Teaching Innovations at WPI since 1999
Prof. Angel A. Rivera

2000

6) Spanish American Film: Cultural Issues (In Spanish)

This course is the result of grants given to Prof. Rivera by the Educational Development Council Grant (WPI) and by the IGSD Faculty Development Grant.  As the title indicates, this course explores several cultural issues (the role of TV in modern family life, political repression and the struggle for democracy, sexual identity and culture,  inmigration, the impact of technology in Latin American societies, etc) that are of relevance to modern Latin America.  At the same time, in this course we explore the metaphors, images, techniques, and vocabulary pertaining to the world of cinema.  The course was implemented in B term of 2000.

1999

The following courses were developed for Professor Susan Vernon-Gerstenfeld, Project Center. These four courses respond to a fellowship that the National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education, awarded Prof. Vernon-Gerstenfeld. The objective of these courses, in relation to the fellowship, is to increase WPI students' awareness and skills related to Latin America's business and technological environments.

5) Topics in Latin American Culture (In Spanish)

This course has been improved and changed to include multimedia files and WWW pages to aid in the exploration and discussion of this topic. See WWW page: http://www.wpi.edu/~arivera/cursode.html. This course is been offered as described since 1997.

4) Technical and Business Spanish (In Spanish)

This course focuses mainly on the acquisition and learning of vocabulary and concepts, in Spanish, related to business, engineering, and sciences. Students enrolled in this course will become familiarized with the writing of documents related to business(letters, applications, reports, etc.).

3) Latin-American Business Environment (In Spanish)

This course has the objective of studying cultural etiquette and business behavior in Latin America. Also, it has the intention of exploring and understanding specific cultural patterns in selected countries of Latin America that can influence business decisions and relationships

2) Emerging Trends in Science, Engineering and Business in Latin American (In English)

This is a survey course that deals with topics such as telecommunications and infrastructure development, and topics related to science, engineering, and business. This course explores the impacts of geographic location and ethnic diversity in selected Latin American countries

1) Latin American Media: Reflections on Culture, Economics, and Politics in the 20th Century (In English)

This is a survey course designed to help students to study the cultural, political, historical and economic development of Latin America through the use of cinema, newspapers, television, and other media. This course is intended to illustrate the main historical trends in selected Latin American countries during the 20th century, taking into account the richness and variation of perspectives portrayed by the media and, also, the use of media as a purveyor of culture, economics and politics.

Note: The courses mentioned above are currently being implemented and monitored.