The module will introduce students to a study of national cultures and societies and how they connect with transnational contexts beyond national borders.  Learning activities in the first semester will focus on the national contexts of the chosen languages of study and chart the emergence of these nations either through a historical overview, or a survey of key foundational moments. These will be followed by webinars that introduce students to the study of Modern Languages and a consideration of how the local intersects with the global. The second semester develops this by identifying how languages, cultures and societies both operate on a national level and interconnect according to historical, geographic, economic, political, spatial and cultural conditions. After further webinars outlining this, learning activities will reflect on how these common themes play out on a national level referencing, for example, the emergence of symbols and traditions designed to foster a sense of national belonging. Seminars will focus on the acquisition of critical and analytical skills through discussions of a range of ‘texts’ which complement the lectures (primary and secondary source materials ranging from articles, statistics and graphs to visual materials including still images and public memorials).

1. Discuss selected aspects of Hispanic culture and society in relation to the evolution of where Spanish is an official language in a broader transnational context. 
2. Analyse text based and visual course materials
3. Formulate a coherent, evidence-based argument drawing on relevant secondary literature.
4. Identify, find evaluate and accurately reference reputable sources of information.

The module will be delivered through a range of interactive teaching sessions supplemented by online teaching and learning activities and materials – and may include, where relevant, asynchronous materials such as lecture recordings. Full details on the delivery mode of this module will be available on Learning Central at the start of the academic year – and may be, in part, determined by Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance.  

Academic and subject specific skills

• Be able to articulate a strong sense of evolution of cultures at a national level
•  Begin to conceptualise how the national fits with the transnational
• Develop strong inter-cultural awareness
• Develop methodological skills through text based analysis
• Develop critical thinking and analytical skills

Employability skills

• Be able to produce writing and commentary  which fits the needs of the reader/listener, within and beyond the academic context
• Be able to use ICT effectively
• Group project work

The method(s) of assessing the learning outcomes for this module are set out in the Assessment Table, which also contains the weightings of each assessment component.

Mapping of Assessmnts to Intended Learning Outcomes

Information Literacy Assignment: assesses LO 4

Project: assesses LOs 2, 4

Essay:  assesses LOs 1, 3, 4

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students who fail the module overall will be given the opportunity to be reassessed on the failed component or components during the August resit period. Any reassessment mark will be capped at 40%. The module result will not be capped.

Students who fail a component but pass the module will not be reassessed.

At the school wide transnational levels, students will explore the following topics

• What is the transnational?
• What does it mean to be a modern languages student?
• How to move between the global and the local
• The concept of the nation
• National identity, nation building and concepts of belonging
• Contemporary debates in European and non-European cultures and societies
• Regional and (de)colonial identities within the nation
• Multilingualism, language identities and globalisation

At the national level student will explore:

• Spain from the Iberian Peninsula to a World Power
• Colonial Hispanic Culture and its ‘Others’ 
• Nation and Identity in Spain
• Surrealism and Transnationality