Instructor: Norma López-Burton, Department of Spanish and Classics, College of Letters and Science
Description: In light of traumatic world events of the last two years, it is especially timely that students walk into the wider world with a greater empathy and understanding of peoples outside the United States. In this course, students will have the opportunity to examine our own cultural myths, stereotypes and realities and in turn, compare the way others live in their world and how they perceive ours. Students will learn to question and compare cultures in a systematic way by examining four perspectives: "How we see ourselves", "How we see them", "How they see themselves", "How they see us."
Format: One hour per week class time for lecture and discussion. Discussions will be based on short readings posted on My.UCDavis. Before each class, students will be expected to have read the selections and be ready to participate in the discussion. Grading: Three quizzes based on the readings (30%), Class participation (35%) and a final paper (35%). The final paper will be two or three pages long. The student will examine a cultural point from a foreign culture, examine the four perspectives and contrast it with his or her own.
About the Instructor: Norma López-Burton has been an instructor at UC Davis for over twenty years, and has supervised the First Year Spanish Program for nine Years. She teaches Spanish I, II, III and 8 and the graduate course Spanish 390. She has introduced ways to measure the cultural awareness of students and has made cultural understanding proficiency as part of the grade.