Some suggestions on the syllabus if you go any of these routes:

RE: new spaniards, make sure you use the revised edition which was (relatively) recently updated.

RE: cinema: there are actually quite a few books on spanish cinema: from my library are the following:
by Pedro Almodóvar: Patty Diphusa and other writings
A spanish labyrinth: The films of Pedro Almodóvar
by Mark Allison, publisher: I.B.Tauris, 2001
Desire Unlimited: The Cinema of Pedro Almodóvar
by Paul Julian Smith, 2nd Ed., 2000
Out of the Past: Spanish Cinema After Franco
by John Hopewell, 1986

I also have quite a library of DVD's that I bought at Corte Ingles and eBay which I believe I can record onto VHS for educational purposes only (although since most of them aren't available in the US no copyright laws would be violated by sharing for coursework). I think de la Iglesia's work is interesting, and especially Amenabar (Tesis, The Others, Abre Los Ojos); Almodóvar, while I think he´s great, may not be the "best" representation of modern Spanish culture/cinema, however you choose to define it. Also, Solas, as I belive someone recommended. There are also gay-queer-indie cinema titles, and I have titles on that as well, some of which have been released here on region 1, actually.

re: "cultural studies" (again, however you define it), I can recommend some collections on this subject, as follows:
Spanish Cultural Studies: An Introduction
Edited by Helen Graham and Jo Labanyi, Oxford Press 1995
Understanding Spain, Julián Marías, trans. by Frances M. López-Morillas, Univ. of Mich. Press, 1992
Contemporary Spanish Cultural Studies, by Barry Jordan and Rikki Morgan-Tamosunas, Oxford Press (via Arnold), 2000
Cambridge Companion to Modern Spanish Culture, edited by David T. Gies, Cambridge Press, 1999
Contemporary Spain: A Handbook, edited by Christopher J. Ross, Oxford Press(via Arnold, again), 1997

Good luck formulating the syllabus. If you are REALLY curious on the included essays, if you can´t find them anywhere, let me know and I´ll send you the indices, or if you have a specific focus, I can look through and see which chapters may apply. I´m at druship@yahoo.com

To be fair, I must confess I haven't read all of these, but they are sitting on my shelf, yelling at me to read them before my next trip (Dec/Jan = Sol and grapes!!!!)

Dru

Ok, wiping the egg off my face, I see this is a bit in the too-late-to-be-useful category...anyway, for what it's worth, there it is. And thank you for teaching a class on this topic.

Druship, thanks for posting. I'm sure there are many here who can benefit from your contributions!

Marilena,
I have to apologize for not having sent the materials you requested. I moved in June and still haven't received all of my things, school materials among others, sorry. Having said that, it looks as though you are doing a fantastic job. Your course seems amazing. I'm going to hit you up for YOUR ideas! If you're still interested in some additional resources, let me know and I'll dig them up once the slow boat from China gets here! lots of luck, Nevado

Dru, thanks so much for your additional ideas and resources...I know what you mean about having amazing books on your bokshelves just calling out to you to read. I will look into some of them. The movie suggestions are really appreciated too.
Nevado, thanks for not forgetting me...I understand about the move...Happily, I AM doing okay, and I can say that I know I would have loved to take this class when I was in school.

I do have a problem that I know all high school teachers can understand. Senior apathy ( senioritis! ) and I bet next semester will be worse. Right now they are so involved in thinking about college applications that they are not REALLY with me half the time in class.

Anyway, thanks everyone!

thought you might like to "take " this pretest I will be giving to my students next semester to see their knowledge and thoughts on Contemprary Spain:
Me interesa mucho averiguar cuánto ya sabéis acerca de España. Respondad a las preguntas que podéis. Si no sabéis la respuesta, más vale adivinar (to guess). (una adivinanza razonable)

· España se encuentra en ____________________.
· La capital de España es ____________________.
· Algunas otras ciudades de España son _______________________________________________
________________________________________________.
· La lengua oficial de España es el___________________. Otros idiomas que se hablan son ________________________________________________.
· La forma del gobierno español es _____________________________________.
· El presidente de España se llama________________________.
· La religión predominante es____________________________.
· Su dinero se llama __________________________________.
· La formas más populares del ocio( entertainment) son ________________________________________________.
· ¿Puedes nombrar unos artistas, escritores, directores de películas o músicos (pasados o actuales) ? _______________________________________________ ________________________________________________
· ¿Puedes nombrar unas obras literarias, pinturas, o películas españolas?
__________________________________________________
· ¿El problema social más grave?_____________________________
· ¿Los temas políticos más importantes?_______________________
· ¿Los problemas económicos más graves?_____________________
· ¿Los productos que se importan a los EEUU?________________________________________
_______________________________________
· ¿Qué crees que valoran más los españoles?________________________________________
· ¿Se puede obtener un divoricio en España? Si; No; No Sí
· ¿Cuántos niños tiene el promedio(average) de los matrimonios? ¿Menos de dos ? ¿2? 4? 6? ____________
· ¿Pueden practicar cualquier religión ?____________
· ¿Tiene ejército (army)? _______________
· ¿Es España miembro de las Naciones Unidas (United Nations)? ________ ¿OTAN (NATO)? ______ ¿La Comunidad Europea (C.E.E.) ? ______

hmmmm....you're gonna have to accept a few answers for some of the questions, no?

Seriously, do any of your students miss the first four? I would horsewhip 'em if they were mine...