Courses in Portuguese
Spring 2012
[Please see the Directory of Classes for the timetable of courses with multiple sections. Readings, assignments, and class discussion in Portuguese unless otherwise noted.]
PORT 1102y
Elementary Portuguese II
(multimple sections)
4 pts. Prerequisites: PORT 1101. This course is designed to acquaint students with the Portuguese verbal, prepositional, and pronominal systems. As a continuation of Elementary Portuguese I, this course aims at focusing on the uses of characteristic forms and expressions of the language as it is spoken and written in Brazil today.
PORT 1220y
Comprehensive Intermediate Portuguese
Ana Paula Huback
(multiple sections)
4 pts. Prerequisites: PORT 1102 or PORT 1320. This course will foster intensive practice in reading and composition based on short literary and journalistic texts. We will discuss contemporary issues based on articles from Lusophone newspapers and magazines. Students will review grammar, expand their vocabulary and improve oral expression, writing, and reading skills. Students are also exposed to audio-visual material that will deepen their understanding of Lusophone societies and culture.
PORT 1320y
Comprehensive Elementary Portuguese I and II for Spanish Speakers
(multiple sections)
4 pts. Prerequisites: SPAN 1202 or equivalent, or permission from the department. For students unable to dedicate the time needed cover two semesters in one, the regular paced courses (PORT 1101-1102) are preferable. May be taken in place of PORT 1101-1102.An intensive intermediate language course in Portuguese with emphasis on Brazilian culture through multimedia materials related to culture and society in contemporary Brazil. Recommended for students who have studied Spanish or another Romance language. The equivalent of two full semesters in intermediate Portuguese grammar with stress on reading and conversation.
PORT W3300y
Advanced Portuguese Through Content
José A. Castellanos-Pazos
TR 4:10-5:25
3 pts. An intensive exposure to advanced points of Portuguese grammar and structure through written and oral practice, along with an introduction to the basic principles of academic composition in Portuguese. Each section is based on the exploration of an ample theme that serves as the organizing principle for the work done in class. This will serve as the topical context to review advanced points of Portuguese grammar and structure through written and oral practice, and to introduce the basic principles of academic composition in Portuguese, particularly those pertaining to narration and description. This course is required for the concentration in Portuguese Studies. "Brasil: Favela e carnaval" intends to offer an exploration of issues related to poverty, race and violence through cultural phenomena manifested in fiction, music, film and media in today’s Brazilian society.This course is required for the concentration in Portuguese Studies.
PORT W3301y
Advanced Writing and Composition in Portuguese
João Nemi Neto
MW 1:10-2:25
3 pts. This course focuses on three elements: 1) the main elements of formal discourse in Portuguese (grammar, vocabulary, expressions, etc.); 2) discourse genres, based on the theoretical bases laid out by Textual Linguistics and Discourse Analysis; 3) cultural, economic, social, political themes related to the reality of Brazil or other Portuguese-speaking countries. However, students should be able to define their areas of interest and shape their experience in the course according to them. Such an approach takes advantage of the diversity in the classroom, stimulates participation, and promotes independent academic research. Therefore, students will start a weblog, where their writing activities will be posted, so that their colleagues may read and comment on them. The mandatory genres-forms for all students are in the modules of discourse genres and academic writing, and the corresponding forms, the pronominal system and semelfectives. Students will then choose one more genre among biographical texts (resumé, facebook, biography), lyrical texts (music, poetry), subjective texts (description, narrative, commentary, editorial), and journalistic texts, as well as the corresponding forms assigned to those modules: indirect speech, mandates, past verbal tenses, conjunctions, redundancy/repetition, and semelfactives (conditionals). Every student will study and practice all genres and forms, but they will be responsible for larger assignments (module notes, to be posted on their blogs) on the two mandatory modules and the optional one. At the beginning of the semester they will choose a thematic topic for the course (in their field of study or area of personal interest), and will select a literature list with the assistance of the instructor. All assignments in the course must be related to the chosen thematic topic and will involve research based on the literature list. At the end of the semester, they will produce an essay on their thematic choice.
PORT W3330y
Introduction to Portuguese Studies
Daniella Diniz da Silva
MW 9:10-11:25
3 pts. This course presents the students with the information and basic tools needed to interpret a broad range of topics and cultural production from the Portuguese-Speaking World: literary, filmic, artistic, architectural, urban, etc. We will use a continuing cross-disciplinary dialogue to study everyday acts as a location of culture. The course will center on interpretation as an activity and as the principal operation though which culturally sited meaning is created and analyzed. Among the categories and topics discussed will be history, national and popular cultures, literature (high/low), cultural institutions, migration, and globalization. Students will also acquire the fundamental vocabulary for the analysis of cultural objects. This course is required for the concentration in Portuguese Studies.