SPAN 4500

I took the Latin American Jungle Novel with Profesora Rogers. The class was incredibly interesting and Prof. Rogers is SO knowledgable and passionate about the topic. You will read so much about the life of indigenous groups throughout South America and Latin America and gain a new perspective on their way way of life, one completely different than you were taught about in primary/secondary school. The readings can be challenging, but so worth it. Plus, Prof. Rogers is INCREDIBLY patient and thorough about making sure that everyone understands the readings. She creates a no-judgment, no-shame environment in her classroom that makes it easy to speak up and offer your opinion, regardless if you are the type of person who likes to share in class a lot or not.

I took this course during the Fall 2020 semester, so the class was taught completely online. Every Monday, we would have class synchronously through Zoom and every Wednesday, Prof. Rogers would post a podcast for us to listen to. Because of the pandemic, Prof. Rogers may have changed her syllabus to accommodate her students while they were learning amidst a pandemic. If not, here was the break down of the syllabus:

Weekly Podcast Responses (5%): Every Wednesday, every student will complete a podcast of their own in response to the one recorded by Prof. Rogers. These are for completion grades only! They are a great chance for you to practice your speaking skills without the aid of notes/a script in a low-stakes scenario. They are actually really fun once you get over the awkwardness of talking to a computer!

"Comentarios" on Collab (5%): Every two weeks, students are required to post a comment to the reading(s) on the Collab discussion board. These are for completion grades only as well. One week, last names A-L will post, the next week M-Z will post, and the pattern continues! Really stress-free!

Contemplative Podcasts (30%): Twice throughout the semester, the weekly podcast WILL be for a grade. Profesora Rogers will warn you way in advance when the graded podcasts will be. These podcasts are not any harder than the ones completed every other week; however, Prof. Rogers does grade these for grammar, pronunciation, content, etc. You do get used to doing these, so although these two podcasts do require a bit more preparation, they're not hard. Plus, Prof. Rogers does more than give you a grade; she'll write you almost a full-page response on what she liked/what she thinks you can do better next time. You learn ALOT about how to better be conversational with you Spanish.

Presentation (10%): Once throughout the semester, you will be required to present to the class about one of the "comentarios" you post on Collab. Prof. Rogers creates a schedule so you will know way in advance when you are presenting. These are very chill. She is looking for similar criteria that she looks for in the contemplative podcasts, but again, she offers extremely helpful feedback. These are very low-stress presentations. No need to sweat them if you prepare even a little bit.

Analytical Essays (50%): These essays are just like essays you'd write in any literature course. Profesora Rogers lets you be really creative with these and really write about anything that pertains to works that you've read throughout the semester. They're actually quite fun because they're not very structured; however, if you are the kind of person who likes writing assignments to be structured, Prof. Rogers is also amazing at helping craft a thesis/concept in her office hours. Also, when she grades them, she doesn't just slap a letter grade on them. She gives extensive feedback, just as she does with the contemplative podcasts, that really help you improve as a Spanish writer.

#tCF2020

I took the seminar about Jungle Lit, and you can tell that Rogers is really passionate about this field. All of the readings were really interesting, and she explains it really well if you don't understand. The quizzes are pretty straight forward, and she is a moderate grader for her papers. She also is really good at getting people to participate, even if you're introverted, so it isn't intimidating at all.