Professors at Wagner College (New York) publish a new kind of Spanish textbook

Wagner College modern-language professors Margarita Sánchez and Katica Urbanc are the authors of a new Spanish textbook, “Retratos: Arte y sociedad en Latinoamérica y España,” published by Focus, an imprint of the Hackett Publishing Company.

“Retratos” is a different kind of language text, in several ways.

Two student trips to the art galleries of Spain had shown Urbanc “that art is a very powerful tool for communication. Students are drawn, in some ways, to art more than to literary texts,” and great works by Spanish-speaking artists play a big part in the new book.

“We don’t just sit at our desks and take notes,” explained Olivia Josephsen ’18, one of the students who has “test driven” “Retratos.” “We look at art and literature and spend our time discussing these sophisticated topics.”

“We focus a lot on women writers, too,” Sánchez said, highlighting another one of the new book’s distinctions, “and we picked our favorites from Spain and Latin America — and not just our favorites, but the best!”.

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