SPAN 131: Ibero-American Civilization (3): Spanish American and Brazilian life from the Conquest to the present; literature, art, the indigenous heritage, and contemporary problems.
Spanish 131 is based on a general education course on Ibero-American culture and civilization at Penn State University. The course is designed to expose students to the full range of Ibero-American history and diversity. Since we are covering centuries of history, many countries (including the United States), and thousands of other variables (linguistic, artistic, ethnic, religious, political, economic, geographic, biologic, etc.), this tour will of necessity be pretty rudimentary. Hopefully, though, you will find things that pique your interests and you will be motivated to continue your exploration of the vast cultural and geographic expanse that covers much of North America, all of South and Central America, and islands
in the Caribbean.
This course has an established start and end date and you will interact with your course instructor. You are required to have access to the Internet or Web to complete this course.
A Web-based course grants you a great deal of freedom, but also a great deal of
responsibility. While you don't have a fixed schedule of classes, you do have a
fixed schedule of deadlines by which assignments must be completed. In general,
you should expect to put in about as much work, and about as many hours, as you
would for a traditional resident instruction course.
Spanish 131 is a three-credit course. If you were to take it at one of the Penn State campuses, you would spend 150 minutes each week in class (we round it off to three hours to allow for talking with the instructor before and after class, etc.) and roughly two hours of outside work for each hour in class. In other words, you would be expected to devote about nine hours per week to the course for a total of 13 weeks. You should plan to spend about that same amount of time—eight to ten hours—on this course. If you are regularly spending significantly more, there is probably something wrong. You need to examine your study habits, reassess your readiness for the course, and discuss your situation with your instructor. If you spend significantly less time on the course, you may find that your grade suffers.
Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.
Using the Library
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a
distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your
desktop;
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full
advantage of the Libraries' resources and services. Once you have a Penn State account, you will automatically be registered with the library within 24–48 hours. If you would like to determine whether your registration has been completed, visit the Libraries home page and select My Account.
For this course we recommend the minimum World Campus technical requirements listed below:
Technical Requirements
Operating System
Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8*; Mac OS X 10.5 or higher *Windows 8 support excludes the tablet only RT version
Processor
2 GHz or higher
Memory
1 GB of RAM
Hard Drive Space
20 GB free disk space
Browser
We recommend the latest ANGEL-supported version of Firefox or
Internet Explorer. To determine if your browser fits this criterion,
and for advice on downloading a supported version,
please refer to the following ITS knowledge base article: Supported Browsers and Recommended Computers.
Note: Cookies, Java, and JavaScript must be enabled.
Pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows
from Penn State websites.
Due to nonstandard handling of CSS, JavaScript and caching, older versions of Internet Explorer (such as IE 6 or earlier) do not work with our courses.
Requirements for this class fall into five categories: 1) readings in the textbooks, 2) threaded discussions based on themes and concepts presented in the readings, 3) a personal posting and a student web page that contain information about you, 4) testing your knowledge quizzes, and (5) research project. A series of activities involving one or more of the four categories organize the course. Below, I have provided you with an explanation of each of these categories to help you understand the expectations of each component of the course.
Threaded Discussions (40% of course grade): Throughout this course, there will be plenty of opportunities to discuss topics we are exploring with other students. These discussions will count 40% towards your final grade and will utilize a discussion forum format. Each threaded discussion is worth 10% of your final grade. I highly recommend that you compose your response using Word or some other kind of document editor and then copy and paste your response into the discussion forum. This will give you the benefit of saving your work, editing and reviewing your document, and running a grammar and spelling check on your work. This means there is no excuse for misspelled words! Keep it simple, though, as your formatting may be lost in the copy/paste transition. I would also recommend that once you paste your response into the discussion forum, you preview it to make sure it comes out the way you want it to. Guidelines for each threaded discussion will be provided to you during appropriate times in the course.
Personal Posting and personal home page (5% of course grade): These postings are worth 5% of your grade, and are is the easiest 5% to earn. This posting will occur in week one. You will be required to submit a statement to the discussion forum about yourself for the posting, and there is a link to the personal home pages that will guide you through that process. These are activities to help you get to know your classmates and practice using the discussion forum.
Testing your Knowledge (50% of course grade): There are a total of five graded quizzes in this course. Each quiz is worth 10% of your final grade, for a total of 50% for all five quizzes. The guidelines and rules for each quiz will be given to you at the appropriate time. In addition to the four graded quizzes, there are plenty of opportunities to test your knowledge on six self-tests throughout the semester. The quiz bank has over 350 questions in it. These self-tests are not graded and can be taken up to three times, and will be closed before the graded quizzes are available. These self-tests provide you an opportunity to practice and test your knowledge of the material, and will give you a great head start on the types of questions I ask, as well as what you need to know to do well on the graded quizzes. HINT: Some of the quiz questions will even come from the self-tests.
Research Project (5% of Course Grade): You will be asked to do independent research on the Internet or in the library on an aspect of Hispanic culture related to the course. This will be added to a Drop Box in ANGEL and will be shared with all members of the class. At the end of your presentation, you will ask three comprehension questions so that the class comes away with at least three important facts about your topic. I will use one or more of those questions on the graded quizzes, so this material is as important as the information found in the textbook. More details are available in the folder entitled RESEARCH PROJECT. Note: Because we cannot meet face-to-face, I will assign the topics once the Add/Drop period expires and I know how many students are in the course.
Extra Credit: In addition to the required readings, there are supplemental optional videos you may watch in order to earn extra credit. These videos will enhance your own learning processes and make the course much richer. You will find supplemental materials on the course Web site associated with each topic where relevant. See the above section for a list of required course materials.
Your final course grade will be based upon the following percentage breakdown.
Your evaluation in each of the activities will be based upon the QUALITY of
your participation.
How? The goal is to be as fair as possible when I grade your assignments.
The criteria, in order of importance, include:
Significance and accuracy of ideas (Please make sure that your comments are informed and can be backed by the readings in the text.)
Originality of thought
Clarity of expression
Clarity of organization of ideas
Grammatical correctness (including spelling, capitalization, and punctuation)
Appropriate language ((civility, excessive jargon, etc. Note: informal speech and/or slang are not acceptable or appropriate in a college course.)
Timeliness (try to become involved in discussion in a meaningful way, other than just throw out a few lines near the deadline)
For a specific breakdown of percentage points for each letter grade, see below
under the Grading sections.
When? As a general guideline, I try to get assignments back to you as quickly
as possible. Below, I have provided tentative policies regarding the return of
assignments to you. This may vary depending on the number of students in the course
or other matters that may arise during the course of our time together.
Self-test grades are available immediately.
Graded quiz grades are available within a few days. The reason for this is
before I release them I check the grades to ensure that there were no problems
with the quiz itself (such as incorrect coding). These grades are percentages
following the grading scale.
After a threaded discussion has been closed, I will evaluate your postings and your responses to others. I combine these scores and will post your total grade. I normally post these grades as points - so each threaded discussion will be worth a total of 10 (for 10%). You receive a maximum of 4 points for your original posting and 6 for your responses (a maximum of 2 points for each of the three (3) additional responses to what your peers have written).
Your initial posting in which you introduce yourself to me and your classmates will be graded as soon as I have had a chance to read it. This grade, similar to the threaded discussions, is in the form of points, with 5 being a perfect score.
The course will primarily be structured around the following key topic areas about Ibero-America. Each week will cover a certain number of sub-topics depending upon the nature of the key topic. It is going to be an exciting term!
UNIT 1: PRECOLONIAL AND COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA
Lesson 1: INTRODUCTION / LANDS AND PEOPLES; INDIAN AND HISPANIC ORIGINS
Lesson 2: LANDS AND PEOPLES; INDIAN AND HISPANIC ORIGINS
Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.
Lesson 1: Lands and Peoples; Indian and Hispanic Origins
Readings:
Read through Lesson 1 online content
Read Chapter 1 (pages 1-19) carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition.
Read also Chapter 1 (pages 3-35) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Create a Personal Home Page that includes a statement about yourself, your interests, and your reasons for taking this course (provide a picture if you have one). To access the personal home pages, please choose the Student Home Pages link under the Lessons tab.
Read the other home pages provided by other students about themselves.
Do Personal Post: Getting to Know You in the Course Discussion Forum
Recommended: Self-Test 1 on Lessons 1-2. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 2: Lands and Peoples; Indian and Hispanic Origins (Continued)
Readings:
Read through Lesson 2 online content
Read Chapter 1 (pages 19-30) carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition.
Read also Chapter 2 (pages 37-44) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
RECOMMENDED: Watch the videos on YOUTUBE on the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas. They are in the video clips folder.
Recommended: Self-Test 1 on Lessons 1-2. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 3: "Discovery," Conquest, and Colonization
Readings:
Read through Lesson 3 online content
Read Chapter 2 (pages 31-62) carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition.
Read also Chapter 2 (pages 45-48) and Chapters 3-4 (pages 51-99) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Threaded Discussion 1, on the Discovery and Conquest, begins (and continues through Lesson 5).
Recommended: Self-Test 2 on Lessons 3, 4, and 5. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 4: "Discovery," Conquest, and Colonization (Continued)
Readings:
Read through Lesson 4 online content
Read Chapter 2 (pages 31-62) carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition.
Read also Chapters 5 and 6 (pages 103-149) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 1, on the Discovery and Conquest, continues.
Recommended: Self-Test 2 on Lessons 3, 4, and 5. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 5: "Discovery," Conquest, and Colonization (Continued)
Readings:
Read through Lesson 5 online content
Read Chapter 2 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 31-62.
Read also Chapters 7 and 8 (pages 153-203) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 1, on the Discovery and Conquest, continues.
Recommended: Self-Test 2 on Lessons 3, 4, and 5. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Graded Quiz 1 on Lessons 1 through 5.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 6: Independence
Readings:
Read through Lesson 6 online content
Read Chapter 3 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 63-86.
Read also Chapter 9 (pages 207-240) and Chapter 18 (488-90) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Recommended: Self-Test 3 on Lessons 6, 7, and 8. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 7: Independence (Continued)
Readings:
Read through Lesson 7 online content
Read Chapter 3 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 63-86.
Read also Chapters 10 and 11 (pages 243-319), Chapter 12 (pages 277-295) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 2, on Independence begins (and continues through Lesson 8).
Recommended: Self-Test 3 on Lessons 6, 7, and 8. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 8: New Nations
Readings:
Read through Lesson 8 online content
Read Chapter 4 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 87-120.
Read also Chapter 12 (pages 295-312); Chapter 13 (pages 335-45), Chapter 14 (pages 368-70), and Chapter 17 (pages 453-57) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 2, on Independence continues.
Recommended: Self-Test 3 on Lessons 6, 7, and 8. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Graded Quiz 2 on Lessons 6, 7, and 8.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 9: The Emergence of the Modern State
Readings:
Read through Lesson 9 online content
Read Chapter 5 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 121-55.
Read also Chapter 12 (pages 313-319), Chapter 13 (pages 323-59), and Chapter 14 (pages 361-68) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Recommended: Self-Test 4 on Lessons 9, 10, and 11. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 10: New Actors on an Old Stage
Readings:
Read through Lesson 10 online content
Read Chapter 6 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 156-78.
Read also Chapter 14 (pages 386-90), Chapter 15 (pages 412-15), and Chapter 18 (pages 485-88; 490-505) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 3,
begins (and continues through the next lesson).
Recommended: Self-Test 4 on Lessons 9, 10, and 11. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 11: The Mexican Explosion
Readings:
Read through Lesson 11 online content
Read Chapter 7 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 179-206.
Read also Chapter 14 (pages 370-79), Chapter 15 (pages 393-404), Chapter 16 (pages 417-25), Chapter 17 (pages 457-64) and Chapter 18 (pages 505-507) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 3, continues.
Recommended: Self-Test 4 on Lessons 9, 10, and 11. Note: This is an ungraded activity.
Graded Quiz 3 on Lessons 9, 10, and 11.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 12: From World Wars to the Cold War
Readings:
Read through Lesson 12 online content
Read Chapter 8 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 207-229.
Read also Chapter 15 (pages 404-412) and Chapter 18 (pages 509-518) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Recommended: Self-Test 5 and Self-Test 6 on Lesson 12, 13, and 14. Note: These are ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 13: The Revolutionary Option
Readings:
Read through Lesson 13 online content
Read Chapter 9 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 230-59.
Read also Chapter 16 (pages 432-39), and Chapter 17 (pages 464-71; 475-79) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 4, on Contemporary Ibero-America
including the U.S. begins (and continues through the next lessons).
Recommended: Self-Test 5 and Self-Test 6 on Lesson 12, 13, and 14. Note: These are ungraded activity.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 14: Debt and Dictatorship
Readings:
Read through Lesson 14 online content
Read Chapter 10 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 260-87.
Read also Chapter 17 (pages 471-75) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 4, on Contemporary Ibero-America
including the U.S. continues.
Recommended: Self-Test 5 and Self-Test 6 on Lesson 12, 13, and 14. Note: These are ungraded activity.
Graded Quiz 4 on Lessons 12, 13, and 14.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 15: Forward into the Past
Readings:
Read through Lesson 15 online content
Read Chapter 11 carefully in E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: An Interpretive History, 8th Edition, pages 288-309.
Read also Chapter 16 (pages 439-50), Chapter 17 (pages 480-84), and Chapter 18 (pages 508-509; 518-22) in Keen’s Latin American Civilization, 8th Edition.
Assignments:
Threaded Discussion 4, on Contemporary Ibero-America
including the U.S. continues.
Complete the End-of-Course Survey. A link to the survey will be listed under the Lessons tab, starting this week.
Check out the due dates on the Calendar.
Lesson 16: Review Days and Final Graded Quiz
Readings:
No reading.
Assignments:
Graded Quiz 5. This Quiz will cover Lesson 15 AND there will be 25 additional questions taken from the previous four Graded Quizzes.
The World Campus follows the same grading system as the Penn State resident program. The grades of A, B, C, D, and F indicate the following qualities of academic performance:
A = (Excellent) Indicates exceptional achievement
B = (Good) Indicates extensive achievement
C = (Satisfactory) Indicates acceptable achievement
D = (Poor) Indicates only minimal achievement
F = (Failure) Indicates inadequate achievement necessitating a repetition of the course in order to secure credit
If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.
For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.
Academic integrity — scholarship free of fraud and deception — is an
important educational objective of Penn State. Academic dishonesty can
lead to a failing grade or referral to the Office of Student Conduct.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:
cheating
plagiarism
fabrication of information or citations
facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others
unauthorized prior possession of examinations
submitting the work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor and securing written approval
tampering with the academic work of other students
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, procedure requires an instructor to notify a student of
suspected dishonesty before filing a charge and recommended sanction with the college. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If a disciplinary sanction also is recommended, the case will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct.
All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of
enrolling in a course, please contact us.
Additionally,
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and others, and a civil community.
For More Information on Academic Integrity at Penn State
Please see the Academic Integrity Chart for specific college contact information or visit one of the following URLs:
It is important that you submit your assignments by the due date. Your instructor may impose penalties for late assignments. These penalties may include a lowered grade or a grade of zero for that assignment.
In the case of an unavoidable conflict or emergency, you are responsible for contacting your instructor as soon as possible to work out an alternative arrangement.
In order to apply
for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability resources office at the campus where you are officially enrolled,
participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation based on the documentation guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability resources
office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible.
You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the
World Campus Student Center website.
In order to protect your privacy, course access is limited to those individuals who have direct responsibility for the quality of your educational experience. In addition to the instructor, a teaching assistant or college administrator may be provided access in order to ensure optimal faculty availability and access. World Campus technical staff may also be given access in order to resolve technical support issues.
Students are responsible for online course content, taking notes, obtaining other materials provided by the instructor, taking tests (if applicable), and completing assignments as scheduled by the instructor. As a general rule, students should plan on logging into the course at least three times per week and spending at least three hours per course credit per week on the course, e.g., if the course is three credits, the student should plan on spending at least 9-12 hours per week on the course, just as they would in a residence course.
Students are responsible for keeping track of changes in the course syllabus made by the instructor throughout the semester.
Students are responsible for monitoring their grades.
Students must contact their instructor (and teammates when working on any collaborative learning assignments) as soon as possible if they anticipate missing long periods of online time due to events such as chronic illnesses, death in the family, business travel, or other appropriate events. The instructor will determine the minimal log on time and participation required in order to meet course responsibilities. In the event of other unforeseen conflicts, the instructor and student will arrive at a solution together.
Requests for taking exams or submitting assignments after the due dates require documentation of events such as illness, family emergency, or a business-sanctioned activity.
Conflicts with dates on which examinations or assignments are scheduled must be discussed with the instructor or TA prior to the date of the examination or assignment.
Students are responsible for following appropriate netiquette (network etiquette) when communicating with their instructor and classmates. For reference, see the Academic Success Kit.
Behaviors that disrupt other students’ learning are not acceptable and will be addressed by the instructor.
For severe and chronic problems with student disruptive behavior, the following will be applied for resolution:
The information contained on this page is designed to give students a representative example of material covered in the course. Any information related to course assignments, dates, or course materials is illustrative only. For a definitive list of materials, please check the online catalog 3-4 weeks before the course start date.
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