became to be and what they represented. For instance, many of the paintings were painted because it reflected the everyday life and the nature that surrender them. It was amazing because they used unique techniques to create the piece of art. To avoid damaging the paints a replica of the paints was created to let the public have a similar experience like if they were visiting the original cave. Overall, this course was very informative on the culture and civilization of Spain. I believe this will benefit me because I am interested in going to study abroad to Spain or working there when I finish my degree.