HISTORY of MEXICO Brungardt HIST-A410-001 Bobet 211 MWF: 10:30-11:20Am Spring 2011
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HISTORY OF MEXICO Brungardt HIST-A410-001 Bobet 211 MWF: 10:30-11:20am Spring 2011 DESCRIPTION: This course surveys the history of Mexico from the beginning to the present. GRADES: Loyola's final letter grades are: F, D, D+, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, and A, and in this course they can be averaged by using the numbers 0 through 10. Your final grade is 1/3 quizzes, 1/3 discussion, and 1/3 final exam. Quizzes (1/3 of final grade) Ordinarily at the beginning of every class, promptly at 9:30 there will be a three-minute quiz that is worth ten points. A sample quiz that does not count against you will be given Monday, January 10; any points scored will be added as bonus points to any future points you may accumulate. Thereafter there will be daily quizzes ordinarily for the duration of the semester. The total scored will be divided by the total possible score, that is, for example, 40 quizzes x 10 points equal a total possible score of 400, and if the total scored was 325, then the percent scored would be 81.25% and the equivalent letter grade would be C+. The corresponding letter grades for the percentages would be the following: A = 96-100% = 10 B- = 84-86 = 6 D+ = 73-74 = 2 A- = 93-95 = 9 C+ = 81-83 = 5 D = 70-72 = 1 B+ = 90-92 = 8 C = 78-80 = 4 F = 0-69 = 0 B = 87-89 = 7 C- = 75-77 = 3 No make-ups are given for these quizzes, ever! Anyone who is not in their seat when the quiz is handed out is automatically late, and while they may take the quiz, they must hand it in at the same time as the others. It is imperative, therefore, that you are in class and on time. There will be bonus points structured into the quizzes, worth an additional 10 points, so that even if a perfect score is 10, a student may actually get 20 points, and, as a result, have extra points accumulated to make up for the shortfall when the student does poorly. Therefore, the diligent student will be able to accumulate more than enough points at the end of the semester for a perfect score (100%, that is, an "A") even if s/he has missed two or three classes. But attendance is a prerequisite for taking the quiz, and study beforehand is essential for mastering the detail that will appear on the quizzes. Diligent students may get as much as 150 or even 175% on their quizzes, and while this does not carry over in a mathematically exact formula to their discussion and final exam grades, it does suggest the kind of due diligence that a student should be rewarded for when it comes time to assign a discussion grade. The quizzes are designed so that you will read and study beforehand the basic content to be covered that day in class. It is the mastery of this detail that will lead you to a synthesis and coherent overview of the history of Latin America. If for any reason a class is canceled, the quiz for the day class was not held plus the regular quiz will be given to test the student on the material assigned for both days. Therefore, there would be two quizzes given on the day classes meet for the first time after a canceled class, and three quizzes given on the day classes meet for the first time after two classes had been canceled one after the other. This has happened in the past when New Orleans was under the threat of a hurricane. History of Mexico 2 A typical quiz question might be a single ID, an identification, key term, summary term, phrase, or question. They can be found in the syllabus after “IDs:” for each of the dates on which you will have class. A typical ID or key term would require you to identify the item in terms of: 1) what the item is (person, place, thing, artistic movement, political institution, book, etc.) and where it is found geographically, 2) what the dates are for its existence, and, most importantly, 3) why it is important. In this case 2-3 points would be scored for correctly identifying the item and its geographical context, another 2-3 points would be acquired for providing the correct chronology, and 5-6 points would be credited for correctly indicating its importance. This would total ten points. Your bonus question might be another ID. Typical IDs might be Cuauhtémoc, Aztecs, Cortés, Hidalgo, La Reforma, The Porfiriato, Zapata, NAFTA, PRI, and so on. In the syllabus there is a list of IDs from your textbook The Course of Mexican History for each class date, and it is from this list that the IDs will be selected for the quiz and on which you should obviously concentrate when you study. Some dates, such as 1519, 1910 or 1968., are so fundamentally important in dividing one period from another that they may stand alone as an ID, in which case you should be able to state what happened in that particular year and why it marked a watershed in the history of Mexico. Please note that no IDs are isolated from the book Opening Mexico but important issues, subjects, personages, events, and dates will be fair game as possible ID selections for your quizzes. Chapter headings in Opening Mexico may will be the most logical choice as an ID worthy of selection on your quizzes. Therefore, pay attention to the importance and meaning of your chapter title, headings, and subheadings. Another quiz or bonus question might provide you with a blank map of Mexico with rivers, seas, and lines dividing land from water or states from states but with no names, and you would be asked to locate five places correctly on the map. For example, Mexico City, Veracruz, Coahuila, Acapulco, and Guadalajara might appear. You would need to correctly locate these items on the blank map. The Course of Mexican History book has a map of all of Mexico on page 426. You need to study this map with great diligence, since this map will appear from time to time on quizzes. Blank maps will be provided to you before you take a map quiz, and you can use these blank maps to practice locating possible map questions. Native Spanish speakers may write their quizzes in Spanish if they prefer. Discussion: (1/3 of final grade) grade determined by participation and especially by the quality and relevance of the remarks made. The professor will ask questions directly of student to which student will respond correctly or incorrectly. Students who are able to take these "correct answers" as building blocks or starting points and 1)cite analogous situations, 2)offer appropriate criticism of the comparisons made, and 3)synthesize the question at hand have gone a long way to mastering the art of discussion and will be rewarded accordingly with a higher grade. Synthesis by definition includes an ever increasing hierarchy of correct response, analogy, and criticism. Synthesis is the culmination. Correct responses are made up of self-evident facts, dates, chronology, events, personages, and sequences of events that can be clearly established from the assigned readings. These "facts" or "correct responses" offer a starting point with which a student can make comparisons or analogies with what the student already knows. This provides linkage with a larger construct which the student can then subject to criticism and analysis. After a certain amount of reflection, appropriate conclusions can be drawn. This synthesis provides nuance, depth, and dynamic explanation to the larger issue. History of Mexico 3 Final Exam: (1/3 of final grade) This exam is divided into four parts, each one worth 25% of the exam grade. Parts I & II each usually have 5 identifications of which you should answer four and eliminate one in each part. Parts III & IV each have two essay questions of which you should answer one and eliminate the other one in each part. Study the obvious and most important items that are discussed in class, that appear in your textbooks, and on your quizzes, because these are ordinarily what are selected for examination. FINAL EXAM is Friday, May 6, 11:30-1:30 p.m. in Bobet 221. HISTORIOGRAPHICAL READINGS: Maurice P. Brungardt, “Latin America: Colonial,” & “Latin America: National (since 1810),” in Kelly Boyd (ed.), Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing (London/Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999), Vol. I: A-L, pp. 686-690 & 690-694. Readings passed out to students free on the first day of class. Abbreviated as MPB BOOKS: Azuela, Mariano. Los de abajo (The Underdogs). Any edition. Native Spanish speakers should read the Spanish edition. Meyer, Michael C., Sherman, William L., & Deeds, Susan M. The Course of Mexican History. 7th ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003. Abbreviated as CMH. Preston, Julio and Dillon, James. Opening Mexico. Abbreviated as OM. Rulfo, Juan. El llano en llamas y otro cuentos (The Burning Plain & Other Stories. Translated & Published by the University of Texas Press. Native Spanish speakers should read the Spanish edition. INTERNET SITES: Anyone wanting contemporary information on individual Latin American countries, such as Mexico, should try the web site: <www.google.com>. This site is especially useful, since a search for an individual country, Mexico in this case, will list the latest news in English. The most important Spanish language news sources on Mexico—such as Proceso, La Jornada, Universal, and La Reforma--can also be googled on google.