- UCAS course code
- RL36
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Sociology and Spanish
Gain specialist knowledge of Hispanic culture and sociology.
- Typical A-level offer: ABB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Course unit details:
Themes in Spanish and Latin American Studies
Unit code | SPLA10420 |
---|---|
Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 1 |
Teaching period(s) | Full year |
Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This course unit is organised thematically around four major topics in Spanish and Latin American Studies: Race and Identity; Protest and Revolution; Modernity and Modernisation; and Power and Culture. Through the course students explore how these themes manifest themselves in different contexts across the Spanish-speaking world. At the same time, students are introduced to basic social and cultural theory and how it can be applied to the analysis of different cultural artefacts from the Spanish-speaking world. The course will introduce students to basic concepts, topics and theories that may inform the content of several future modules in their programmes.
Pre/co-requisites
Available on: All programmes with Spanish.
Pre-requisite: A-Level Spanish or equivalent.
Taught and assessed in English; seminar materials in Spanish.
Aims
- To introduce students to basic social and cultural research theory and how it applies to specific Spanish and Spanish American cultural objects
- To further students’ knowledge and understanding of Spanish and Latin American culture and society
- To hone students’ skills of analysis, academic writing and independent research
- To aid the study of Spanish language and culture in a range of contexts
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Demonstrate basic understanding of key themes in Spanish and Latin American Studies
- Demonstrate basic understanding of cultural theory for the analysis of Spanish and Spanish American cultural objects
Intellectual skills
By the end of this course students will have:
- Further developed their Spanish language competence through reading and viewing a range of Spanish and Spanish American cultural objects
- Improved their capacity to read critically
- Increased their ability to interpret, analyse and synthesise information
Practical skills
By the end of this course students will have furthered their ability to:
- Gather, organise and deploy evidence and information in writing an essay
- Use the library to find appropriate physical and electronic resources and reference them correctly
- Construct and back up arguments
Transferable skills and personal qualities
By the end of this course students will have furthered their ability to:
- Express themselves confidently in English, both orally and in writing
- Manage time and work to deadlines
- Participate in group discussions and assess the relevance and importance of the ideas of others
- Present information, ideas and arguments orally and in writing with due regard to the target audience
- Draw on theory when analysing concrete objects and situations
Employability skills
- Other
- The skills outlined above can be valuable assets for the following job sectors, both in relation to Latin America and beyond: journalism and media, translation and publishing, business and management (group work, organisational skills, problem solving), advertising and design, tourism and travel (intercultural communication, cultural awareness), politics and policy-making, charities and volunteering.
Assessment methods
Assessment Task | Formative or Summative | Weighting within unit (if summative) |
Essay | Summative | 45% |
Group Presentation | Summative | 25% |
Short Essay (textual analysis) | Summative | 30% |
Resit Assessment
Assessment Task |
Essay |
Feedback methods
Feedback Method | Formative or Summative |
Oral feedback on seminar participation | Formative and Summative |
Written feedback on essays, group presentation | Formative and Summative |
Additional one-to-one feedback (during the consultation hour or by making an appointment) | Formative |
The short essay, due in the first semester, will serve simultaneously as formative and summative assessment. Feedback received on it will help students in preparing their group presentation and their final essay |
Recommended reading
Selections from:
- Mary Louise Pratt’s ‘Arts of the Contact Zone’
- Hannah Arendt’s On Revolution
- Jane Tormey’s Cities and Photography
- Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities
Excerpts, clips or selected images from:
- Horacio Cópola photographs
- The work of Federico García Lorca
- Spanish TV events
- The work of Sor Juan Inés de la Cruz
- Diego Rivera murals
- Latin American comics and graphic novels
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
---|---|
Lectures | 22 |
Seminars | 11 |
Independent study hours | |
---|---|
Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
---|---|
Jose Valentino Gianuzzi | Unit coordinator |
Samuel Llano | Unit coordinator |