This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Undergraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)

Module SPAN3181: CONTEMPORARY SPANISH CINEMA

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (Spanish)

SPAN3181: CONTEMPORARY SPANISH CINEMA

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	3	20	Not available in 2025/2026	None	Durham

Pre-requisites

Spanish Language 2A (SPAN2011) OR Spanish Language 2B (SPAN2111) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chair of the Board of Studies in MLAC or their representative.

Corequisites

Modern European Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: Spanish Language 4 (SPAN3011). Other: see Chair of the Board of Studies in MLAC or their representative.

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To develop the students' ability to analyse and criticise filmic texts.
To develop the students' research skills.
To consolidate and refine the theoretical concepts learned by students in previous years, especially within the fields of Film and Gender Studies and to place this in the wider context of Cultural Studies.
To expand the students' knowledge of contemporary Spanish culture, society and history and to examine their implications in the wider European context.

Content

This course covers aspects of contemporary Spanish History and Culture with specific focus in 1990s cinema but in the wider context of pre and post-Franco Spanish society, history and politics.
Students will become familiar with important Spanish issues such as national stereotypes, European integration, violence, trauma, race, immigration and changing gender and sexual identities, as well as relevant concepts in Film Studies such as cinematic genre, spectatorship and the star system.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

On completion of this course you should:
recognise the importance of contemporary Spanish cinema and identity in the wider context of Europe and its relation/opposition to mainstream Hollywood,
understand recent changes in Spanish society and its contrast with previously established images and stereotypes of Spain. These will include: eroticism, gender roles and stereotypes, machismo, the post-war years, and rural/industrial Spain,
manage with confidence new concepts and terminology in the fields of Film and Gender Studies and, more generally, cultural theory.

Subject-specific Skills

On completion of the courses, students shoudl be able to think critically about the ways in which films represent society in general and Spanish society in particular.

Key Skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

The module will be taught intensively either in Term I or in Term II on a 'short-fat 'basis.
Lectures (twice weekly) will deliver key information about the module
A weekly seminar with smaller groups will allow for individual presentations and active discussions
This format responds to student feedback gained in SSCC and NSS responses

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours	Attendance Monitored
Lectures	20	2 Per Week	1 Hour	20	Yes
Seminars	10	1 Per Week	1 Hour	10	Yes
Preparation and Reading				170
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting
Film Analysis seen paper	25%	Film analysis seen paper	1,000 words	100%
Film Review	25%	Film review	1,000 words	100%
Essay	50%	Essay	3,000 words	100%

Formative Assessment

None.

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.