Law with Spanish and Spanish Law BA

The module provides an introduction to the basic techniques of legal study and reasoning. It familiarises law students with the main theoretical perspectives on law while connecting this knowledge to the practical operation of the law and its impact on society. It also encourages the development of a critical approach to understanding law in its context.

This module is concerned with aspects of the substantive principles of general contact law. Topics include aspects of contract formation and vitiating factors, the contents of contracts, and discharge and remedies.

This module examines the nature of constitutionalism and the structure of the UK state. Core constitutional concepts - limitations on governmental power, the rule of law, human rights - are analysed. 

The module examines changes that have taken place in relation to the traditional notion of parliamentary sovereignty with reference to the UK's membership of the EC/EU and the incorporation of the ECHR via the Human Rights Act. 

This module also covers the procedures and major principles of judicial review of administrative action and fundamental aspects of civil liberties law, including the powers of the police.

This module builds on A level Spanish to consolidate your understanding of grammar, and your ability to comprehend both structures and meanings in a variety of written and aural texts.

You will be guided in using a broader range of discursive strategies in both written and spoken Spanish, and trained in the comprehension of broadcast items, on current affairs and culture, from across the Spanish-speaking world.

This module is designed as a foundation for all later modules covering Spanish and Portuguese literatures.

Its main aims are to:

• give a general introduction to literature and to the study of literature
• provide a partial overview of literary writing in the Spanish language
• introduce some of the key theoretical issues of literary study
• instil good reading and critical habits

The main skills tested on this module are:

• close reading
• textual analysis
• seminar participation
• the ability to write cogent and convincing commentaries and essays

This module aims to introduce you to the main patterns of Latin American political, economic and social history, between Independence in the 1820s and the end of the 20th century, through a combination of lectures and guided reading and research.

We focus on specific concepts, terminology, events and people, so as to develop an understanding of different perspectives and interpretations of the history in question, and to appreciate the interaction between the ‘political history’ of major events and protagonists in official positions of power, and the ‘social history’ of populations who both contributed to, and were affected by, political change.

You will learn to develop a critical approach to the study of history through a variety of materials; gain an ability to distinguish critically between the particular and the general and to develop the tools for comparative analysis. You will also learn how to research historical sources, and to develop and sustain coherent intellectual argument.

This module introduces you to the civil law tradition as practised on the continent of Europe by comparing its history and main features with the common law tradition as practised in the United Kingdom. 

It will pay particular attention to the legal systems of France and Germany (although reference will be made to Spain, the Netherlands and other European jurisdictions), and will emphasise the principal areas of private law (contract, tort and property). 

It will cover:

• the structure of civilian legal systems, including the constitutional and institutional context
• sources of law and legal development
• basic features of contract, tort and property law
• harmonisation of law and the emergence of a European private law
• the methodological challenges of legal comparison

All students will be exposed to the same core content, but seminars will provide opportunities to acquire deeper knowledge of a chosen legal system. Lectures will be in English but seminars will, when possible, also be offered in other European languages so as to enable those with the necessary linguistic skills to acquire and develop a legal vocabulary in the pertinent language.

This module includes an introduction to the general principles of criminal law and the study of some offences.

The module covers the tort of negligence and other major torts.

This module examines the nature of land ownership in English law, and the conceptual framework of the creation and transfer of estates and interests in land. This module also examines the principal third party interests affecting land, with particular emphasis on their creation/acquisition and their protection through changes of ownership.

This module builds on grammatical knowledge and communication skills developed in Spanish 1, and aims to prepare you to function effectively in a university or work situation in a Spanish-speaking country.

Written classes focus on developing essay writing skills in Spanish, using a range of texts from Spanish and Spanish American sources as stimuli. Special attention is given to developing complex sentence structures and rhetorical devices. Laboratory classes use a full range of contemporary audio-visual materials to develop aural comprehension and conversational ability in Spanish.

This module analyses the legal order established by the European Union (EU) treaties. It considers the law governing the establishment and operation of the EU, including the methods for enforcement of EU law.  This module also considers the substantive law of the European Union. It involves a detailed examination of the law relating to the internal market, and related areas of EU law. 

This module examines the conceptual context of trusts, and the requirements for the creation and validity of express private trusts and charitable trusts. This module also examines resulting and constructive trusts, the duties of trustees and the imposition of fiduciary liability, together with associated remedies.

Following your time spent living in a Spanish-speaking country this advanced module will be your final step towards fluency, training you in a more formal, sophisticated register of spoken and written Spanish.

We'll continue to use a wide range of authentic Spanish texts to further deepen your knowledge and confidence at this advanced level. We'll look at how the texts are put together so that you may use these skills within your written and spoken Spanish, taking you to the highest level of proficiency.

In this module you will learn to devise and develop projects and teaching methods appropriate to engage the age and ability group they are working with. The module enables you to gain confidence in communicating your subject, develop strong organisational and interpersonal skills, and to understand how to address the needs of individuals.

We will address the way in which film and literature have reflected, resisted, interrogated, and remembered the socio-political violence and conflicts that have shaped the 20th and 21st centuries so far in Europe (emphasis on the Iberian Peninsula) and Latin America (including Brazil).

The module adopts a comparative approach which focuses on the formal experiments and common preoccupations of filmmakers and writers across different national cultures and historical contexts (translations and subtitles will be provided when required). It will discuss questions on authoritarianism, confronting colonial and neo-colonial practices, racial and class inequality and social injustice, gender and sexuality, living on with the legacies of past traumas.

You may expect to discuss works by writers such as Roberto Bolaño, Ruben Fonseca, Alejandro Zambra, Mariana Enríquez, Clarice Lispector and Fernando Pessoa. Feature films and documentaries by Alfonso Cuarón, Pedro Almodóvar, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Claudia Llosa, Patricio Guzmán and Susana de Sousa Dias will also be discussed.

This module aims to further develop your knowledge of 20th century Spanish history, literature and film gained at levels 1 and 2. It familiarizes you with the context and circumstances in which filmic and literary texts were produced under Franco, thereby developing awareness of generic conventions in both literature and film, and perfecting skills in close textual analysis.

The module imparts a solid knowledge of the Francoist régime and of the literature and film produced at this time, plus an understanding of the conditions for cultural production under the Dictatorship.

By the module’s conclusion, you will have gained a good command of the concepts and vocabulary required to analyse literary and filmic texts, a capacity for close reading and textual analysis, as well as seminar-presentation skills and research and essay-writing skills.

This module will offer a panorama of painting in Spain from the late 16th century to the late 19th century taking in four themes: portraiture, history and genre painting, religion, and mythology and myths.

Artists covered will include Domenikos Theotocópoulos, Diego de Silva y Velázquez, Jusepe de Ribera and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo from the Spanish Golden Age and Francisco de Goya, Vicente López, Martín Rico and Marià Fortuny from the 19th century.

You will have the opportunity to study other painters in the preparation of assessments throughout the year. There will be an emphasis on designing exhibitions and on understanding the paintings both within the context of art history and the history and cultures of Spain.

The module aims to impart understanding of the interfaces between literature and politics, by studying the articulation of key social and political issues and aesthetics in contemporary Spanish cultural artefacts.

We discuss the status of literary writing in late capitalism, concentrating on how contemporary ‘Hispanic’ authors have dealt with issues of language, identity, culture, society, nationhood, gender, class, memory, time and writing.

We also explore debates regarding the consistency of the categories of ‘Spain’ and ‘Spanishness’ when analysing cultural production in contemporary Iberia, and assess the competing discursive practices involved in remapping the notion of Spanish canonical literature at the beginning of the new millennium.

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.

This module assesses Cuba’s revolutionary change since 1959, through an examination of its evolving ideology. The module is structured both chronologically and thematically so as to review the critical factors - nationalism, dependency, radicalism and leadership - shaping developments from the original rebellion up to the present day.

We focus on the role of education policies, and the ways in which a ‘cultural revolution’ was fundamental to the socialisation process of, and popular participation in (or dissent from) the Revolution. This study will inform conclusions about both the meaning of ‘ideology’ within the context of the Revolution, and the international geo-political significance of Cuba's self-definition and evolution.