Intermediate Spanish II A course for students seeking to perfect their academic writing skills in Spanish. The course is also an introduction to literary analysis and critical writing and will include reading and oral discussion of literary texts. The course will also include a thorough review of grammar at a fairly advanced level. This course may be used to fulfill the foreign languages distribution requirement.

Hispanic Performance Studies Performance studies is an interdisciplinary field that borrows from theatre studies, anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies. This course offers an introduction to performance studies through a focus on Hispanic culture. We will ask the question “What is performance?” and develop the tools to describe, analyze, and interpret a broad range of performances such as plays, political speeches, bullfights, protests, recordings, celebrations, and everyday encounters.  We will focus on performance as a process–oriented, participatory, and experiential way of engaging the world. We will concentrate on the overlapping aspects of performance as/of literature (poetry and drama), as/of everyday life (ritual, identity, and culture), and as/of politics (power, activism, and social change).  We will pay particular attention to the relationship of performance to social culture, investigating the link between performance and race, gender, and sexuality.   Because the goal of the course is to produce critical thinkers who are capable of using performance as an analytical tool and as part of a creative process, students will be required to perform.

Borges In this course we will analyze and discuss representative works of Jorge Luis Borges, with additional readings from major literary and cultural sources influenced by the Argentine author. We will discuss examples of Borges's poetry, short fiction, essays, and translations. His work will serve as a gateway to such topics as literary theory, the role of the author, orality, philosophy, modernism and post-modernity, genre and subterfuge.

From Page to Stage: Representing Hispanic Theatre (in Spanish) The first third of this course will be dedicated to an in-depth analysis of selected plays from Spain or Latin America. Readings on semiotics and performance studies, in addition to other works by the authors, texts of the same genre, and on relevant socio-historical and political topics will complement our study. Problem-based learning will guide the second two-thirds of the semester, dedicated to preparing a full production of one of the plays to be presented at the end of the semester. Students will be involved as actors as well as in all aspects of production and decision-making, requiring about 3 hours of rehearsal per week outside of regularly-scheduled class time. (At least two courses at the 300-level or above or by waiver) (Formerly SPAN 0399)

Intermediate Spanish This accelerated course is designed to review, reinforce, and consolidate the linguistic structures that students need in order to reach the intermediate level of proficiency in Spanish. A grammar review will accompany intensive language acquisition, vocabulary expansion, readings, discussions, and compositions.

Ideas and Cultures of the Southern Cone What’s in a name? A sub-region of Latin America, the Southern Cone consists of three countries marked by cultural, geographical, historical, sociopolitical (dis)connection. In this course we will approach Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay not only as nations, but as a region with extensive transnational connections. Through analysis of a wide-range of cultural products like Ercilla’s early modern epic poem La Araucana, Figari’s paintings depicting candombé culture, and films of the New Argentine Cinema, we will study aspects of the cultural identities and intellectual histories of these countries and the region.

Growing Up Other in the Americas Who am I and how do others see me? How do I see myself? This seminar will focus on the growing up and educational experiences of individuals from a number of marginalized groups throughout the Americas. Through novels, memoirs, essays and films from the U.S. and Latin America we will look at such questions as: What does it mean to be "othered"? What does "American" mean? Where and how does one find one's voice? What is the importance of place in one's identity? We will touch on issues of race, gender, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, and more.

Hispanic Theatre In this course we will explore a broad selection of dramas from Spain and Spanish America. We will focus on close readings of plays, considering, where relevant, their historical and cultural contexts. Emphasis will also be placed on the development of critical vocabulary and writing skills in Spanish. Texts will be selected from various periods from the Middle Ages to present day. Authors include: Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderón, sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Tirso de Molina, Alarcón, Castellanos, Gambaro, García Lorca, Mihura, Díaz, Solórsano.

Miguel Fernandez

Reviews and ratings for Miguel Fernandez at Middlebury College.Miguel Fernandez teaches Intermediate Spanish II, Hispanic Performance Studies, Borges and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Miguel Fernandez good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

This class was my favorite Spanish elective I have taken so far. Profe Fernandez made sure we had plenty of opportunities to practice speaking conversational Spanish in a comfortable environment, which is what I think most students want. The stories were hard to understand at first, but we were never assigned a crazy amount of reading and class discussions helped a lot with comprehension and analysis. This class made me think about big philosophical questions and invited our thoughts. 

I needed this class for my minor and I thought Miguel did an amazing job teaching this. His methods were clear and very helpful and I feel like I grew as a Spanish speaker. Your grade was made up of papers and tests. 

Prof Fernandez is a wonderful professor who is very engaged with a wonderful teaching style. He is a fair grader and accommodating. His tests are in person instead of online Connect, which is preferable. I would absolutely take a class with him again.  