Barcelona Beyond the Tourist Gaze: Margins, Memory, and Modernity
SPAN 255
Fall 2025
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01
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How do the margins of a city shape its identity? This course explores Barcelona beyond its iconic landmarks, focusing on how its cultural and physical landscapes have been constructed, contested, and reimagined over time. Through literature, film, photography, maps, and performance, we will examine how Barcelona's history of modernization, political struggles, and cultural production reflect broader tensions in contemporary Spanish and Catalan identity. Special attention will be given to the role of slavery, the city's penitentiary past, and the voices often left out of dominant narratives. By engaging with these complex histories, students will gain a deeper understanding of how the margins -- both literal and figurative -- reveal the layered realities of nationhood, memory, and artistic expression. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: SPAN221 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Hispanic Literatures and Cultures)(Romance Studies) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
: Course Reading Packet, which includes poems by Jaime Gil de Biedma, Jacint Verdaguer or Carlos Barral; novels such as "La plaza del diamante" by Mercè Rodoreda or "Los mares del sur" by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán; and theoretical texts by Michel de Certeau or Manuel Delgado. This course also includes movies by Cesc Gay, "En la ciudad" or "En construcción" by José Luis Guerín, and a selection of photographs.
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Examinations and Assignments:
: Reading notes for every class. 2 short paper. 2 exams. Final paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
: SPAN 255 is intended for students who have completed SPAN 221 with a B- or better. Students who have not done so should consult with the professor before preregistering. Readings, written assignments, and class discussions will be in Spanish. Only COL students may take this course CR/U. Students are expected to be active/informed participants in class discussions, further developing their spoken Spanish skills. |
| Instructor(s): Sendra Ferrer,Olga Times: .M.W... 01:20PM-02:40PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: 14 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 1 | JR non-major: 1 | SO: 2 | FR: 1 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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