History and Institutions of Latin America

History and Institutions of Latin America

Undergraduate program 2017–2018

2° Semester

AIMS

The objective of the course is to provide the students with the essential coordinates for reconstruct, in the light of the more recent historiography, Latin America's historical development in the more general context of the events that characterize the history of the West.

REQUIREMENTS

Basic knowledge of modern and contemporary history.

CONTENT

After discussing periodization, the course will focus on the themes and problems that characterize the historical developments of Latin America from its discovery to the new millennium. In particular, the course will cover: Indigenous Americas; Europe, Spain and Portugal at the dawn of the 15th century; Discovery and conquest; Colonies: administrative, economic, social and religious structures; The 1700 and Bourbon reformism; Independence process and birth of Latin American republics; the Brazilian exception; the epoch of Caudillos and the Latin American liberalism; the Neocolonial pact; English and North American economic interests; European migration; the construction of National Identities; Social and Political Movements; the Mexican revolution; the problems of modernization; Populism and desarrollismo; Revolution and Counter-revolution in the Sixties; the Neoliberal model; the Military Dictatorships; the Political Transitions and the Processes of Regional Integration.

ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES

Lectures; audiovisual material; active student involvement: oral presentations to be done towards the end of the course.

ASSESSMENT

For the students attending:

1 - Written exam based on multiple choice questions and open-ended questions to be held before the end of the course in order to have enough time to discuss the feedback.

2 – Two written reviews (max 10,000 characters each) on two sources of choice. These must be submitted one week before the start of the exam session and will be discussed during the oral examination.

The final grade is formed by 60% on the written test; 30% on the two reviews; and 10% on attendance and active participation during classes.

Students who do not attend will have to take an oral examination, unless a different agreement reached during office hours.

TEXTS

The suggested readings are:

-Daniele Pompeiano, Storia dell’America Latina, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2012 (Chapters from Discovery to The process of Independence);

-Loris Zanatta, Storia Dell’ America Latina Contemporanea, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2017.

-Marcello Carmagnani e Chiara Vangelista, I nodi storici delle aree latino-americane, secoli XVI-XX, Otto s.r.l, Torino 2002.

Italian student interested in studying on an English textbook and Erasmus students can use:

-B. Keen – K. Haynes, A History of Latin America, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston -New York,

2009;

-C. Malamud, Historia de América, Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 2007.

Two books chosen from:

-Jon Lee Anderson, Che: una vita rivoluzionaria, Feltrinelli, Milano 2017.

-Benedetta Calandra, La Guerra Fredda Culturale. Esportazione e ricezione Dell’ American Way Of

Life In America Latina, Ombre Corte, 2011;

-Massimo De Giuseppe, Larivoluzione messicana, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013;

-Massimo Falfari, Dove scorre il passato. Una storia del Centro America, Il Cerchio, 2002;

-Gian Luca Gardini, L’America Latina nel XXI secolo, Roma, Carocci, 2009;

-Laura Fotia, La crociera della nave “Italia” e le origini della diplomazia culturale del Fascismo in America Latina, Aracne, Roma, 2017;

-Laura Giraudo, La Questione Indigena in America Latina, Roma, Carocci, 2009;

-Luigi Guarnieri Calò Carducci, Idolatria e identità creola in Perù. Le cronache andine tra Cinqucento e Seicento, Viella, Roma 2007.

-Federica Morelli, L'indipendenza dell'America spagnola. Dalla crisi della monarchia alle nuove repubbliche, Mondadori Education, Milano 2015;

-Raffaele Nocera-Angelo Trento, America Latina, un secolo di storia, Roma, Carocci, 2013;

-Marzia Rosti, Argentina, Roma, Mulino, 2011;

-Maria R. Stabili (a cura di), Violenze di genere. Storie e memorie nell’ America Latina di fine

Novecento, Nuova Cultura Edizioni, Roma 2009;

-Chiara Vangelista , Confini e Frontiere. Conflitti e alleanze inter-etniche in America meridionale,San Lazzaro di Savena (Bo), Il Segnalibro, 2001;

-Loris Zanatta, Zanatta, Eva Perón. Una biografia politica, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2009.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who don’t plan to attend the course and those who will be attending on an irregular basis are strongly encouraged to meet the course leader during office hours at the beginning of the course. The meeting is important in order to obtain more detailed information on what to study and about the oral examination.