HIST F342/H521 Prof. Michael Snodgrass
Spring 2009 Office: Ca 503S 278-7761
Cavanaugh 215 Office hours: T/Th 1:30-2:30
T/Th 12:00-1:15 E-mail:
LATIN AMERICA: EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION
Course description and objectives:
This course explores the major developments that have shaped the lives of Latin Americans since they declared their independence from European colonial rule in the early 1800s. To better comprehend broad trends in this diverse region we focus upon three areas: Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Chile). Many of the issues covered will be familiar to students of United States history: the challenge of forging former European colonies into stable, unified, and truly democratic republics; the transition from agrarian to urban and industrialized societies; the experiences of indigenous and African-descent peoples in nations dominated (until recently) by a European-American elite; and the nature and consequences of slavery and immigration.
Yet the entrenched legacies bequeathed by three centuries of Spanish and Portuguese rule also distinguish Latin America’s history from that of North America. Those distinctions include Latin America’s economic dependency on commodity exports and foreign capital investment, the unique power of the Catholic Church, the political activism of the military, and a legacy of white minority rule in lands of great racial diversity and class divisions. Those distinctions made Latin Americans’ quest for economic prosperity, for racial and social equality, and for a durable and inclusive democracy more elusive than in North America. The region’s history was also complicated by its ambivalent relation to their rich, powerful and influential neighbor to the North, the United States.
Consistent with IUPUI’s Principles of Undergraduate Learning, this course is designed to develop student skills of critical and comparative analysis, improve writing proficiency, and enhance one’s capacity to organize and express his or her thoughts. Students will sharpen these skills by writing short essays, engaging in classroom discussions and constructive debate, and preparing for examinations.
Required readings:
*John Chasteen, Born in Blood And Fire: A Concise History of Latin America
* Sandra Lauderdale Graham, Caetana Says No: Women's Stories from a Brazilian Slave Society
* Nicolas Fraser and Marysa Navarro, Evita: The Real Life of Evita Peron
* Oncourse Readings available under the Resources tab on Oncourse
This syllabus, class announcements, weekly lecture outlines, assignments, and grades will be posted to the Oncourse system ( Students unfamiliar with Oncourse may find a “Getting Help” guide at the website or come to the professor for assistance.
Course requirements and grading (based upon 900 total points):
* Option 1: Two exams: 200 points each = 400 points; OROption 2: Research project consisting of one research proposal (50 points) and a 12-15 page historiography paper due on or before May 5 (350 points) (Students submit the term paper or take the two exams. Those who do not take the first exam must submit the paper; paper proposals will be due on the day of the first test. The paper provides all history majors the perfect opportunity to develop the methodological skills needed to succeed in J495. Guidelines will be posted to Oncourse, under the Assignments tab.)
* One essay: 200 points. You will write an essay based upon either the Lauderdale Graham OR the Fraser/Navarro books. Guidelines for each assignment will be posted to Oncourse.
Critical reading analyses: 450 points = 200 points. Students will prepare four brief (2-3 pages) critical reviews of selected readings based upon questions posted to Oncourse (under Assignments). The reviews may be written on any of the Oncourse Readings marked by *.
Class participation = 100 points. Participation grades are not rewards for attendance, although absenteeism obviously undermines one’s capacity to engage in discussions. The grade of A will go to those students who eagerly participate and demonstrate consistent preparation; occasional participation and steady attendance will earn one a B; a consistent but otherwise silent presence in the classroom earns a C; and poor attendance results in a grade of D or lower.
Final grade scores: A+ (900-880), A (879-840), A- (839-810), B+ (809-792), B (791-750), B- (749-720), C+ (719-700), C (699-657), C- (656-630), D (629-585), D- (584-540), F (539-0)
Remember...
...that all late assignments will be penalized as follows: one grade (B to C) for assignments not turned in on due date, and two full grades (B to D) for assignments turned in more than one week late. ASSIGNMENTS MORE THAN TWO WEEKS LATE ARE NOT ACCEPTED.
...to save all papers on your hard drive and retain graded assignments. (Do this for all classes.)
...to check the Oncourse grade book to ensure your grades are recorded correctly.
...that all students are expected to take notes on the lectures as a means of remaining focused and preparing for the exams. Note taking advice is available from the professor during office hours. Students will not read newspapers, balance checkbooks, do crosswords or puzzles, use cell phones, or employ laptops for anything other than note taking. Student who violate these rules will see their final grade penalized by 20 points for each offense.
...that plagiarism and cheating will be punished in accordance with IUPUI’s Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (see the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2006-2008, p.36). For example, any student found to have submitted work taken from an Internet site will receive zero points for the assignment (and not just an F grade) and be subjected to full disciplinary procedures as administered by the School of Liberal Arts Dean of Student Affairs, or by officials in whichever school the student may be enrolled.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Part One: Struggles for Freedom, Visions of Progress
Jan. 13Course Introduction: Latin America Today
Jan. 15European Colonialism and the Making of Latin America
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 15-89
Jan. 20NO CLASS: Inauguration Day
Jan. 22Wars for Independence I: Liberating South America
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, 91-116
Jan. 27Wars for Independence II: From New Spain to the Republic of Mexico
Jan. 29Building New Nations
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 119-147
Feb. 3The Brazilian ‘Empire’
Feb. 5Slave Societies of Cuba and Brazil
Feb. 10Abolition and Republicanism in Brazil
Read Lauderdale Graham, Caetana Says No
Essays due today (or on March 24)
Feb. 12Latin America’s Era of Order and Progress
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 149-198
Feb. 17Immigrants remake South America
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 210-214
Oncourse readings:: a) The Argentine Reader, Gabriela Nouzeilles and Graciela Montaldo, editors, “General Introduction,” pp. 1-13; b) Alberdi, “Immigration as a Means of Progress,” pp. 95-101; c) Samuel Baily, “The Adjustment of Italian Immigrants in Buenos Aires and New York, 1870-1914,” American Historical Review 88:2 (l983), pp. 281-305*
Feb. 19Porfirian Mexico
Oncourse reading: William Beezley, Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico, pp. 67-88
Feb. 24Fighting for a Cuba Libre
Feb. 26Latin America Encounters the New Manifest Destiny
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 199-209
Louis Perez, Jr., The War of 1898, pp.108-33*
Mar. 3Examination #1 (or Research Paper Proposals)
Part Two: Struggles for Democracy, Dreams of Development
Mar. 5Insurgent Mexico
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 217-229
Oncourse Reading: Frank Tannenbaum, “The Revolution: 1910-46”
Mar. 10Workers and Peasants in Revolutionary Mexico
Oncourse Reading: Alan Knight, “Popular Culture and the Revolutionary State in Mexico, 1910-1940,” The Hispanic American Historical Review 74:3 (1994), pp. 393-444*
Mar. 12Populism and the Estado Novo in Brazil
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, 229-256
Mar. 17/19SPRING BREAK
Mar. 24The Peronist Movement in Argentina
Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro, Evita
Essay due today
Mar. 26The Legacies of Peronism in Argentina
Mar.31 The Cold War in Latin America
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 257-277
Apr. 2Revolutionary Cuba
Oncourse Readings: a) Fidel Castro, “History Will Absolve Me”; b) Che Guevara, “Reminiscences of Cuban Revolutionary War”; c) Herbert Matthews reporting in The New York Times
Apr. 7The Death and Resurrection of Che Guevara
Oncourse Readings: Alma Guillermoprieto, “The Harsh Angel”
Apr. 9 Revolution and Dictatorship in the Southern Cone
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 279-296
Apr. 14Argentina’s Dirty War
Tina Rosenberg, “The Good Sailor”*
Apr. 16End of Dictatorship and the Politics of Memory
Apr. 21Revolution in Central America
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 297-309
Apr. 23Counter-Revolution in Central America
Oncourse Reading: Tina Rosenberg, “The Triumph”*
Apr. 28Mexico’s Perfect Dictatorship
Oncourse Reading: Joel Simon, Endangered Mexico, 157-204, 236-50*
Apr. 30 The Triumph of Democracy and the Free Market
Read Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire, pp. 311-29
Final Exam: Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 10:30-12:30, CA 215