HIST 382
Summer 2007
Latin America , 1910 to the Present
Instructor: Professor Carlos Aguirre
Office and Phone number: 369 McKenzie Hall, 346-5905
Office hours: Tu and Th , 12-1 pm
E-mail: caguirre@uoregon.edu
Web page: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~caguirre/home.html
This course covers the history of Latin America from 1910 (the beginning of the Mexican Revolution) to the present. It pays particular attention to the political and social transformations that have affected the development of the region throughout the 20th century (revolutions, military dictatorships, social movements, democratic consolidation). Although this course gives special attention to a few countries ( Mexico , Cuba , Brazil , Chile , Argentina , Nicaragua , and Peru ), it tries to keep a regional and comparative perspective. By the end of the term students will have a more sophisticated understanding of the historical roots behind both the challenges and promises that Latin American countries confront today.
Course policies
1. Students are expected to attend lectures consistently. A passing grade will be hard to achieve without regular attendance. Students must also consistently read the assigned materials and actively participate in class discussions.
2. A common form of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Students must become familiar with the University of Oregon rules about this issue. More information will be offered at the appropriate time.
3. An atmosphere of mutual respect, tolerance, and fairness will be enforced by the instructor. Students must behave in ways proper to an academic environment--i.e. no talking, eating, or newspaper reading during lecture . Cell phones, i -pods, laptop computers, and other electronic devices can not be used during class.
4. Course “incomplete” grades will be granted only in cases of extreme need and only to those students that have an acceptable record of class attendance and have at least a C average in their evaluations. Students that need an "incomplete" grade must make arrangements with the instructor on or before the last week of classes.
Evaluations
Course evaluations will include the following:
-1 map quiz (10 points)
-3 multiple-choice quizzes (10 points each, 30 points total)
-Final exam (60 points)
Required Readings
Thomas Skidmore and Peter Smith, Modern Latin America ( New York : Oxford University Press, 2005), 6th edition.
In addition, a few articles will be placed on electronic reserve through Blackboard.
Schedule of Lectures and Readings
Week 1
6/25 Introduction to the course / Latin America at the turn of the twentieth century / Video
6/26 Map Quiz / The Mexican Revolution [ Chronology of the Mexican Revolution ]
6/27 Change and continuity in post-revolutionary Mexico
6/28 Quiz # 1 / Zapatistas: The struggle for democracy and human rights in Chiapas
Readings : Skidmore and Smith, 1-68, 254-295; Niels Barmeyer , “The Guerrilla Movement as a Project: An Assessment of Community Involvement in the EZLN,” Latin American Perspectives 30, 2003: 122-138; Marc Eric Williams, “Traversing the Mexican Odyssey: Reflections on Political Change and the Study of Mexican Politics,” Mexican Studies/ Estudios Mexicanos , 18, 1, Winter 2002, pp. 159-188.
Week 2
7/2 The Cold War in Latin America / Seeing red in Guatemala
7/3 The Cuban Revolution: Origins and Early Development
7/4 NO CLASS
7/5 Quiz # 2 Cuba Since 1970: Change and Continuity
Readings: Skidmore and Smith, 296-327; Robin Blackburn, “Putting the Hammer Down on Cuba,” New Left Review , 4, July-August 2000; Julia Sweig , “Fidel's Final Victory,” Foreign Affairs , Jan/Feb 2007.
Week 3
7/9 The Impact of the Cuban Revolution in Latin America / Che Guevara: myth and legacy
7/10 Argentina: Peronism , dirty war, and return to democracy (SS, 69-108)
7/11 Brazil: From Estado Novo to Lula (SS, 139-180)
7/12 Quiz # 3 / Chile: Socialism, Dictatorship, and Democracy (SS, 109-138)
Readings: Skidmore and Smith, 69-180; Matt Childs, “An Historical Critique of the Emergence and Evolution of Ernesto Che Guevara's Foco Theory,” Journal of Latin American Studies , 27, 3, 1995, pp. 593-624; J. Patrice McSherry , “Tracking the Origins of a State Terror Network. Operation Condor,” Latin American Perspectives , 29, 1, 2002, pp. 38-60.
Week 4
7/16 Peru : Revolutions from above and from below (SS, 181-220)
7/17 Revolution and counter-revolution in Central America (SS, 356-395)
7/18 Latin America today / Review for final exam
7/19 Final exam
Readings : Skidmore and Smith, 181-220, 356-395, 440-455; Mark Danner, “The Truth of El Mozote ,” The New Yorker , December 6, 1993; Orin Starn , “Maoism in the Andes : The Communist Party of Peru-Shining Path and the Refusal of History,” Journal of Latin American Studies , Vol. 27, No. 2 (May, 1995), pp. 399-421.