The Spanish Group at MIT offers students the opportunity to study language, literature and culture.
Our curriculum reflects the diversity of interests and expertise of our faculty and lecturers, as well as the particular needs of MIT undergraduate students. Our classes use innovative pedagogical methods, including the most advanced interactive technologies, to allow students to acquire the competence necessary for communication in Spanish-speaking communities around the world and give students the tools to live and work in an increasingly global economy. Since Spanish is the principal second language spoken in the United States, the curriculum at all levels pays special attention to the linguistic and cultural diversity presented by Hispanic communities across the country. While the basic courses stress language acquisition and cultural breadth, at the advanced level we offer a variety of courses on Spanish, Latin American, and Latino literature, culture, history and film.
In collaboration with the Global Education Office, the Spanish program offers an intensive second semester course during January in Madrid: IAP-Madrid (http://gecd.mit.edu/go_abroad/study/explore/madrid_iap/)
Students who have attained a fourth semester level of Spanish proficiency are encouraged to pursue internships in industry or in research institutions in Spain, Mexico, Chile and Argentina through the MIT International Studies and Technology Initiative (MISTI) (http://misti.mit.edu/student-programs/language/spanish/) or to participate in the MIT-Madrid Spring Semester Abroad (http://gecd.mit.edu/go_abroad/study/explore/Madrid/)
The Spanish Group at MIT was awarded the 2006 Inter American Prize for Educational Quality by the Institute of Advanced Studies for the Americas (INEAM) of the Organization of American States (OAS). This prize is awarded in recognition of projects which, through the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), contribute to solving socio-educational problems related to the development of human potential.
Spanish
The subjects below are taught in Spanish and include offerings in language, literature, and cultural studies.
The indication of prerequisites for specific Spanish offerings does not apply to students who have already completed equivalent work. For further placement advice, consult one of the field advisors in Spanish.
Fundamental Language Subjects
21G.701 Spanish I
(
, 
, 
) 
(Subject meets with 21G.751)
Prereq: None
Units: 4-0-8
Lecture: MTWR11 (16-628) or MTWR2 (16-668)
For students with no previous knowledge of Spanish. Introduction to understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Spanish. Maximal use of fundamentals of grammar in active communication. Audio- and video-based language laboratory program coordinated with and supplemented to class work. For graduate credit see 21G.751. Limited to 18 per section.
J. Barroso
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
21G.702 Spanish II
(, )
(Subject meets with 21G.752)
Prereq: 21G.701 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.700, 21G.782, 21G.783
Lecture: MTWR10 (14N-217) or MTWR12 (1-135)
Continues the study of Spanish language and culture using audio, video and print materials, feature films and popular music from Latin America and Spain. Emphasizes writing, vocabulary acquisition, and the study of more complex grammatical structures. Students develop oral skills through group interaction and short presentations. For graduate credit see 21G.752. Limited to 18 per section.
M. San Martin
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
21G.782 Spanish II (Study Abroad)
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Subject meets with 21G.783)
Prereq: 21G.701 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.700, 21G.702, 21G.752
Increased practice in listening comprehension, reading, and group interaction. Class conducted in Madrid, Spain with an MIT instructor. Students responsible for travel and lodging fees. For graduate credit, see 21G.783. Enrollment limited by lottery.
Staff
21G.700 Intensive Spanish for Advanced Beginner Students
()
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.702, 21G.752, 21G.782, 21G.783
Lecture: MTWR11 (16-668)
Presents, in a condensed fashion, the major vocabulary and grammar covered in Spanish I and II. Provides extensive practice in listening, speaking, reading and writing through a variety of student-centered activities and the use of authentic materials. Emphasizes the essential grammatical structures and practical vocabulary needed to function at an intermediate level of proficiency required for Spanish III. Intended for students who have taken two or more years of Spanish in high school. Limited to 18; placement interview required.
A. Yanez Rodriguez
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
21G.703 Spanish III
(, , )
Prereq: 21G.702 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.793
Lecture: MTWR11 (16-644) or MTWR12 (16-644)
Aims at consolidation and expansion of skills in listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Uses short stories and other readings, films, music, and Web projects (including a multimedia exchange with students in Spain) to study issues of historical and current interest in Hispanic culture. Limited to 18 per section.
J. Barroso
No required or recommended textbooks
21G.793 Spanish III in Madrid
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: 21G.702 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.703
Mastery of oral expression, reading, writing, and listening while experiencing life and culture in Spain's capital, Madrid. Students use language strategically to accomplish objectives and to resolve conflicts, in culturally accurate circumstances utilizing appropriate vocabulary. Limited to 18.
Staff
21G.704 Spanish IV
(, )
Prereq: 21G.703 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Lecture: MTWR10 (16-668) or MTWR12 (16-628) or MTWR1 (16-676)
Continued study of the language, literature, and culture of Spanish-speaking countries to improve oral and written communication. Materials include contemporary Spanish and Latin American films, literary texts (short stories, poetry and a novel), online video interviews with a variety of Spanish-speakers and other Web resources. Limited to 18 per section.
M. Ribas Groeger
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
21G.705 Intensive Beginning Spanish for Medicine and Health
(New)
()
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Provides a review of the fundamental grammar and vocabulary covered in Spanish I and II with a focus on building specialized medical terminology and developing the linguistic skills needed to effectively communicate with, assess, and care for Spanish-speaking patients in clinical settings. Develops cross-cultural competence and awareness by giving special consideration to relevant cultural values and differences and how they may affect the doctor-patient relationship. Discusses major health issues and how they affect Hispanic communities in the US, with a focus on prevention and education, as well as the tradition of folk medicine among Hispanic cultures. Offers extensive practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through the use of authentic materials and student-centered activities to develop the proficiency needed for Spanish III. Intended for students who have taken two or more years of Spanish in high school. Limited to 18; placement interview required.
Staff
21G.708 Spanish: Communication Intensive I
(, )
Prereq: None. Coreq: 21G.731, 21G.735, 21L.636, 21L.637, 21L.638, 21L.639, or 21L.640; permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-0
TBA.
Intensive tutorial in writing and speaking for majors. Provides students with enhanced linguistic and cultural fluency for academic or real-world purposes. Conducted entirely in Spanish. Preference to Spanish majors.
P. Duong
No required or recommended textbooks
21G.709 Spanish: Communication Intensive II
(, )
Prereq: 21G.708; Coreq: 21G.731, 21G.735, 21L.636, 21L.637, 21L.638, 21L.639, or 21L.640; permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-0
TBA.
Intensive tutorial in writing and speaking for majors. Provides students with enhanced linguistic and cultural fluency for academic or real-world purposes. Conducted entirely in Spanish. Preference to Spanish majors.
P. Duong
No required or recommended textbooks
Intermediate Subjects in Language, Literature, and Culture
These subjects (21G.711-21G.714) are designed for students who have completed Spanish IV or its equivalent. They serve as a transition between language study and more advanced subjects in literature and culture. Although each subject has a different emphasis, all provide students with additional practice in reading, speaking, and writing.
Native speakers of Spanish who have studied Hispanic literature at a high-school level must obtain permission from the instructor to enroll in any of these subjects.
21G.710 Advanced Communication in Spanish: Topics in Language and Culture
() 
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Advanced work to further develop oral and written skills in Spanish. Emphasizes communicative tasks and the consolidation of grammatical structures. Discussion, oral presentations, essay writing and group projects improve proficiency and prepare students to pursue advanced subjects and/or professional activities in a Spanish-speaking environment. Topics vary from term to term. Taught in Spanish. Limited to 18.
Staff
21G.711 Advanced Spanish Conversation and Composition: Perspectives on Technology and Culture
()
Prereq: 21G.704 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Focuses on expository and journalistic writing that examines the social and cultural impact of science and technology in Hispanic societies. Topics considered are: family structure and community, personal identity, gender relations, relationship to natural world, value systems and religion, education and work-life. Ethical implications of technological decision-making also discussed. Improves oral and written skills through discussions of audiovisual materials, simulations, interviews, guided compositions, regular journal writing, and participation on an online forum. Readings include: journalistic reports, essays, and literary selections offering diverse perspectives. Taught in Spanish. Enrollment limited.
Staff
21G.712 Spanish Conversation and Composition
()
Prereq: 21G.704 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.795
Lecture: TR1-2.30 (16-628)
Further development of spoken and written skills to improve fluency and style. Oral reports by participants on individual topics and group Web-based and video projects. Analyses of selected literary texts, films and popular music. Taught in Spanish. Enrollment limited.
M. Ribas Groeger
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
21G.795 Advanced Spanish Communication in Spain
()
Prereq: 21G.704 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.712
Improves fluency and oral proficiency through the study of Spanish culture, history and society in an immersive environment. Class discussions, debates and oral presentations broaden vocabulary and idiomatic usage, and help mastery of complex grammatical structures. Provides background on Spanish cultural practices, history, and current developments. Assignments and in-class activities include oral reports based on interviews with locals. Guided cultural activities further appreciation and understanding of Spanish culture, art and history and provide topics for oral and written presentations. Conducted entirely in Spanish. Limited to 18.
Staff
21G.713 Spanish through Film: Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Spain
()
Prereq: 21G.704 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Aims to increase oral and written communication, grammar, and vocabulary usage in Spanish while exploring a number of contemporary Hispanic films. Covers major films from Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Spain. Discussion, oral presentations, essay writing and group projects improve proficiency and prepare students to pursue advanced subjects and/or professional activities in a Spanish-speaking environment. Taught in Spanish. Limited to 18.
Staff
21G.714 Spanish for Heritage Learners
()
Prereq: Fluency in a Spanish dialect or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Designed for students who have conversational skills (typically gained from growing up in a Spanish speaking environment) without a corresponding level of literacy. Builds upon students' existing linguistic and cultural knowledge to develop competence and confidence in using the language in more formal contexts. Examines a variety of texts and genres, music, films and visual arts, in order to enrich vocabulary, improve grammatical accuracy, and gain a greater social, cultural, political, and historical understanding of the Spanish-speaking world. Taught in Spanish. Limited to 18.
Staff
21G.715 Topics in Medicine and Public Health in the Hispanic World
()
Prereq: 21G.704 or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR2.30-4 (16-644)
Strengthens oral and written communication skills in Spanish by examining current topics in medicine and public health. Explores medical and health challenges in various Hispanic nations and among Spanish-speaking communities in the US. Topics include cultural narratives of illness, bioethical considerations of genetic research, women's reproductive rights, Cuba's export of healthcare workers, the ethical implications of medical decision-making, and euthanasia. Draws on sources from the humanities, social sciences and the arts that incorporate diverse perspectives on these issues. Focuses on the use of language in the construction of cultural metaphors and representations of illness and healing. Taught in Spanish. Limited to 18.
M. San Martin
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
Advanced Subjects in Literature and Culture
21G.716[J] Introduction to Contemporary Hispanic Literature and Film
()
(Same subject as 21L.636[J])
Prereq: One intermediate subject in Spanish or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Studies important 20th- and 21st-century texts and films from both Spain and Latin America. Readings include short stories, theater, the novel, and poetry, as well as some non-fiction. Students acquire skills necessary for a serious examination of literacy and cultural issues in the Spanish-speaking world. Conducted entirely in Spanish. Emphasis on active participation of students in class discussion.
Staff
21G.717[J] Introduction to Hispanic Culture
()
(Same subject as 21L.637[J])
Prereq: One intermediate subject in Spanish or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Studies the major social, political, and aesthetic modes which have shaped Spanish civilization. Coordinates the study of literature, film, art, and architecture with the historical evolution of Spain. Readings and discussions focus on such topics as: the coexistence of Christians, Moors, and Jews; Imperial Spain; the First and Second Republics; and the contemporary period as background for the emergence of distinctively Spanish literary and artistic movements. Taught in Spanish. Limited to 18.
Staff
21G.731[J] Creation of a Continent: Representations of Hispanic America, 1492-1898, in Literature and Film
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 21H.274[J])
Prereq: One intermediate Spanish subject or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Traces the creation of a new literature in Spanish to record and interpret New World experiences. Begins with excerpts from Columbus's diary and ends with writings on the late 19th-century Cuban and Puerto Rican independence movements. Pairs some of these pre-20th-century texts with more recent literary and film interpretations of the first 400 years of Hispanic American history. Conducted in Spanish.
Staff
21G.732 The Making of the Latin American City: Culture, Gender, and Citizenship
()
Prereq: One intermediate subject in Spanish or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Explores paradigms of Latin American modernity, gender, and urban cultures through primary texts and media. Examines a range of materials (literature, films, visual arts, music, and advertising) to reflect on the region's urbanization processes of the 20th and 21st centuries. Focuses on the production and representation of gender - and women, in particular - as key subjects of urbanization, mass media, and consumer culture. Discussions travel through urban centers as different as Buenos Aires, Mexico DF, Lima, Havana, Miami and New York, but are organized around four critical categories: urban spaces, labor, leisure, and citizenship. Taught in Spanish.
P. Duong
21G.735 Advanced Topics in Hispanic Literature and Film
()
Prereq: One intermediate Spanish subject or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-8
Close study of a theme, a grouping of authors, or a historical period not covered in depth in other subjects. May be repeated for credit with permission of instructor. Taught in Spanish. Limited to 18.
Staff
21G.736 The Short Story in Spain and Hispanic America
()
Prereq: One intermediate subject in Spanish or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: MW EVE (7-8.30 PM) (16-644)
Studies the evolution of the short story in Spain and Hispanic America from the sixteenth century to the present. Considers the short story as a genre with unique possibilities for expression. Some terms students write their own short stories in Spanish. Authors include Borges, Cortazar, Quiroga, Cervantes, Maria de Zayas, Emilia Pardo Bazan, and Ana Lidia Vega. Taught in Spanish. Limited to 18.
L. Ewald
No required or recommended textbooks
21G.738[J] Literature and Social Conflict: Perspectives on the Hispanic World
()
(Same subject as 21L.638[J])
Prereq: One intermediate subject in Spanish or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
https://lit.mit.edu/21l-638j-literature-and-social-conflict-perspectives-on-the-hispanic-world/
Considers how major literary texts illuminate principal issues in the evolution of modern Spanish society. Emphasizes the treatment of such major questions as the exile of liberals in 1820, the concept of progress, the place of religion, urbanization, rural conservatism and changing gender roles, and the Spanish Civil War. Authors include Perez Galdos, Pardo Bazan, Unamuno, Ortega y Gasset, Salinas, Lorca, La Pasionaria, and Falcon. Taught in Spanish.
Staff
21G.739[J] Globalization and its Discontents: Spanish-speaking Nations
()
(Same subject as 21L.639[J])
Prereq: One intermediate subject in Spanish or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Studies new paradigms of cultural exchange that have shaped Latin America in the 20th and 21st centuries. Examines how globalization is rapidly changing the identity of peoples and cultures in Spanish-speaking nations. Spotlights debates about human rights. Materials studied include film, fiction, essay, architectural archives, music and art. Students complete a research project about a specific aspect of Hispanic culture that has been shaped by contemporary forces in the global economy. Taught in Spanish with required readings and writing in Spanish.
Staff
21G.740[J] The New Spain: 1977-Present
()
(Same subject as 21L.640[J])
Prereq: One intermediate subject in Spanish or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
https://lit.mit.edu/21l-640j-the-new-spain-1977-present/
Lecture: T EVE (7-10 PM) (4-253)
Deals with the vast changes in Spanish social, political and cultural life that have taken place since the death of Franco. Topics include new freedom from censorship, the re-emergence of strong movements for regional autonomy (the Basque region and Catalonia), the new cinema including Almodovar and Saura, educational reforms instituted by the socialist government, and the fiction of Carme Riera and Terenci Moix. Special emphasis on the emergence of mass media as a vehicle for expression in Spain. Considers the changes wrought by Spain's acceptance into the European Community. Materials include magazines, newspapers, films, fiction, and Amando de Miguel's Los Españoles. Taught in Spanish.
M. Resnick
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
Graduate Language Subjects
21G.751 Spanish I
(, , )
(Subject meets with 21G.701)
Prereq: None
Units: 4-0-5
Lecture: MTWR11 (16-628) or MTWR2 (16-668)
For students with no previous knowledge of Spanish. Introduction to understanding, speaking, reading, and writing Spanish. Maximal use of fundamentals of grammar in active communication. Audio- and video-based language laboratory program coordinated with and supplementary to class work. Same as 21G.701, but for graduate credit. Limited to 18 per section.
Staff
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
21G.752 Spanish II
(, )
(Subject meets with 21G.702)
Prereq: 21G.751 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-5
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.700, 21G.782, 21G.783
Lecture: MTWR10 (14N-217) or MTWR12 (1-135)
Introductory subject that continues the study of Spanish language and culture using audio, video and print materials, feature films and popular music from Latin America and Spain. Emphasizes writing, vocabulary acquisition, and the study of more complex grammatical structures. Group interaction and short oral presentations develop students' oral skills. Limited to 18 per section.
Staff
Textbooks (Fall 2018)
21G.783 Spanish II (Study Abroad)
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Subject meets with 21G.782)
Prereq: 21G.751 or permission of instructor
Units: 4-0-5
Credit cannot also be received for 21G.700, 21G.702, 21G.752
Increased practice in listening comprehension, reading, and group interaction. Class conducted in Madrid, Spain with an MIT instructor. Students responsible for travel and lodging fees. Same as 21G.782, but for graduate credit. Enrollment limited by lottery.
Staff
For Spanish Literature and Culture subjects taught in English, see 21G.084.
