Tuesday/Friday, 1:30 p.m.                                                           Office Tel. 1501/1280/Home: 243-2552
Office Hours: Tues.-Thurs., 10:15-12, Tuesday 2:45-4                 Denny 207/ruhl@dickinson.edu
 

          LAS 201 is a multi-disciplinary, introductory course designed to familiarize students with Latin America through a study of the region’s history, economy, cultures, religions, politics and literature.  The purpose of this overview is to provide first-year students and sophomores with a general framework that will enhance their understanding of more specialized Latin American courses offered in the traditional academic disciplines.  Guest lecturers from Economics, Spanish and Portuguese, and other departments will participate in the course.  LAS 201 is required for the Latin American Studies Certificate and meets the Comparative Civilizations distribution requirement.

Required Books:

Rebecca Pierce Bomann.  The Pentacostal Poor in Bogotá (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1999).

Matthew C. Gutmann.  The Meanings of Macho:  Being a Man in Mexico City (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996).

Richard S. Hillman (ed.). Understanding Contemporary Latin America (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005 edition).

Carter Wilson.  Crazy February:  Death and Life in the Mayan Highlands of Mexico (Berkeley, CA:  University of california Press, 1974).

Recommended Reading:

For current news from Latin America, visit The Washington Post: Americas and  The Miami Herald.

Course Requirements:

 1.      Quiz on September 30 (10% of final grade)

 Brief test on material covered to date.  Short-answer questions (fill-ins and multiple choice) and brief identifications/short essays.

 2.      Midterm Examination on October 14 (30%)

 Exams are composed of long essays (40% to 60%), brief identifications/short essays, and short-answer questions.  Detailed   knowledge of the assigned readings and lecture/discussion material is necessary for success.  Documented illness or a confirmed  personal emergency at home are the only acceptable reasons for rescheduling an exam.  Please do not request a rescheduled exam because of other exams on the same day or vacation plans.

 3.      Research Paper due by November 4 (30%)

 Paper topics may be drawn from any aspect of Latin American Studies, but they must be approved by the instructor in advance.  No one may write on a topic about which they have written before in another course.  Papers should be no less than 3,000 words in length.  Students may submit the paper anytime before November 4 at 5:00p.m.. Given the pressure of assignments in the second half of the semester, the instructor strongly urges students to complete the paper in September or early October.  Papers turned in on or before October 7 will receive a two-point bonus. Papers will be evaluated in terms of research depth and writing quality.

The most useful website for Latin American Studies research is: Latin American Network Information Center  

 4.      Final Examination on December 17 at 2:00 p.m. (30%)

 A non-cumulative exam focusing on material covered since the midterm.

 5.      Class Participation

 The final course grade is based on the four grades above, but strong class participation is also taken into account by adding one or more extra points into the final grade calculation for consistently active, well-informed participation in class. Regular attendance is expected and frequent unexcused absences from class (five or more) will result in a reduced grade (one letter grade for every additional class missed).

Students are also required to attend the November 16 Clarke Center lecture by John Dinges on Operation Condor and other scheduled Latin American Studies Program evening lectures (TBA) unless their times conflict with prior College commitments. 

 Foreign Language Integration Course (FLIC) Option in Spanish

 Students who have completed Spanish 116 or its equivalent are encouraged to take LAS 201 as a foreign language integration course.  FLIC credit may be obtained by doing substantial research for the term paper using Spanish-language sources or by writing the paper in Spanish. 

Course Outline and Assigned Readings:

I.         Introduction: The Diversity of Latin America      August 30

            Hillman, 1-10
            Price in Hillman, 13-16, 23-39

II.       Latin American History

     A.     The Conquest                  September 2

             de la Pedraja in Hillman, 41-44
             Place and Chase in Hillman, 209-212
             Bernal Díaz (handout), 191-228
             View Mesoamerican Images
             Film segment: The Aztecs and the Spanish Conquest 

    B.      From Colonialism to Independence       September 6    

             de la Pedraja in Hillman, 44-64
             Yelvington in Hillman, 245-248
             Place and Chase in Hillman, 212-215
             Harper and Cuzán in Hillman, 145-148
           
     C.     19th and 20th Century Latin America      September 9, 13, 16

             Yelvington in Hillman, 248-252
             Poinsett (handout), 26-29
             D’Agostino in Hillman, 67-95
             Harper and Cuzán in Hillman, 148-149
             Peron (handout), 491-495
             
III.      Ethnicity and Power in Latin America           

     A.     Ethnic Identity        September 20

             Film: Mirrors of the Heart 
             Yelvington in Hillman, 237-266
             Badillo and Brazilian race relations (handouts)             

     B.     Modernization and Indigenous Identity in Chiapas        September 23, 27

            Wilson, 1-250
             Zapatista Readings, TBA             

                               <<Quiz: September 30>>            

 IV.        20th Century Urban Migration and the Latin American City      September 30, October 4

             Place and Chase in Hillman, 221-234
             Film: Bogotá: One Day
             Gutmann, 33-49
             Bomann, 21-33     

V.          Male and Female Roles in Latin America        October 7, 11

              Paz, Labyrinth of Solitude (handout), 9 pp.
              Lewis (handout), 31-41, 160, 179
              Gutmann, 1-10, 30-32, 50-95, 111-115, 124-141, 146-165, 190-223, 228-251, 261-263
              Tiano in Hillman, 273-277, 299-307

                                    <<Midterm Exam: October 14>>                                                               

VI.         The Latin American Economy

     A.     Characteristics and Development       October 21

             Harper and Cuzán in Hillman, 149-173         

     B.     The Neo-Liberal Model and its Critics      October 25                      

             Green (handout), 73-86
             Place and Chase in Hillman, 215-221                       

     C.     The Cuban Economic Alternative        October 28
                     (Professor Koont)

             Readings on Cuba, handout

     D.     Latin American Economic Issues        November 1
              
             Reading, TBA                              

VII.       Religion in Latin America             November 4, 8

             Film: Miracles Are Not Enough
             Fleet in Hillman, 343-374
             Bomann, ix-xi, 1-19, 35-103, 119-144, 151-152       

VIII.     Latin American Politics

         A.      Problems of Democratization     November 11, 15

            D’Agostino in Hillman, 95-114
            Zagorski in Hillman, 117-143

        B.      The Narcotics Trade and Colombia's Political Crisis      November 18
                  (Col. Dennis Keller, U.S. Army War College)

            Colombia handout

IX.       Latino Communities in the United States        November 22, 29
                  (Professor Rodríguez)

            Readings, TBA
            Film: The Americans

X.        Latin American Literature  

        A.       Changing Literary Styles in Latin American Literature     December 2, 6
                                (Professor Marquis)        

            Bost and Ekstrom in Hillman, 375-398
            Additional Readings, TBA            

        B.       Latin American Women Writers        **December 8 (Special Time: Thursday at 6:30 p.m.)
                                (Professor Toral)

            Selections by Elena Garro, Clarice Lispector, and Rosario Ferré

                                     <<Final Exam: December 17>>
                                                        2:00 p.m.
 

Note:  The image at the top of the page is a painting by Honduran artist José Antonio Velásquez  from Honduweb.Finearts at www.lanic.utexas.edu

Professor Ruhl's Home Page
Latin American Studies Program
Dickinson College