Debating Cultures: Inclusion & Expulsion, Memory, and Erasure in the Hispanic World

In this course, we will analyze and discuss the ways in which the Hispanic world has lived, regulated and represented its great religious and cultural diversity. As we progress in our understanding of these multifaceted and varied responses, we will examine the two most important ethical choices that the Hispanic peoples of both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have had in front of them at different points in time: (1) the choice between inclusion and exclusion; and (2) the concerted decision to either memorialize or forget history and the consequences of having chosen to exclude or include certain individuals, ideas, religions or cultural aspects of society. The consideration of these two choices -- as they appear represented in laws, texts and images -- will help us acquire the ability to better understand the challenges and dilemmas that the various Hispanic peoples have encountered in the past and the decisions they continue to make in the present moment when confronted with diversity. Each module of this course will be anchored by an official document or policy that rubber stamped the decision to include, exclude, remember, or forget those who were different because of their origins, their religion, their language, their way of living, or their political choices. Examples of these laws or decrees are the Capitulations of Granada, the Edict of Expulsion of 1492, the New Laws of the Indies, the laws of land confiscation of the 19th century, the persecutions and censorship of the dictatorial regimes in both Spain and Latin America, and the recent Spanish law for the recovery of historical memory. Also, each module will begin in the past and end in the present, with an exploration of the contemporary consequences of those laws and policies. These diachronic studies will contribute to inform the analysis of both social issues and cultural artifacts, and they will enrich the class presentations and discussions. This course will have a strong, mandatory and graded oral communications component, and it is taught in Spanish. Prior or concurrent enrollment in Spanish 303 is required. Students who have taken more than two Spanish culture or literature classes are not allowed in this course and must proceed to a Researching Cultures class.