Spring 2027

Topics in Spanish American Literature in Translation

Introduction to Spanish American literature in English translation covering five centuries of history, key authors, genres, and contemporary critical debates.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Glen Close3.4/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Glen Close

One student reported being graded on four essays without a rubric, and said grading seemed inconsistent and aimed at showing Glen Close was smarter.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Improve general skills in written and oral communication, including the abilities to summarize, analyze, interpret and argue with efficiency and clarity.

  • Read critically by applying logical analysis and argumentation to the interpretation of literary texts and by marshalling textual evidence in support of their arguments.

  • Converse, read and write critically about contemporary Spanish American literary texts using specialized narratological vocabulary and complying with the Modern Language Association’s standards for citation and style.

  • Identify and assess the cultural, economic and political factors that differentiate Spanish American literary production from that of other regions.

  • Recognize, define and critique major genres of contemporary narrative fiction, both international (e.g. autofiction) and locally Spanish American (e.g. the narco-novel).

  • Understand and reflect on the advantages and limitations of literary expression in the context of postmodern cultural economies dominated by audiovisual electronic media, and on specific literary responses to the contemporary media ecology.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied Communications A

  • Satisfied Communications A
LITTRANS 245

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Satisfied Communications A

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.13/5 from 23 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 2.0/5 raw quality · 4.3/5 difficulty · 4 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Glen Close

Glen Close tailored the class to student interests, fostered interesting discussions, and provided detailed feedback on assignments. He also went out of his way to supply extra resources and advice to strengthen writing.

Other students described an uncomfortable class environment where participation was mandatory and marked. They also reported that grading involved four essays without a provided rubric, with feedback that lacked consistency or positive reinforcement.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.17 GPA, 52.4% A/AB (n=21 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.02 GPA, 55.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.50 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

GLEN CLOSE is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Fall 2022, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 270

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Glen Close

One student praised Glen Close for tailoring the class to interests and giving detailed feedback, while another reported no positive feedback and assessment on narratological knowledge.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.17 GPA, 52.4% A/AB (n=21 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.02 GPA, 55.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.50 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Glen Close

One student reported being graded on four essays without a rubric, and said grading seemed inconsistent and aimed at showing Glen Close was smarter.

Past student reviews · Glen Close

One student reported an uncomfortable environment, saying participation was counted and that they would receive lesser marks for disagreeing with Glen Close.

Topics

  • History of Spanish American literature from the 15th century
  • Key authors, genres, and critical debates
  • Contemporary narrative fiction genres

Skills

  • Critical reading and textual analysis
  • Written and oral argumentation
  • Use of narratological vocabulary and MLA citation
  • Assessment of cultural and political literary contexts

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
LITTRANS 245 · Spring 2027

Topics in Spanish American Literature in Translation

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:551:024891",
    "course_id": "LITTRANS 245",
    "course_uid": "course_35320cdab428a6e8c9b94ee9",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "024891",
    "source_subject_id": "551",
    "title": "Topics in Spanish American Literature in Translation",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Every Other Fall"
  }
]
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "883aa397cdc5124d38cac91080002fdc0d0e96f6bfee24864515e92ce5132558",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}