New York University in Buenos Aires Introduction to Latin American Studies Fall 2011 Professor: Martín Sivak Email: [email protected] Classroom and Course Schedule: Wednesday 17.15 to 20.30. Office Hours: Wednesday 4 pm and upon request. Description of the course: This course is designed to introduce students to some of the most important problems and debates about Latin American history, society and culture. Latin America is a complex region full of contrasts. Its population is both racially and culturally heterogeneous. Its many countries share some common cultural roots and political origins, but also have distinct histories. National histories and individual societies did not always follow parallel paths. We will consider the general as well as the specific paths, and study the successes, failures, contrasts and future challenges facing the region. The structure of this course is primarily chronological but also thematic. We will start with the Conquest and its legacies and we will end with the problems that we experience today in big cities in Latin America. We will pay particular attention to the enduring legacies and challenges of some specific historical issues, such as slavery and entrance of Latin America into global capitalism. As the course favors a multi-disciplinary approach, we will use a different array of materials including films, letters, photographs and essays. We will emphasize first hand accounts of the topics we discuss. REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION: You are required to do the assigned reading in advance and come to class prepared to participate actively. The required written work for the course consists of: Homework One short reaction (not more than two paragraphs) to the readings of the week, focusing on the primary sources. It must be sent by e-mail every Tuesday before 7 pm. A final research paper of approximately 7 - 10 pages. A midterm and a final exam. The final grade will be determined based on the following distribution: class participation 25% (which includes the weekly response and class presentations), 1 midterm (25%), final exam (25%), final essay (25%). Attendance Policy • NYU Buenos Aires has a strict policy about course attendance. No unexcused absences are permitted. • Students should contact their class teachers to catch up on missed work but should NOT approach them for excused absences. • Absences due to illness must be discussed with the Assistant Director for Academics Affairs, María Pirovano Peña within one week of your return to class. A doctor note excusing your absence is mandatory. If students get sick on an exam day, they must let the Assistant Director for Academic Affairs know in advance about this, and they must see a doctor the same day in order to have their absence excused. • Absence requests for non-illness purposes must be discussed with the Assistant Director for Academics Affairs, María Pirovano Peña, prior to the date(s) in question. • The first unexcused absence will be penalized by deducting 1.5% from the student’s final course mark. After that each unexcused absence will be penalized by deducting 3% from the student’s final course mark. • Students who have perfect attendance (100%) during the semester and have fulfilled all course requirements, i.e. class participation, meeting all deadlines, etc. will get extra points equivalent to 2 % of the final grade. • Students are responsible for making up any work missed due to absence. • NYU BA also expects students to arrive to class promptly (both at the beginning and after any breaks) and to remain for the duration of the class. Three late arrivals or earlier departures (10 minutes after the starting time or before the ending time) will be considered one absence. • Please note that for classes involving a field trip or other external visit, transportation difficulties are never grounds for an excused absence. It is the student’s responsibility to arrive at an agreed meeting point in a punctual and timely fashion. Exams and Submission of Work • Final Exam dates cannot be changed under any circumstance. • Unexcused absences from exams are not permitted and will result in failure of the exam. • Late work should be submitted in person to the Assistant Director for Academics Affairs during office hours (Mon – Fri, 9.30 am to 5 pm), who will write on the essay or other work the date and time of submission, in the presence of the student. Another member of the administrative staff can accept the work, in person, in the absence of the Assistant Director for 2 Academics Affairs and will write the date and time of submission on the work, as above. • Work submitted within 5 weekdays after the submission time without an agreed extension receives a penalty of 10 points on the 100 point scale. • Written work submitted after 5 weekdays after the submission date without an agreed extension fails and is given a zero. • Please note end of semester essays must be submitted on time. • Final essays must be submitted to the professor in print and electronic copy. If the student is not in Buenos Aires, he / she must send a printed copy via express postal mail (i.e. FeDEX, DHL, UPS, etc) to the NYU Center in Buenos Aires – Anchorena 1314 - (C1425ELF) Argentina. This copy must arrive before or on the date of established deadline. Language Policy: Students who want to major in Spanish and Latin American Literature and Culture have to do their course work in Spanish as well part of the reading for the week in Spanish. The primary sources will be available both in Spanish and English. The rest of the students are also welcome to handle their written works in Spanish. Spanish Tutoring Sessions are mandatory for all students who get a B- or below in any written or oral work. Plagiarism I expect you to follow the rules on academic honesty and intellectual integrity established by NYU University. Presenting someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism. Essays must be entirely your own work. SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND LECTURES Week Topic Readings/ Other Material WEEK 1 Presentation of the course. For the class discussion (a copy of these August 31 Brief introduction to Latin texts will be provided): America. - Bartolomé de las Casas. Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (Penguin, Interpretations of the 1992, pp. 6-8). Conquest- Black Legend, - “Indian Lamentation” or “Indian Encounter. The Colonial assessment of Europe” (In Burns, Latin System. America conflict and creation a historical reader, (Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1993, pp.13-15) - Hernan Cortez´s letter about his meeting with Moctezuma: (In Keen´s 3 Latin American Civilization, Westview press 2004, pp. 57-59) - Mario Vargas Llosa, “Questions of conquest: what Colombus Wrought and what he did not” (Harper´s magazine, December 1990) Film. Aguirre. The wrath of god (1972) WEEK 2 The breakdown of the Readings: Chasteen, Born in Blood and Colonial Order and the Fire, Born in Blood and Fire, (New September struggle for Independence. York, Norton & Company: 2006), pp. 6 91-116. John Charles Chasteen and James Wood, Problems in Latin American History A reader, (Scholarly Resources, Delaware, 2009), pp.15-24 Primary sources: Simón Bolívar, “War to the Death” (scanned), “Speech before the Congress of Angostura” (scanned). Film: Revolución (2010) Optional: Adelman: “Introduction: The problems of Persistence in Latin American History” (in Edelman, Colonial Legacies. The Problem of Persistence in Latin American History, (N.York, Routledge,1999). pp.1-13). [NOTE: If you have no background in colonial Latin American history, we strongly recommend that you read “Born in Blood and Fire,” pp. 59-89] WEEK 3 Problems in Nation Reading: Chasteen, Born in Blood and building. Caudillos and Fire, pp. 119-147 oligarchs. Wood and Chasteen, Problems, pp. 62- 4 September 72. 14 Primary sources: Domingo F. Sarmiento, “Rosas's Ribbons and Rituals,” (Problems, pp. 76-79); “Civilization versus Barbarism,” (Problems pp. 112-114). ´ Film. Juan Moreira (1973) Optional: Tulio Halperín Donghi, Historia contemporánea de América Latina, chapter 3 (Alianza, 1994). (You can read the English version of the book, The Contemporary History of Latin America) WEEK 4 Slavery and Plantation Readings: Chasteen, Born in Blood and September economies. The Fire, pp. 149-175. 21 contradictions of progress. Wood and Chasteen, Problems, pp. 39- The cases of Brazil and 46. Cuba Primary Source: Miguel Barnet, Biography of a runaway Slave, (Curbestone press, 2005, pp. 17- 47). Peter Wade, Race and Ethnicity in Latin America, (Pluto, London,1997), pp. 25-39. Film: Quilombo (1984) WEEK 5 Race, nation and Anti- Readings: Chasteen, Born in Blood and September Colonialism. Whose Fire, pp. 181-209. Wood and Chasteen, 28 America? Problems, pp. 107-112; 114-122; 134- 140 Primary sources: José Martí, “Our America” [scanned]; Gilberto Freyre, “Mestizo Pride,” (in Wood and Chasteen pp. 163-66). 5 Film. Burn (1969) WEEK 6 The Entrance into the Readings: Chasteen, Born in Blood and Capitalist System. Fire, pp. 210-214. Wood and Chasteen, Economic, social and Problems, pp. 149-151; 183-193. October 5 Political Dimensions of Cortes Conde, “Export-Led Growth in Economic Growth (1880 - Latin America: 1870-1930”, Journal of 1930). Urbanization and Latin American Studies, Vol 24, (1992), modernity. Changing pp. 163-179. gender roles. Immigration. Primary sources: Carolina Freyre de Jaimes, “Women’s Reform Issues in Late 19th-Century Peru and Mexico,” (Wood and Chasteen pp. 190-193). Pedro Calmon, “Yielding Place to new” (In Keen´s, pp.382-385) Film: Rio 40 grados (1955) and Vidas Secas (1962) WEEK 7 Spring Break October 12 MID TERM Films Sinfonía de un sentimiento (1999) 6 WEEK 8 and Evita (1996, directed by Alan October Parker) 19 WEEK 9 The Rise of Populism and October Mass Democracy.