History 172—Modern Latin America

http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/guy60/history172/

Spring 2005

10 Page Hall

5:30-7:18 TR

 

Instructor: Professor Donna Guy

Dulles 210

email:  dguy@earthlink.net and guy.60@osu.edu

phone: 292-0324

office hours: Monday and Wednesday 1:30-3; Th 4-5:30

grader:  Melissa Guy

 

            This course is designed to introduce students to the people, places, culture and history of Latin America since 1800.  It will focus on a series of countries and themes to provide a comparison as well as to emphasize the similarities of the Latin American historical experience.   One book has been ordered and is available in paperback at the bookstore:

 

Cheryl E. Martin and Mark Wasserman Latin America and Its People, Vol II: 1800 to the present.

 

Each student is required to attend lecture classes.  Attendance will be taken each time, and decreasing class attendance may lead to spot quizzes.  Students can not expect to get good grades by only attending class or only reading the assignments.  Exams will be based on both, and students are expected to participate in discussions of chapters, usually held on Thursdays.  An example of an A midterm is midterm.doc

 

      This course is designed to encourage students to take charge of their learning and become actively involved.  Since the course will be based on thematic lectures illustrated by case studies in different countries, each student will “adopt” two countries and compile information about its history, economy, social life, art, music, etc., and then pick a topic and write on 15 page paper on both countries or two 8 page papers on a topic in each country.  The papers CANNOT duplicate topics discussed in class.  For example, if I give a lecture on the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a student cannot write a general history of that topic, but, for example, might write about a revolutionary leader, Porfirio Díaz, or look at the history of corridos, the songs people made up about the revolution. The information can drawn from the internet and books, but NO encyclopedias and NO COPYING from internet sites.  Thirty percent of the student’s grade will be based upon this paper or papers, and students will have this new knowledge to illustrate the questions posed on the take home mid term and final.    

       

      Examples of possible paper topics:  The history of the military in a particular country; feminism in a particular country; the history of the Catholic Church in a particular country; popular music, soccer, dance, or other form of popular culture in a country; the Madres (mothers) movement in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, etc.; the history of art in a country; a biography of a particular leader, the history of black emancipation, etc.   Remember, while you are studying that topic, you are also responsible for familiarizing yourself with the history of your “adopted” countries.

       

      The countries that can be adopted are divided into two groups:  Central America and the Caribbean, and South America.  You must choose one country from each area.

       

      Central America and the Caribbean

Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Haiti, Cuba, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica

       

      South America

Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Bolivia

 

            What if you don’t have an immediate topic?  Look at the web sites below and surf the web looking for topics that are interesting.  Look in your text book for suggestions.  Ask the instructor or the teaching assistant for suggestions.

 

      Final grades will be based upon the mid term (25%), the final (35%), country paper(s) (30%) and attendance and class participation (10%).

       

      Links to some internet sources will be found below:

 

http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/svolk/latinam.htmprovides web sites on a series of countries.

 

http://www.history.emory.edu/LatAm/provides chronologies and other information on Argentina, Mexico and Brazil.

 

http://www1.lanic.utexas.edu/The LANIC data base is one of the most comprehensive data bases on all aspects of Latin America

 

Web sites on Venezuelan History http://vlib.iue.it/history/americas/Venezuela/index.html

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cida_ind.nsf/0/75e2faa4d25034b485256bfb006a8d85?OpenDocument

 

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/GlobalGender/latampage.htmlThis web site has links to other web sites that look at women in Latin America

 

http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=listarticles&secid=14has text articles on various Latin American topics.  There is also a special site for Argentina, Peru, etc.  There are also e books on this site.

 

http://lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/laguia/ - pubis another data base with links to interesting sites about Latin America.

 

http://jewishcuba.org/bibjewish.htmlprovides a bibliography on Jewish history in Cuba.

 

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/hlas/mdbquery.htmlThe Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress has been annotating books and articles on Latin American Studies since the 1930s.  Now you can get it online.

 

http://www.uoregon.edu/~caguirre/resources.htmlHere is another website of favorite resources compiled by Prof. Carlos Aguirre.

 

http://www.iisg.nl/~womhist/vivalink.htmlThis web site offers links to sites about women’s history in Latin America and other places in the world.

 

http://www.georgetown.edu/pdba/Constitutions/constitutions.htmlprovides English translations of all Latin American constitutions

 

http://www.evitaperon.org/ provides information on the life of Argentine Evita Perón

 

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook32.htmloffers an internet sourcebook on 19th century Latin America.

 

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook55.htmlprovides information and documents for 20th century Latin America

 

http://www.unl.edu/LatAmHis/LatAmLinks.htmlThis web site offers thematic topic web links for Latin America

 

http://w3.unece.org/stat/scriptsdb/variables.aspprovides statistics on gender in Latin America

 

http://www.popact.org/ tracks reproductive rights and policies

 

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/ibamuseum/library.htmlFor those interested in cultural history, this source offers full text articles on cultural topics in Latin America

 

http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/hasrg/latinam/balder.htmlprovides an extensive bibliography on sex and sexuality topics in Latin America

 

http://www.iisg.nl/~womhist/specialtopics.htmlThis is the virtual library on women’s history topics

 

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/has lots of links for most countries.

 

 

Notes about writing papers

 

All papers should be typewritten, double spaced with a 12 point font.  Papers on adopted countries cannot exceed 16 pages if it deals with both countries and 8 pages if it deals with one country.  Final exams cannot exceed 15 pages, double spaced.  Ideally, it should be at least 9 pages long.  You can consult with others, but all the ideas should be YOUR OWN.  For some suggestions about how to write papers, please consult Guidelines for paper and exam.

 

Any plagiarized paper, i.e. papers that quote directly from sources without quotation marks or footnotes and/or those that summarize opinions of others without acknowledging the source in a footnote, will be subject to penalties listed in the University Code of Conduct. See this web site for information on plagiarism and writing handouts: http://cstw.osu.edu/especially http://cstw.osu.edu/writing_center/handouts/index.htm.  Be forewarned that I will pursue cases of academic misconduct to the appropriate University committee.

 

All students should pay their fees for this course by the second week of the quarter.  Failure to do so may mean being dropped from the course.

 

Syllabus, 2005

 

March 29, 31 Introduction; Latin American Independence Link to powerpoint  Study Questions

 

Martin and Wasserman, Chapter 8

Please pick your two countries and begin looking for historical information on the web

 

April 5-7         Regionalism vs. Nation State; the Caudillos

 

Martin and Wasserman, Chapter 9  Study Questions

On April 5, please submit, in writing, the names of your adopted countries to the grader

 

April 12-14     Liberalism and Conservatism, the Mexican  and Argentine Cases

 

Article on Liberals and Conservatives Study Questions

 

April 19-21  Social Life in Latin America through Art; Race and Gender Relations

 

Martin and Wasserman, Ch. 10 Study Questions

Take home mid term exam will be handed out on April 21

 

April 26-28 The rise of oligarchies and modern economies in late nineteenth-century Latin America, the case of Mexico and Brazil

Martin and Wasserman, Ch. 11 read to p. 342.  Study Questions Take home exams due APRIL 28

 

May 3-5  U.S. Latin American RelationsMexican Revolution of 1910 

Finish Ch. 11 Study Questions

Topic for your paper(s) due.

 

May 10-12  Industrialization before and after the DepressionThe Rise of the Modern Military Martin and Wasserman, Ch. 12, Study Questions

 

May 17-19  Urbanization in Latin America, Popular Culture

Outline for your paper(s) due

 

Martin and Wasserman, Ch. 13, Study Questions

 

May 24-26  Social RevolutionsConservative Reactions

If you want to show us a first draft of your paper(s), they will be due May 26

 

Martin and Wasserman, Ch. 14, Study Questions

 

May 31, June 2-Life in Globalized Latin America:  Restoring Democracy, Institutionalizing poverty

Papers due and take home final exam will be handed out on June 2

 

Martin and Wasserman, Ch. 15, Study Questions

 

June 10 3:30 Take home exams are due in my office, Dulles 210.  You may hand them in or slip them under my door any time before June 10.