Here are some of the topics that students will be researching this semester for their Senior Projects. I am teaching two sections of the class, with thirty students in all.
Franco's death and the moment of political transition in Spain; why was it possible to avoid violence?
Spanish cinema and the changing roles of women (2);
the impact of Arabic on Castillian Spanish;
the politics of Mayan language and culture in Guatemala;
the impact of NAFTA on Mexican immigration to the US;
the life and work of Uruguayan poet and musician Darno (Eduardo Darnauchans);
the role of the Catholic Church in Spain today, and the idea of "secular catholicism";
"Spanglish";
why gay marriage could be legalized in Spain but not in the US (2);
phonetic and sociolinguistic issues around coastal Mexican Spanish and Dominican Spanish (2);
The politics of adoption in Guatemala;
sustainable rural development in Bolivia and the politics of interacting with indigenous communities;
racial relations between latinos and african-americans, and identity politics for black latinos;
ideas about translation;
catalan nationalism
the politics of health care and HIV/AID epidemiology in Latin America (2);
the role of Spanish language proficiency in identity politics among Latinos in the US (2)
issues surrounding bilingual education of native-speakers of Spanish in Minneapolis schools;
the "disappeared" during the Argentine dirty war, and the problems of teaching about that period for Argentines who did not live through it (2);
The Virgen de Guadalupe as symbol of Mexican identity;
changing gender roles in the Latino community, and whether there is a women's version of "machismo"
These are the topics as the students have expressed them to me so far, and of course they are way too broad still, but they represent very personal experiences and curiosity on their part. Almost all the students have studied or lived abroad, and some have a personal investment in their projects due to their family heritage or marriages and children. My role will be to both crack the whip so they finish, and support and encourage them to enjoy the process. Best of all, I get to learn a lot from them. I've told them that, while I am not an expert on all these topics, I am an expert in helping people do research and write. I will leave aside the issue of my own lack of activity in that area. I guess I may be the illustration of the adage "Those that can't, teach" in this case, but I no longer am ashamed of that fact.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
I really like these kinds of classes.
Have fun!
P.S. There's also the adage (?) those who don't, still know how. One of my ceramics professors hates to throw, never does it for himself, but still teaches it perfectly well.
Post a Comment