Glover – FDN 112 Syllabus 1
Tobacco and Sugar: The Cuban Experience
FDN 112 Course Outline
Adam Glover
Flag: Cultural Awareness Abroad
*NB: This is less a syllabus, properly speaking, and more an annotated outline of the course I would like to teach.
Course Description:
This course is an introductory survey of the history of Cuba from the Encounter (ca. 1492) to the present. Despite its size (just slightly larger than Kentucky), Cuba has played a surprisingly important role in world history from the end of the fifteenth century to the present. The goal of the course will be twofold: first, to gain some sense of the overall sweep of Cuban history; and, second, to engage with a series of significant philosophical, religious, moral, political, and economic issues that emerge during the course of that history. The material is arranged historically. We begin with the discovery of Cuba by Spanish explorers at the end of the fifteenth century and end with Cuba’s role in the War on Terror at the beginning of the twenty first. Throughout, we shall give attention to US-Cuban relations, especially during the years following the Cuban Revolution (1959).
Texts (I plan to assign selections from the following works)
1. Michael Reid, The Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America’s Soul. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
2. Thomas Skidmore, Modern Latin America. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
3. Antoni Kapcia, Cuba: Island of Dreams New York: Berg, 2000.
4. Marifeli Pérez-Stable, The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
5. John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. New York: Norton, 2005.
6. Bartolomé de las Casas, Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies.
7. Fernando Ortiz, The Cuban Counterpoint of Tobacco and Sugar.
8. Eduardo Galeano, The Opens Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. Glover – FDN 112 Syllabus 2
9. José Martí, “Our America”
10. Fidel Castro, “History Will Absolve Me”
11. Fidel: The Untold Story (documentary about Fidel Castro; directed by Estela Bravo)
12. Chevolution (documentary about Ernesto “Che” Guevara; directed by Luis Lopez and Trisha Ziff)
13. Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History”
14. Jeffrey Toobin, “Camp Justice.” The New Yorker 14 April 2008. (article about detainees at Guantanamo Bay)
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated in the following ways:
1. Reading Questions: I plan to assign reading questions for nearly all class readings. The questions will have the same basic format as FDN111 reading questions and will pinpoint the four analytical reading strategies (reading for context, reading for structure, reading to interpret, reading to critically engage).
2. Skill-Building Exercises: I also plan to assign four or five non-reading-based skill- building assignments. Two will target argumentation: one on the status of indigenous peoples, one on the housing of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The other two (or three) will address composition and engagement.
3. Major Essays: I plan to assign two major essays.
a. Interpretive Essay. The Interpretive Essay will give students the opportunity to develop and defend an interpretation of some central concept in Cuban history. Two examples are listed below.
i. What does Fernando Ortiz mean by “the Cuban counterpoint of tobacco and sugar”? Why have tobacco and sugar been so central to Cuban history? Why does Ortiz describe the relationship between them with the musical term “counterpoint”?
ii. What does José Martí mean by “our America”? In what sense, exactly, is it “ours,” and in what sense is it “America”?
b. Thesis-Driven Essay. The Thesis-Driven essay is designed to allow students to take a position on some broader cultural/philosophical issue that emerges from Cuban history. Two examples are listed below. Glover – FDN 112 Syllabus 3
i. “The U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is solid foreign policy and ought to be continued.” Confirm or deny.
ii. “The Castro Revolution of 1959 made Cuba an overall better place to live.” Confirm or deny.
4. Pre-Assessment. The pre-assessment is designed to gauge the students’ general knowledge and perception of Cuba.
5. Post-Assessment. The post-assessment is designed not only to help students see what they have learned but also to discern how exactly they learned it.
Brief Course Outline
Weeks 1-2: The Encounter
Readings: (i) Chasteen (ii) Bartolome de las Casas
Themes and Rationale: During this section of the course we will be concerned with the social and political structure (such as it was) of Cuba from the pre-colonial period up to what historians call the Encounter. We will also spend some time thinking and talking about the moral and philosophical aspects of the colonial enterprise. What sorts of arguments were adduced in favor of colonization? Are those arguments compelling? Why or why not?
Weeks 3-4: Cuba and Spanish Colonialism
Readings: (i) Skidmore, ch. 6 (ii) Galeano, chs. 2-3
Themes and Rationale: During this section of the course, we will be concerned with a number of important themes: (1) colonial Cuba’s social and political structure; (2) the island’s centrality to the Spanish colonial enterprise; (3) the role, both economic and symbolic, of sugar and tobacco; and (4) the question of slavery, to mention only a few.
Weeks 5-7: Cuba, the US, and Neocolonialism
Readings: (i) Chasteen, ch. 6 (ii) Ortiz, selections (iii) Life and Debt [documentary]
Themes and Rationale: Cuba gained independence from Spain in 1898 and immediately fell under the US control. Though officially independent in 1902, Cuba continued to have a cozy relationship with its northern neighbor until 1959. The task of this section will be to understand the nature of that relationship. Why was Cuba so important to the US? After all, American presidents had contemplated annexing the small island as early as 1850. What was the effect of the US’s influence on average Cubans? What was the structure and composition of Cuban society during this period? During this section of the course, we will also examine two influential Glover – FDN 112 Syllabus 4 economic theories, both of which attempt to explain how smaller, marginalized countries should be integrated into the larger world economy.
Weeks 8-10: The Cuban Revolution
Readings: (i) Pérez-Stable (ii) Skidmore (iii) Fidel [documentary] (iv) Chevolution [documentary] (v) Castro
Themes and Rationale: The Cuban Revolution (1959) was perhaps the defining event of Cuban history and one of the most significant of the twentieth century. The goal of this section is to get a sense not only of the history of the Revolution but also of its implications. To that end, we will examine the motivations of Castro’s Revolution. What did he hope to achieve? Why? We will also try to get a sense of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara as individuals. In the case of the latter, we will be especially concerned with the way in which Che became something of a mythical figure. This discussion will, I hope, allow us to broach the subject of propaganda and its role in constructing social and political identity.
Weeks 11-12: Cuba and U.S. Foreign Policy During the Cold War
Readings: (i) Skidmore (ii) Kapcia
Themes and Rationale: This section of the course will be devoted to US foreign policy toward Cuba during the Cold War. Why was Cuba perceived as such a threat? Why did the US adopt such a hard-line stance? Was that stance advisable?
Weeks 13-14: Cuba After the Soviet Union
Readings: (i) Fukuyama
Themes and Rationale: After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, Cuba entered what is known as the “special period.” This period in Cuban history exemplified nothing so much as the island’s near total dependence on aid from the Soviet Union. It also raises important questions about the success of Castro’s revolution. To what extent, for instance, was Cuba merely a Soviet client state? How, if at all, did the regime’s dependence on the Soviet Union jibe with Castro’s vision of a free, independent, autonomous Cuba. I hope also to take up some broader issues about the fate of Marxism as a political theory and communism as a political fact in the wake of the Soviet collapse.
Week: 15: Cuba and the War on Terror
Readings: (i) Toobin (ii) Skidmore
Themes and Rationale: The final week of the course will be devoted to Cuba-US relations during the so-called War on Terror. The central theme will, of course, be the housing of detainees at Glover – FDN 112 Syllabus 5
Guantanamo Bay. I plan to assign authors who take opposing sides in the debate and encourage students to come to their own view.