- UCAS course code
- RL36
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Sociology and Spanish
Gain specialist knowledge of Hispanic culture and sociology.
Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: RL36 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
Study with a language
- 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:
Modern Latin American Literature
| Unit code | SPLA20882 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 2 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This course introduces students to a wide range of literary genres from across Spanish America from the early 20th century to the present day. These texts, produced by both canonical and lesser-known authors, are used to investigate important themes in Latin American culture, such as nationalism and cosmopolitism (Vallejo, Neruda, Borges); class (Pacheco); political repression and censorship (Gambaro, Piñera); gender and eroticism (Pizarnik, Di Giorgio); dictatorship and memory (Bolaño); and US/Latin America relations (Luiselli). The course thus explores literary responses to key historical moments in the region. Texts will be read in Spanish.
Pre/co-requisites
Primary texts will be read in Spanish; teaching and assessment will take place in English.
Available on: All programmes related to Spanish.
Aims
- To familiarise students with Latin American literature from the start of the twentieth century to the present
- To introduce students to a range of written texts that can be read as responses to key historical moments in the region
- To help students think about the relationship between literature, culture and history so that they can develop a framework for thinking about these relationships in other contexts
- To improve students’ intercultural awareness
- To improve students’ knowledge of Spanish
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this course students will be familiar with:
- some of the most important authors of twentieth century Latin American literature and their principal works in a wide range of genres
- key moments in Latin American history of the last 100 years
- how politics, culture and literature can interact and inform each other
- key literary theories
- enhanced principles of close reading, critical reading, and literary analysis
Intellectual skills
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- read several literary works critically within specific historical contexts in Latin America
- analyse the way that written texts represent or respond to historical events
- evaluate and compare different strategies used by writers to create meaning
- improve their engagement with diverse arguments about literary texts and offer their own interpretation of those texts in both written and spoken form
Practical skills
By the end of this course students will be able to demonstrate:
- an increased ability to carry out close-textual analysis
- enhanced skills for presenting and defending an argument
- improved written and spoken skills
Transferable skills and personal qualities
By the end of this course students will have improved the following transferable skills:
- written and oral communication
- intercultural awareness and understanding
- participating in group discussions
- independent thinking, research and planning
- working with primary and secondary sources, both in English and Spanish
Employability skills
- Analytical skills
- TOURISM AND TRAVEL (intercultural communication, historical knowledge, and cultural understanding) POLITICS AND POLICY-MAKING (awareness of history of political events; role of culture in responding to and creating social change) CHARITIES AND NGOS (knowledge and assessment of social issues)
- Other
- In addition to academic jobs (in teaching and research), the skills outlined above can be valuable assets for, among others, the following job sectors, both in relation to Latin America and beyond: JOURNALISM AND MEDIA (familiarity with Latin American social and historical contexts; greater command of Spanish and written English) TRANSLATION AND PUBLISHING (enhanced knowledge of literature and language; greater cultural awareness) BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (organisational skills; critical thinking and problem-solving)
Assessment methods
| Assessment task | Formative or Summative | Weighting within unit (if summative) |
| Mid-term Essay | Summative and formative | 40% |
| Final Essay | Summative and Formative | 60% |
Resit Assessment:
Essay
Feedback methods
Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
Written feedback on both essays | Formative and summative |
Written feedback on essay plans | Formative |
Oral feedback in seminar discussions | Formative |
Individual consultations with teaching staff during office hours or by appointment | Formative |
Recommended reading
Andrews, Chris. Robert Bolaño's Fiction: an Expanding Universe. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.
Boldy, Steven. A Companion to Jorge Luis Borges. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Tamesis, 2009.
Castro-Klarén, Sara. A Companion to Latin American Literature and Culture. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008.
Hart, Stephen M., A Companion to Latin American Literature. New ed. Woodbridge, Suffolk UK: Tamesis, 2007.
Hart, Stephen M. The Companion to Latin American Poetry. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 11 |
| Project supervision | 11 |
| Seminars | 22 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 156 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Jose Valentino Gianuzzi | Unit coordinator |