My goal is to do so in a meaningful way and, as an educator I also aspire to encourage an appreciation of global consciousness and tolerance towards other cultures. Finding innovative strategies to incorporate these cultural aspects is a challenge that forces me to engage my students through related areas of study. This allows me to introduce history, art, geography, literature and other disciplines in the classroom as well as basic but necessary skills like critical thinking.
Through Puentes, civilizaciones y cultura, students will learn history - how the Romans invaded Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) in 219 BCE, during the Second Punic War, and how they built aqueducts, bridges and roads. Students will also learn basic art history features in order to recognize and differentiate styles and also, basic architectural concepts such as form, materials, construction methods and aesthetics. They will reflect on how bridges are built in order to connect people and communities. Students will learn Spanish geography as well as the importance of identity in the different regions that divide the country.
The unit is the result of the seminar Bridges: The Art and Science for Community Connections, led by Professor Martin Gehner at the 2008 Yale National Initiative. The primary goal of the seminar was to capture the imagination of people to see the beauty of their environment and of human interrelationships (2) by learning everything about bridges; from the rationale for creating bridges, their historic and current contexts, the inception to use, format for planning, design and engineering, structures, materials, and their environmental impact.
Puentes, civilizaciones y cultura intends to present a multilayered purpose. First of all, it aspires to introduce students to art since they have not been sufficiently exposed to it. As a matter of fact, our school does not offer it as a subject. With the present unit, I am hoping to be able to trigger at least an interest in art by identifying the value of visual language. Ideally, I would like to motivate students enough to start a habit by which they are able to recognize, describe, analyze and interpret various pieces of different art styles, focusing in this case on Spanish bridges. A second goal is to introduce students to Santiago Calatrava, a brilliant contemporary Spanish architect, engineer and artist. I have found out through the years that students in general have a limited idea of Hispanic and/or Spanish countries and communities. I am hoping to be able to dismantle many false stereotypes they have of these countries, in this case specifically of Spain as an undeveloped country. We will take a close look at his architectural and engineering designs in order to be able to value and appreciate many of the bridges he has designed through Spain. The unit also seeks to explain how culturally diverse a small country like Spain can be by introducing students to geography and to the study of the different civilizations that have influenced it so greatly through history.
The unit is to be taught in Spanish III at Hill Regional Career High School. Career is a magnet school of about 700 students in New Haven (Connecticut,) for students interested in health sciences, business, and technology. The population is 53% African American, 27% Hispanic, 17% White, 3% Asian. About 67% of the students receive reduced lunch.
Even though the unit has been designed for students with what the American
Council of Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL) calls the "Intermediate Level" (3), it could be used on lower or upper level courses with proper modifications. Students at this level express their own thoughts using sentences and strings of sentences when interacting on familiar topics in present time; are understood by those accustomed to interacting with language learners; use pronunciation and intonation patterns which can be understood by a native speaker accustomed to interacting with language learners; make false starts and pause frequently to search for words when interacting with others; and, finally, are able to meet practical writing needs such as short letters and notes by recombining learned vocabulary and structures demonstrating full control of present time and evidence of some control of other time frames. Most of the class activities for the present unit will be conducted in Spanish, using English whenever necessary and to clarify terms and ideas. (4)
The unit will be taught over a period of time of about 15 to 18 classes, each of which is 82-minute long. These long periods allow me to carry diverse strategies and/or hands-on activities.
The unit will start with a brief overview of Spain. I will make sure they understand the importance of identity within different regions in Spain, set since these comunidades autónomas were under the influence of different civilizations through history, including the Romans, the Celts and the Iberians. We will then, as mentioned, concentrate in the Roman architecture, followed by some of the medieval bridges, and finally, we will learn about contemporary bridges to end up with Calatrava´s work.
Introduction to the History of Spain and its Civilizations
In order to introduce the students to the bridges spread throughout Spain, it is essential they get basic notions of history of the country. First of all, we will be looking at historical bridges. Second, we will study Spain as a place where different peoples, styles, theories and cultures are mixed together.
One of the most characteristic aspects of the Spanish culture and its history is the succession of different ancient civilizations that settled in the Peninsula, due to its strategic and unique geographical location between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The íberos (Iberians) originally from the North of Africa, were the first to settle; then, the celtas (Celts)—a typically Aryan civilization start arriving through the Pyrenees. The merger of the two became a new ethnicity called the celtíberos (Celtiberians) grouped into several tribes: cántabros (Cantabrians), astures (Asturians) and lusitanos (Lusitanians) that gave name to their respective territories.
The Phoenicians, attracted by the mining wealth, were next. They founded several commercial settlements along the coast, the most important of which was Gadir (or Gades; Cádiz nowadays.) Later on, during the 7 th century BCE, the Greeks established their first colonies on the northern Mediterranean coast. They founded various cities such as Rhodes (Rosas), Emporion (Ampurias) and Sagunto. The Phoenicians attracted the Carthaginians and they ended taking over most of the peninsula. It was then when Rome started its dispute defending the Hellenic areas in the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE.) Shortly after Rome's triumph, the Romans started the conquest of Spain, which was to be under Rome for six centuries.
Despite having defeated their rival for Mediterranean power, the Romans took another two centuries to bring the entire Iberian Peninsula under their control through an expansionist policy that derived an antagonism of practically all of the tribes of the interior. By the year 195 BCE the peninsula is divided in two provinces: Hispania Citerior (East coast from the Pyrenees to Tarraco (Tarragona)) and Hispania Ulterior (the South, today's Andalusia.) The domination was total by the year 19 BCE, when the peninsula was divided in 3 provinces: Betica, Tarraconense and Lusitania.
The Romanization process was complete soon (110 BCE) since the language, Latin, the traditions and the economy were fully absorbed to the point that Hispania produced writers such Marcial and Lucano, philosophers like Seneca and emperors such as Trajan, Adrian and Theodosius. Rome also left very important social institutions such as Roman law, municipalities and the Christian religion. But above all, and more relevant to the present unit, many architectonical wonders: aqueducts, bridges and theaters, and roads.
In 411 AD some Germanic tribes signed a treaty with Rome by which they could establish military colonies in the Empire. By 264 AD, the Francs and the Suevi invaded the territory and temporarily occupied Tarranco (Tarragona,) the capital. This did not last too long since they were soon defeated by the Visigoths. Between the years 568 and 586, the Visigoth king Leovigildo expelled the imperial officials and tried to unify the peninsula. This would mark the end of the Roman Empire, even though this was more of a gradual process.
The Moors arrived to the peninsula in the beginning of the 8 th century through the Strait of Gibraltar. They conquered the territory very quickly: by 718, they dominated almost the entire territory, except a small stronghold in Covadonga (Asturias.) The Muslims were defeated by a small group of Christians led by Pelagius, Don Pelayo - a Visigoth nobleman, now a hero credited with the beginning of the Reconquista, in the Battle of Covadonga in 720.
This Reconquest from the Muslims took eight centuries to be completed. The era of Muslim domination is divided into three periods: the Emirate (711-756), the Caliphate (756-1031) and the reinos de Taifas (Kingdoms of Taifas) - small independent kingdoms, 1031-1492.
From about the years 711 to 1492 and concurred with the Reconquista, a period known as La Convivencia (the Coexistence) takes place. During these years, Jews, Catholics and Muslims lived together in peace sharing cultural ideas, art and religious tolerance. Toledo was the center and the best example of this Convivencia. A good example of this would be arte mudéjar (Mudéjar style).
In 1492 Granada, the last stronghold of the Arabs in Spain was conquered. The same year, Elizabeth of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon -the Catholic Monarchs—united the two kingdoms marrying and, Christopher Columbus, sent to the Indies by the Crown of Castile, discovered the Americas.
The 16 th and 17 th centuries were when the Spanish Empire reached its zenith; the country became the first power in the world and the European politics revolved around it.
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