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Realities and Fictions of Argentina (SPAN30020)
Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5Online
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
Overview
Availability | Winter Term - Online |
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Fees | Look up fees |
The dichotomy Civilisation vs Barbarism has been one of the guiding fictions of Argentinian cultural history since 1845, when Domingo Sarmiento’s Facundo: Civilisation and Barbarism was published. Written at a time of cultural crisis, this founding essay established a fundamental binary that would rule the rest of Argentina’s history until today. The students will analyse the opposing sides and examine the peculiar dividing mentality created by the intellectuals of the country in the 19th century, which framed the first idea of Argentina. Its ideological legacy is in some sense a mythology of exclusion rather than a unifying national idea, a recipe for division rather than a consensus pluralism. Through a variety of readings and online activities, the subject invites you to explore, and contextualise globally, the realities and fictions that inhabit Argentina: a two-sided country, a place of contradictions.
The subject is delivered in Spanish language, online, over three weeks during the winter break. In a flexible and interactive mode, students will have the opportunity to integrate a variety of communication tools and collaborate with peers in a versatile and innovative environment. Students will thus enhance their digital literacy and practice skills as well as a number of skills relevant to a workplace environment, such as problem-solving, teamwork, clear communication, self-evaluation, information literacy and professionalism.
Part of the assessment of this subject will contribute to the ePortfolio students develop in their Spanish and Latin American Studies subjects. This digital platform offers the opportunity to showcase relevant workplace skills and digital and intercultural competencies in the target language, as well as individual interests and ideas.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Interpret and produce written and oral communication in a variety of genres in the target language, and more specifically in the context of the history and culture of Argentina;
- Identify and explain different cultural forces shaping Argentine society;
- Explain and discuss the history and culture of Argentina with a particular emphasis on the founding binary of Civilisation vs Barbarism;
- Recognise and evaluate the relationship between fact-based history in Argentina and its myths, legends and fictions;
- Research at an academic level the cultures and histories of Argentina;
- Reflect on the social, political, historical and cultural realities and fictions shaping Argentine society;
- Critically engage with Argentinian texts and cultural products;
- Apply management and planning skills through organizing workloads including online activities;
- Apply analytical skills, learning strategies and demonstrate the ability to process, organise and integrate information;
- Demonstrate an openness to the world and an awareness of cultural and historical context;
- Apply and demonstrate relevant workplace skills such as problem-solving, teamwork, clear communication, self-evaluation, information literacy and professionalism;
- Create an audio recording of a report on the opposing concepts that underlie the subject: Civilisation vs Barbarism.
Generic skills
At the completion of this subject, students should have:
- enhanced research skills;
- enhanced critical thinking and analysis;
- developed logical analysis strategies;
- strengthened their ability to speak effectively in public;
- enhanced information literacy skills;
- cultivated their understanding of social, political, historical and cultural contexts and their awareness of intercultural differences and openness to the world;
- enhanced relevant digital literacy and practice skills;
- enhanced relevant workplace skills.
Last updated: 2 November 2024