Syllabus

(Mon Aug 17, 2020 08:00 AM - Sun Jan 15, 2023 08:00 AM)
SPAN 4520 – CONTEMPORARY PERUVIAN CULTURE
Fall 2020 – MW 2-3:15      Jorge Secada (jes2f@virginia.edu; 4-6918; Levering 208)
 
I Course description
This course will examine themes in current public discussion in Peru, with an emphasis on
political and social issues. The course is based on Meditaciones sobre el Perú, a collection of
articles from Peruvian newspapers and journals published between 1990 and 2018. During term
we will read several of these pieces discussing political authority, equality, justice, terrorism,
citizenship, identity, the value of truthfulness, corruption, liberalism, and socialism. Each article
approaches its subject from a particular, circumstantial motivation (some event in Peruvian
public life at the moment of its publication) but seeks to raise and briefly discuss some issues
with a broader, philosophical and theoretical import. The course aims to provide students both
with a sense of current Peruvian public life and some grasp of the more general features of
Peruvian culture. The course requires intensive participation in class as well as weekly written
assignments, thereby also serving as a course in advanced spoken and written Spanish.
II Required text
Jorge Secada, Meditaciones sobre el Perú y otros textos de filosofía, política e identidad,
Biblioteca Abraham Valdelomar, Hiuacachina, 2020 (provided on-line for students)
III Syllabus
The course is wholly on-line. We will meet twice a week through zoom at the originally
scheduled days and times (MW 2-3:15). After a first introductory session, our meetings will be
devoted to a close reading of one of the short essays on the text (the first selection to be read will
be indicated during the first session, though students are encouraged to read through the whole
collection). Each short essay will be read out loud in class while clarifying any grammatical or
semantical issues. We will then look at the overall form of the essay. Finally, we will discuss its
content, including consideration of the circumstances in which the article was composed. After
we have gone through each essay, students will be asked to write in Spanish a brief commentary
on the essay. All interaction in the course will be conducted in Spanish. Towards the end of the
course there will be a discussion of the whole set of readings; students will then have an
opportunity to formulate some general conclusions from the discussions during the semester.
At some point towards the middle of term the course will be joined by Professor Francisco Tumi
Guzmán, a Peruvian novelist and journalist (and also Professor of Spanish Literature and
Language at the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima). He will lead the class in reading and
discussing one essay.
Depending on how things evolve during term on campus, you may be required to meet with me
in person once one-on-one. If this is not possible, we will meet via zoom. During this meeting we
will discuss your term paper, as well as any issues arising from the course which you may wish
to bring up.
IV Course grade, attendance, and requirements
You are required to write a term paper for the course. The topic of your paper must be approved
by the instructor and you are required to let him know what it is by Wednesday September 16 . th

The term paper is due the day after the last session of the course.
You will also be required to write brief compositions (not more than 400 words) on each of vthe
essays we shall read. Students will be expected to have already read the assigned essay before we
start looking at it in class, and to come ready to discuss it, with any questions regarding its
language or content. Class participation is an important part of the course, where you are
expected to exercise your oral Spanish.
The grade of the course will be the average of the grade for the paper (40%), the grades of the
short pieces (30%), and a grade obtained from class participation (30%).
You are required to attend all sessions and actively participate in them, to do all readings and
submit all brief compositions, as well as to actively participate in class. These are course
requirements and failure to satisfy them can lead to a failing grade.

August 2020