In Hispanic Studies, you will build on your language acquisition in year three to develop your language skills to degree level, and will select specialist options study from a range of topics. In history, you will select a special subject and one optional module.
Civil War and Memory Wars in Contemporary Spain
We examine the distinct Spanish economic, political, social and cultural context in which the Civil War (1936-1939) played out, but also encourage you to view this period of conflict within a wider European context.
Spain’s fratricidal conflict was merely one – albeit crucial – episode in the early twentieth century’s longer ‘European Civil War’. Spain’s struggle to adapt to modernity, and the emergence of competing ‘solutions’ to this problem, mirrored similar developments across Europe.
The second half of the module examines the recent politicisation of ‘memory’ of this period in Spanish history. You'll be asked to consider how:
- ‘the past’ was used to justify the long dictatorship of General Franco
- ‘forgetting’ the past was crucial to the restoration of democracy in Spain after his death
- competing memories of the past are still dividing Spanish politics, society and culture in the 21st century.
Spanish American Narrative and Film
This module looks at key 20th century Spanish American novels and short stories and considers issues such as race, gender, sexuality and the conflict of cultures. You will be trained in using a broad range of tools of narrative and rhetorical analysis so as to engage in debates about literary representation and aesthetics, and will hone your use of these through a programme of research tasks, seminar presentations, group discussions, and written assignments.
Advanced Spanish Translation
This module offers coaching and practice in high-level translation from Spanish to English. You will work with a variety of texts over the semester, exploring different registers in Spanish and English, and equivalences between source and target languages. You will be required to reflect on the process of translation through annotations on specific translation decisions which will be part of the given task each week. You will also be given a brief for each translation and asked to research the target publication/context for their translation and specify ways in which the target context may differ from the original.
Kings, Saints and Monsters in England, 450-850
This module examines cultural and political changes in the southern half of the island of Britain between the 5th and 9th centuries, in particular the development of kingship and kingdoms as a form of political organisation, and the effects of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. You will spend four hours in lectures and seminars studying for this module.
Exotic Iberia
This module will look at representations of Spain and Portugal in European literature, travel writing, opera and painting from the late eighteenth-century onwards. It will examine the construction of an "exotic", Romanticised "other" Iberia in works of art, music and literature which are as popular today as they were over a century ago and, to some extent, still inform perceptions of European Hispanic identity among non-specialists. You will be trained to compare and contrast cultural production over a range of genres and disciplines such as opera, painting, literature and to inform your discussion with appropriate elements of cultural and historical context. You will be enabled to analyse the manipulation of cultural stereotypes and offer critical assessments of the impact and derivation of these manipulations.
Hispanic Studies Dissertation
This module involves the in-depth study of a historical subject from which you will create a 10,000 word dissertation. You will have regular meetings with your supervisor and a weekly one hour lecture to guide you through this task.
Samurai Revolution: Reinventing Japan, 1853–78
This module surveys the dramatic cultural encounter in the nineteenth century as the world of the samurai was confronted by Western expansion and the Age of Steam. It explores the forces at work in Japan’s rapid transformation from an ‘ancien régime’ under the rule of the Shogun into a ‘modern’ imperial power. Original documents examined in class draw on the growing range of Japanese primary sources available in English translation, together with the extensive works of Victorian diplomats, newspaper correspondents and other foreign residents in the treaty ports. You will have four hours of lectures and seminars each week for this module.
Italy at War, 1935-45
Spending four hours per week in seminars and tutorials, you will be given a framework to understand the experience of Italians (and to a lesser degree their enemies, allies, and collaborators) during the military conflicts in the long decade 1935-45, as well as knowledge of the background factors that shaped these experiences. As source material you will have the chance to explore diplomatic correspondence, personal memoirs, newspapers and magazines, newsreels, as well as examining the representation of the war in literature and cinema. You will have four hours of seminars each week for this module.
The Missing Dimension: Intelligence and International History in the Twentieth Century
The history of secret intelligence was once called the ‘missing dimension’ in the study of politics and international relations. Today, it has established itself as a separate field of historical enquiry. This module will examine how the study of secret intelligence has informed and sometimes even altered our understanding of some of the major political and international crises of the twentieth century. You will spend three hours per week in lectures and seminars studying for this module.
Portuguese 3
This advanced module will be your final step towards fluency. We'll build on your grammatical competence and assist you to develop a more sophisticated and formal register of vocabulary, idiom and advanced syntax.
During class you'll gain the ability to discuss a wide range of topics in written and spoken Portuguese, giving you the confidence to converse articulately upon complex and intellectual subjects.
Brazilian Slave Society
An understanding of Brazilian slavery is key to understanding not only the history of the country but also appreciating their culture today. Within this module, we'll explore the significance of Brazilian slavery in both, the transatlantic slave systems and slave societies across the Americas.
In addition to gaining historical understanding, you'll also learn how to use different historical approaches, tools and skills.