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» Program Description
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» About Universidad de Palermo (UP)
» About Hillel Argentina
Introduction:
The Jewish and Latin American Cultural Identity Program is a semester-long program created for those international students who believe it is important to:
1. Learn Spanish
2. Learn what makes Latin America, and more specifically Argentina, the way it is. It is recommended for those students who are focusing their studies in the region or for those who simply acknowledge its significance in history and its potential in the future.
3. Learn from an academic perspective about the Jewish civilization history and its sociological development
4. Develop strong ties with the Latin American Jewish Community, by volunteering work and participating in Hillel sponsored activities.
Program Description
The program consists of four integrated modules of knowledge:
Spanish:
The Language Department at UP offers international students the possibility to study Spanish in an approachable and practical way. Courses are divided into levels according to the student’s knowledge (Intermediate – Advanced).
Latin American Cultural Identity:
International students can choose from Spanish-spoken courses such as Society and Culture, Government and Politics in Latin America, Evolution of the Argentine Society and Latin American Art. They sit and study among Universidad de Palermo’s regular courses students, encouraging interaction.
Jewish Civilization History and its Sociological Development:
Covers basic concepts such as civilization, mythology and theological constructions as well as the construction of the Jewish Nation, Jews in the Roman and Ottoman Empire, Jewish life in Europe, their migration to America and the advent of the State of Israel.
Volunteering – Local Community Exchange
Hillel Argentina provides International students with volunteering opportunities at local community centres. Hillel also organizes varied cultural activities, while setting up an environment of integration and exchange with local community members.
Program Details
Spanish (Advanced Level) Course Information
Our Spanish professors are all highly qualified and enjoy working with international students. They are native speakers of Spanish with many years of teaching experience both in Argentina and abroad. They use an interactive learning approach, which includes the viewing of movies, and museum and theater visits.
Course Objectives
The Spanish (Advanced Level) Course’s main goal is that the student will learn to:
• Tell, narrate and create a story
• Correct erroneous information
• Write and analyze a piece of news
• Display an argument
In addition, the grammatical, pronunciation and conversational skills will be deepened. The correct application of the written language’s rules pertaining the spelling and accentuations will be expected. News articles, videos, songs, TV programs and radio broadcastings will be used.
Grammatical Objectives
Deepening of the two different uses of “to be” (ser and estar )
Construction of the words
Verbal periphrasis
Uses of the passive voice
Conditional sentences
Pronouns
Use of subjunctive
Gerund and participle
Accentuation of the words
Lexicon Objectives
Body
and personality vocabulary
Everyday
vocabulary
Expressions
and popular phrases
Writing Objectives
Write a report, formal and informal letters, narrative and argumentative essays.
Latin American Culture Courses Information
Students can choose 2-3 (in addition to the Spanish and Jewish Civilization courses) of the following subjects.
Society and Culture
This subject introduces the student, based on theoretical grounding and case studies, to some relevant aspects that constitute the “ethos” of being Argentine. From the 1950’s the cultural phenomena that lead the change in the economic model, politics and international context are analyzed. With this horizon the following aspects are explored: tango, fútbol, popular religiousness and other icons of the argentine culture such as Gardel, Maradona, the Eternauta, Evita, Che, national Rock and Rodrigo, among others.
Latin American International Relations
This course addresses the main problems of Latin American international relations during the last decades, analyzing the role of the United States and the emergence of sub-groups in the region; the processes of democratization; the conception of strategic security; the Washington consensus; the free market policies; drug trafficking; terrorism; the regional integration experiences; the first and second Colombian plan and Latin American’s place in the new international order.
Evolution of the Argentine Society
This subject is centered in the analysis of the social, cultural and economic characteristics that formed the Argentine society during the last fifty years. A brief historic introduction goes over the problems in the making of the State and the modern Argentine society. In said introduction, the particularities of the national development are traced, from Sarmiento and Alberti to Peronism. From there on, the research is centered on specific subjects that aim to explain the characteristics of present Argentina. The topics covered on this second part of the course include: the Argentine economic cycle; 1930-1983: causes of the democratic instability; Peronism; models of economic growth: from liberalism to developmentalism; European influences: British domination, French culture and Hispanic and Italian immigration; popular music: from tango to cuarteto; literature and poetry; from Alfonsín to Menem: the making of a new Argentina, from democratic consolidation to crisis.
Latin America, Twentieth Century
This course approaches the different developmental perspectives in Latin American societies in the XX century, emphasizing the last fifty years. The aim is to study the core historical values that help explain the contemporary processes in the region. Some of the topics are: exports-driven economy crisis; the consequences of the 1930’s crisis; the Latin American people; the industrialization model by imports substitution; the processes of urbanization and internal migration; the binomial reform-revolution subsequent to the Second World War; the agricultural problem; the Cuban revolution; the sixties; intellectual itineraries between the dependence theory and the revolution; recreations on a cultural level;
Alianza para el Progreso and developmental policies; the agricultural reforms and the peasant mobilization; the military dictatorships in South America; the transition to democracy; the “new social movements”; the foreign debt; the adjustment policies; Latin America today: Fragmentation or multicultural space; Hybrid Cultures; the regionalization: NAFTA and Mercosur.
Latin American Art
This course analyzes contemporary Latin American art starting from problems common to the region, establishing comparisons between the production of different countries in certain socio-historical contexts. The basic axes are: the academic input in the Twenty-first century plastic art; the emergence of national vanguards in México, Brazil and Perú in the 1920’s; the incorporation of abstract art during the 1940’s thanks to the contribution of Joaquín Torres García and the diffusion of his legacy on Rio de la Plata; the definition of magical realism”, portrayed in the works of artists like Wilfredo Lam and Frida Kahlo; and the internationalization of the tendencies in plastic art during the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Government and Politics in Latin America
This subjects tackles the comparative study of the evolution, organization and governmental practices and policies in Latin American countries, from the democratization processes that followed the constitution of the bureaucratic-authoritarian states in the seventies.
Film
This subject introduces the student to Argentine social film from the first independent productions in the 1960’s to our day. This topic is addressed from three perspectives: the history of argentine film; the historic and social processes as a referent of these movies; and the movie’s ideological standing: like the genre, the form and the cinematographic style as specific techniques of social representation.
Latin American Literature
In this subject students analyze historic and cultural problematic, distinctive of Latin American literature; they debate over processes such as the mix of cultures, the identity, the Latin American originality and peculiarity versus Europe’s “cultural exhaustion”. Linked to these processes, they examine the emergence of Magic Realism, the foundation of new genres, the different traditions and crossings or literary influences between the United States and Latin America, as well as the literary connections with other cultural forms, like the media. The readings include the literary and intellectual production performed since the end of the Nineteenth Century to our days, and covers –from different literary expressions (realism, modernism, vanguards)- topics such as political commitment, individualism and transcendence. Texts from authors like Rubén Darío, Martí, Rulfo, García Márquez, Roa Bastos, Fuentes, Cortázar, Vargas Llosa, Onetti y Donoso among others are studied.
Argentine Art
This course elaborates a critical knowledge about Twentieth Century Argentine art, from the process of institutionalization of the artistic field to the transformation of the visual culture at the end of the century. The scene that comprises the ensemble of Twentieth Century visual culture is analyzed: the centennial and the national art; modernity and modernization; the new conception of art; the legacy of the muralists; pop and violence; the empire of the market; aesthetics and memory; the impact of technology.
Jewish Civilization and its Sociological Development Course Information
Professor: Gabriel Trajtenberg
Topic 1.
Basic Concepts: civilization, mythology, tales, theological constructions, cosmogonies, theophany, creation, revelation, and redemption.
Topic 2.
Origins:
2.1. Mesopotamian and Canaanite civilization, writing, gods and origins of the legacy of Abraham.
2.2 Egyptian Civilization, Deities, Ramses II, Abraham’s descendants in Egypt.
Topic 3. The early Israelites, The Exodus and the revelation of the commandments on Mount Sinai.
Topic 4. The construction of the Jewish nation
4.1. The notion of Hebrew people, the tribes of Israel, social building and spiritual development.
4.2 The kingdom of Israel, the expansion in the days of David, the reign of King Solomon. The division of realms and the role of prophets in the ethical development of civilization.
Topic 5
The exile in Babylon, the construction of the Hebrew-Jewish identity, fusion of Cultures and heritage of the Torah. The universal perspective of God, Jewish life in Babylon. The new temporal organization and Hebrew calendar.
Topic 6
Jews in the Persian civilization. A new model of Empire. The return to Zion. The reorganization of Judea. The new leaders and spiritual constructs.
Topic 7
The Greek Domain and cultural fusion of Hellenism. The impact of Greek civilization in the ideological development of Judaism. The revolt of the Maccabees and the construction of the independent Kingdom of Judea.
Topic 8
The Roman Period and its impact on Jewish civilization. The reign of Herod and the reorganization of the Temple. Jewish sects, Essenes and Pharisees. Political tension with the Empire.
Topic 9
The revolt of Judea against the Roman Empire, fall of Jerusalem, destruction of the Second Temple.
9.1. Social and political tensions
9.2 The development of the rabbinic tradition and the preparation for exile
Topic 10
The revolt of Bar Kochba, the Jewish presence and development of new Jewish communities in Babylon and the Mediterranean basin. Jewish Christians and other groups emerging in the integration with the Roman world. Development and deepening of the Talmudic tradition.
Topic 11
Fall of Rome, the Byzantine Empire and the emergence and expansion of Islam.
Jews in the Islamic world, the development of a new cultural synthesis. The golden age in Spain and the contribution of Maimonides and Jewish mysticism.
Topic 12
Jews in European feudal society. Jewish life. The Catholic Church and its relationship with Jews. The impact of the crusades in the development of medieval European Jewry. Emerging models of anti-Semitism, migration in the region.
Topic 13
The tragedy of the exile of the Spanish Jewish community, the cultural and economic impact on the Iberian Peninsula. New horizons and challenges. The political dimension of the hidden inquisition.
Topic 14
Jews in the Ottoman Empire and the advent of new Jewish communities. The Jews and the European political and cultural renaissance. New synthesis, the Jewish community of Amsterdam and the flourishing of Jewish mysticism in Safed.
Topic 15
Migration to Eastern Europe, emerging communities in Prague, Poland, the Baltics and Russia. New expressions, Messianism and Hassidic mysticism.
Topic 16
The confrontation with modernity. Enlightenment and Jewish tradition. The Jews of Western Europe and the revolutionary winds. New ideologies, new synthesis.
Topic 17
Jewish life in Eastern Europe, the emergence of socialist and anarchist ideologies. The development of art, literature and theater. Migration to America and the emergence of new identities and challenges.
Topic 18
Judaism versus the two world wars of the twentieth century. The Jewish Holocaust. The Jewish contribution to the development of science and the arts. The advent of the State of Israel and the challenges of the Jewish people in the twenty-first century.
About Universidad de Palermo (UP)
UP is a private higher education institution located in Argentina. It holds different cooperation agreements with Yale, Harvard, Columbia and NYU, among other prestigious universities. Its urban campus in Buenos Aires hosts more than 12.500 students from 51 different countries, divided in six schools.
www.palermo.edu/studyabroad
About Hillel Argentina
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life provides opportunities for Jewish students at more than 500 colleges and universities to explore and celebrate their Jewish identity through its global network of regional centers, campus Foundations and Hillel student organizations. Hillel is working to provoke a renaissance of Jewish life.
Hillel's mission is to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world. Hillel student leaders, professionals and lay leaders are dedicated to creating a pluralistic, welcoming and inclusive environment for Jewish college students, where they are encouraged to grow intellectually, spiritually and socially. Hillel helps students find a balance in being distinctively Jewish and universally human by encouraging them to pursue tzedek (social justice), tikkun olam (repairing the world) and Jewish learning, and to support Israel and global Jewish peoplehood. Hillel is committed to excellence, innovation, accountability and results.
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