COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM
A glimpse at the key events of Recent Spanish History, in order to better understand and better integrate to Barcelona: Spanish Civil War (1936-39), the Dictatorship of Franco (1939-1975), The transition towards democracy (1975-1982), the first PSOE government: The Felipe González era, Spain becomes a member of the European Union (1982-1996). The José María Aznar and PP years (1996-2004). PSOE's José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero (2004-2011). Burst of the Housing Bubble (2008). PP's Mariano Rajoy years (2011 onwards).
An overlook of Spain's current Political and Social issues: Foreign Debt, Unemployment, Productivity, Education, etc. Past, present and future of Catalan Nationalism.
CONTENT
1. Catalunya: past, present and future. The roots of Catalan Nationalism |
2. The Second Republic (1931-1939) |
3. The Spanish Civil War (1931-1939) |
4. The Franco Years (1939-1975) |
5. The Transition towards Democracy (1975-1982) |
6. The First PSOE Government. Felipe González. (1982-1996). Spain welcomed into the UE (1986). |
7. The PP years (1996-2004). José María Aznar. Spain and the euro. The Second Irak War. The Madrid bombings (11-03-2004) |
8. The second PSOE government. José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero. Current Social Affairs. Housing, Immigration. Job security. |
9. PP's Mariano Rajoy (2011-onwards). Spain: Main Challenges ahead: Foreign Debt, Unemployment, Business Models, Education, Regional Tensions. |
10. Arts and History: Picasso, Dalí and Miró's views on politics. |
Methodology
Class lectures taught by the professor will lead to constant group discussions and debates. Students will be required regular attendance, contributing to on-line forums of discussion, writing a museum questionnaire, making one individual and one group presentation, writing two mini-tests, and submitting one or two brief, final papers.
Bibliography
Recommended reading:
"Homage to Catalonia". George Orwell. Penguin Books. First Edition, 1938.
"Barcelona, a History". J.Castellar-Gassol. Edicions de 1984. 2004
"Barcelona". Robert Hughes. Harvill-HarperCollins. 1992
"The Basque History of the World". Mark Kurlansky. Vintage, 2000
"The New Spaniards". John Hooper. Penguin Books, 2006
"Morbo:The Story of Spanish Football". Phil Ball. WSC Books, 2001
Web pages:
About Spanish History: Library of the Congress. Country Studies: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/
Generalitat de Catalunya webpage (English option): www.gencat.net/catalunya/cat/historia.htm
