Summer Sessions | Courses | Spanish and Portuguese

An intensive course in Spanish language communicative competence with an emphasis on oral interaction, reading, writing, and culture at an Intermediate II level with focus on health-related topics in the Spanish-speaking world. Prerequisite: SPAN UN 2101 or equivalent (as designated by the Department’s Placement Examination).
In an increasingly interconnected world, and in multilingual global cities such as New York City, the study of a foreign language is fundamental not only in the field of the humanities but also in the natural sciences. This interdisciplinary course analyzes the intersection between these two disciplines through the study of health-related topics in Iberian and Latin American cultural expressions (literature, film, documentaries, among other sources) in order to explore new critical perspectives across both domains. Students will learn health-related vocabulary and usage-based grammar in Spanish. Students will develop a cultural understanding of medicine, illness, and treatment in the Spanish-speaking world. Finally, students will be able to carry out specific collaborative tasks in Spanish with the aim of integrating language, culture, and health.
*This course fulfills the last semester of the foreign language requirement. Therefore, students who have taken SPAN UN 2101 (Intermediate Spanish I), and are interested in health-related topics may proceed and enroll in SPAN UN 2103 (Intermediate Spanish II: Health-Related Topics in the Spanish-Speaking World). Pre-med and pre-health students, as well as those students majoring in the natural sciences –including biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physics—will be given registration priority. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.