Handbook

In this course, you will explore modern Spain and its society and culture. In this interdisciplinary course, you will examine current issues pertaining to Spain from the perspective of gender studies, history, and social and cultural studies. Through the analysis of films, music, traditions, modern art and social movements, you will gain an understanding of the diverse range of social, cultural and political challenges affecting modern Spain.

In recent years, Spain has been immersed in a series of changes that resulted in what some scholars claim to be a completely different country. In less than half a century, a predominantly rural society has been transformed into a mainly urban and technological one. A 40-year dictatorship was supplanted by a strong, progressive democracy. One of the world's most centralised states has been made into one of the most decentralised. A society that was intensely sexually repressed has become a notably permissive one. There has been a revolution in the roles of men and women. Spain has experienced a surge in immigration that has turned the country, in the space of just a few years, into a multi-ethnic society. In this context of change, the topics explored in the course will include family, sexuality and gender, migration and ethnicity, identity, religion, animal rights, cultural appropriation, and popular culture.