African Influence in Latin America and the Caribbean
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HUM 2000 – TPS: AFRICAN INFLUENCE IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Prof. Alexandra Henderson [email protected] I will be available by email, not in person in my office. I will commit to responding to your messages and questions within 24 hours. Emails received after 9 P.M. will be answered on the following day. Please include in the subject area: HUM 2000. COURSE INFORMATION: This course examines the presence of African heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean through literature, music, religion, food, and culture. The students will analyze a good variety of sources to understand the diversity of this group, and its complex role throughout Latin America and the Caribbean’s history. While Brazil, Cuba and Haiti undoubtedly form the “core” regions of the African diaspora within Latin America and the Caribbean, in this class we will study other regions, like Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru where African descendent also had a great impact. No knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is needed for this class. All class materials have been written or translated into English. No previous knowledge of the Latin American and the Caribbean regions is required either. COURSE OUTCOMES FOR NON-WESTERN (Catalog, pages 79): This Course will require students to think about human experience from a non-western perspective. 1. Students will describe at least one topic beyond western society. 2. Students will interpret at least one text or artifact from beyond western society. ASSESSMENT: Assessment of the student’s progress in meeting course objectives will be based upon readings, essays, PowerPoints, one extracurricular activity, and a final research project. Grades will be assigned according to the scale provided in page. REQUIRED TEXTS: None REQUIRED READINGS: All readings will be found in Blackboard. REQUIRED TELEVISION SERIES (available in You Tube): Black in Latin America. An acclaimed Harvard scholar comments on the African influence on Latin America and the Caribbean. Based on the PBS tv series, which Henry Louis Gates, jr. hosts. Also available on Netflix, but as DVD only. MOVIE SELECTION: Besouro - The Assailant (Portuguese with English subtitles) – Free with Amazon Prime Membership, YouTube Cidade de Deus - City of God (Portuguese with English subtitles) - Netflix DVD, Amazon rent $2.99 Orfeu Negro – Black Orpheus (Portuguese with English subtitles) – YouTube (click cc for subt.), Netflix DVD STUDENT EXPECTATIONS: This course requires a substantial amount of reading. As a winter course, this aspect is only magnified. You will be expected to read 3 to 4 hours every day, as well as watching films, documentaries, and music videos, and to write essays and other assignments to successfully complete this course. You will read analytical texts and articles, as well as poems and short stories that show the African influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. Students will be responsible to check the syllabus on a regular basis and complete all assignments by the given due dates. It is never a good idea to put off assignments until the last minute. This is especially true in an online environment. Make sure you leave yourself enough time that a potential computer problem (laptop malfunction, internet server down, etc.) doesn’t get in the way of you turning in an assignment. Computer malfunction is not a valid excuse for failing to complete an assignment on time. All work is due by 10 P.M. on the date indicated in the syllabus. No extensions will be given, no exceptions! ESSAYS (25%): These will not be research papers; they will be based on the Black in Latin America series. Outline for each essay will be provided. These essays must be typed in Word, 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced with standard 1-inch margins. Essays must have a header with your name and page number. Essay length: 2.5-3 pages. Submit each essay as an attachment to [email protected] by the due date and time. CULTURAL ACTIVITIES (25%): Each student will complete two (2) cultural activities during this term. For each activity, the student will write a 1.5-2-page essay answering the questions provided below: 1. Cuisine: For this project you need to either eat in a Caribbean restaurant (Cuban, Haitian, or Dominican cuisine) or cook a meal at home that includes a plantain dish. a. Restaurant: Name of restaurant, address and date, persons that went with you, description of restaurant, what did you order (describe in details), did you like it, why. Your opinion/reaction to this experience. Include a picture of your meal. b. Cooking: Name of dishes your prepared, where and when, ingredients, preparation, who ate with you, did you like it, why, Include a picture of your meal. 2. Movie: Choose one of the films from the “movie selection”. Include the following information in your essay: Name of movie, country of origin, director, year it was released, a brief summary of the movie (no more than eight sentences), your analysis of the main themes, did you like the movie, why. Submit each essay as an attachment to [email protected] by the due date and time. POWERPOINTS (25%): Students will research about the traditional food, especially dishes prepared with malanga, taro, plantain, beans, okra and yucca. Students will create PowerPoints that must contain information and pictures. Each PowerPoints should have between 8 and 10 slides. Submit each PowerPoint as an attachment to [email protected] by the due date and time. READING REFLECTIONS (25%): You will choose two (2) readings and write a 1.5-2 page reflection for each one. The reflection must include three paragraphs: one including a summary of the article, another paragraph including an analysis, and the last one with your personal opinion which must be backed with information from the reading. Grading will be based on the average length of your review, correct format, and quality of reflection expressed in your entry. BREAKDOWN OF COURSE GRADES: 25% Essays 25% Cultural Activities 25% PowerPoints 25% Reading Reflections GRADING SCALE: 93-100 A Clearly superior college level achievement 90-92 A- 87-89 B+ 83-86 B Above average college level performance 80-82 B- 77-79 C+ 73-76 C Average college level performance 70-72 C- 67-69 D+ 63-66 D Below average college level performance 60-62 D- 0-59 F Failure to achieve minimum college level performance ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the Catawba College community. An academic honesty offense is defined as the act of lying, cheating, or stealing academic information so that one gains academic advantage. Effective with the 2016/17 academic year, there are significant changes in the policies and procedures for dealing with violations of the Catawba College Honor Code: “As a member of the Catawba College Community, I will uphold the value of academic honesty that grounds our institution, and I will not lie, cheat, or steal.” Faculty and staff members will use the newly-revised Settlement Form to report all academic instances of lying, cheating, or stealing to the Office of the Associate Provost for Student Academic Success on a timely basis. Individual faculty members determine the consequences for violations in their courses, which may range from a 0 on an assignment, to an additional partial or full-letter final grade reduction, to an F in the course. A second violation of the Honor Code — in any course — results in a hearing with the Honor Board. The Honor Board may assign additional penalties — up to and including suspension from the College — as it sees fit. Typically, a second violation leads to suspension for the remainder of the semester in which the violation occurs, an F in the course in which the violation took place, and a W in all other courses. Suspended students must apply for re-admission to the College and be approved by the Honor Board. The Board and Associate Provost for Student Academic Success maintain detailed records of all Honor Code violations and subsequent hearings and penalties. (Catalog, page 57) 1. Students shall not plagiarize, which is defined as stealing or passing off as one’s own the ideas or words of another, or using a creative production without crediting the source. The following cases constitute plagiarism: paraphrasing published material without acknowledging the source, making significant use of an idea or a particular arrangement of ideas, e.g., outlines, writing a paper after consultation with persons who provide suitable ideas and incorporating these ideas into the paper without acknowledgment, or submitting under one’s own name reports which have been prepared by others. 2. Students shall not cheat, which is defined as using notes, aids, or the help of other students on assignments or exams or have someone else take the tests for them. 3. Students shall not furnish materials or information in order to enable another student to plagiarize or cheat. Any written work completed copying other person’s text or idea, without giving credit, will automatically result in an F for the assignment in question. A second violation with result in an F for the course, and the student will not be able to drop the class. In both instances, the violation will be reported to the Associate Provost for Student Academic Success. COURSE SCHEDULE *(This has not been finalized yet)* Date: Topics & Assignments Dec. 15-21 HAITI & DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: AN ISLAND DIVIDED Haiti and Dominican Republic, Black in Latin America, Episode 1, You Tube Kongo in Haiti: A New Approach to Religious Syncretism, Luc de Heusch, Slavery and Beyond: The African Impact on Latin America and the Caribbean, Bb Music video: Bade Zile, Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra, You Tube https://youtu.be/wzyGrzy3bEU Music video: El africano, Wilfredo Vargas, You Tube https://youtu.be/MvrNHquxgM4 Parsley Massacre: The Genocide That Still Haunts Haiti-Dominican Relations, Palash Ghosh, International Business Times, Bb Catawba Digital Films “Zombie: Haiti´s Long-Standing Tradition Hair, Elizabeth Acevedo https://youtu.be/0svS78Nw_yY Essay 1: Haiti & Dominican Republic: An Island Divided Powerpoint 1: Haitian and Dominican Republic Cuisines The difference between Haitian and other Caribbean cuisines.