Spanish and Portuguese

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese is known for its plurality of critical and theoretical approaches to the study of Spanish Peninsular and Latin American literatures as well as its academic rigor. The major in Spanish is a liberal arts major that offers a wide range of courses in the language, literatures, and cultures of Spain and the twenty-some Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. Like its departmental counterpart, the major In Portuguese, the Spanish program provides students with the opportunity to acquire linguistic competence as well as knowledge of literary and cultural topics. The majors in spanish and in Portuguese complement interests in disciplines such as comparative literature, history of art, history, anthropology, political science, Latin American and Iberian studies, international studies, environmental studies and others. Learn more at http://www.yale.edu/span-port/

Cervantes' Don Quixote
with Roberto González Echevarría

The course facilitates a close reading of Don Quixote in the artistic and historical context of renaissance and baroque Spain. Students are also expected to read four of Cervantes’ Exemplary Stories, Cervantes’ Don Quixote: A Casebook, and J.H. Elliott’s Imperial Spain. Cervantes’ work will be discussed in relation to paintings by Velázquez. The question of why Don Quixote is read today will be addressed throughout the course. Students are expected to know the book, the background readings and the materials covered in the lectures and class discussions.