LATAM 5000 Latin American Studies: Critical and Theoretical Approaches
The course constitutes an advanced introduction to Latin American Studies and focuses on basic concepts, theories and debates that are crucial to the understanding of the field, its connections to other areas of study and its projections into global scenarios. Some of the issues that will be analyzed in this course are the historical and cultural circumstances that surrounded the emergence of area studies in general and Latin American Studies in particular, the academic, intellectual and political elements that became part of the Latin American field from its inception, the evolution of the field during and after the Cold War, and the connection of the field to theoretical approaches such as those provided by Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Studies, postmodern theories, trans-Atlantic studies, Border Studies, and the like. From a methodological perspective, the course will introduce students to the understanding of inter/multi/post-disciplinary perspectives and to debates surrounding the notions of humanism, national cultures, Third-World, Occidentalism, lettered city, cultural diversity, cultural difference, collective memory, etc. Finally, the concepts of syncretism, heterogeneity, hybridity, anthropofagia, transculturation, peripheral modernity, will studied as key concepts for the understanding of Latin American cultural history, from colonial times to the present. Through the critical study of these topics, students will get acquainted with the critical works of some of the most important scholarship produced in/about Latin America by authors such as Enrique Dussel, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Antonio Cornejo Polar, Beatriz Sarlo, Nelly Richard, Jesús Martín Barbero, Néstor García Canclini, Angel Rama, Walter Mignolo, Martín Lienhard, Aníbal Quijano, among others.
LATAM 5170 Nation and Desire in Latin America
The purpose of this course is to analyze the process of nation formation in Latin America, since the imaginaries of the Creole nation to the first half of the 20th century. Class discussion will encompass the study of theories on nation formation and nationalism as well as textual representations of national projects, such as Simon Bolivar' letters and discourses, selections from Facundo, Civilization and Barbarism by Domingo F. Sarmiento, selected texts by Andres Bello, Alfonso Reyes, et al, Ariel, by J. E. Rodo, Pedro Henriquez Urena's Seis ensayos en busca de nuestra expresion, Jose Vasconcelos' La raza cosmica, Jose Carlos Mariategui, Siete ensayos de interpretacion de la realidad peruana, Jose Marti's Nuestra America and other essays. Some of the main topics to be discussed are the leading role of Creole elites in the consolidation of national cultures, the marginalization of women as well as indigenous and Afro-Hispanic populations, and the role of nationalism in the shaping of modern societies. Colonialism, Occidentalism, liberalism, positivism, nationalism and modernity are some of the concepts that will be explored both theoretically and in their particular discursive usages. Finally, the concept of nation(alism) will be studied as a political/rhetorical device and as the resulting expression of agency, interest, and desire, in peripheral societies.
LATAM 5235 Blackness in Brazil
Graduate Level ident for L90 4235
LATAM 5238 Introduction to Latin American Philosophy - Contemporary Topics
The main goal of this course is to familiarize students with a distinct philosophical corpus closely linked to the postcolonial conditions of cultural production in the Latin American region. The selected works will expose the connections between as socio- political reflection and intellectual development, and the characteristics of "situated knowledge" related to questions of coloniality, interculturality, and decolonization. Different approaches to transcendental issues, to questions of temporality, subjectivity and Being, will be developed vis a vis diverse conceptions of historicity, positionality, power and resistance. Factors of race, gender, inequality and cultural diversity will be discussed as part of the introduction of issues such as indigeneity, miscegenation, creolization, archipelagic thought, and the like. Some of the authors to be studies in the course are: Leopoldo Zea, Enrique Dussel, Santiago Castro Gomez, Nelson Maldonado Torres, Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, Walter Mignolo, Anibal Quijano, Bolivar Echeverria, Sylvia Wynter, Rita Segato, Maria Lugones, et al. Grad level ident L45 4238
LATAM 5250 Latin American Studies Research
For Graduate LAS students who are completing a research project.
LATAM 557 Gender and Modernity in Latin America
The objectives of this course are twofold. The first goal is to provide students with critical and theoretical foundations for the study of gender issues in modern Latin America, through the analysis of conceptual (social, philosophical and political) texts. This part of the course entails the study of historical contexts that connect the emergence of Latin American societies to questions of imperial domination, coloniality, and modernization. The second goal of the course is to illustrate the conceptualization and the evolution of gender issues through the analysis of some representative figures and cultural processes that show differential articulation of subjects in the public sphere depending on gender. The study of the interconnections between femininity/masculinity, hetero/homosexuality and racial differences will be traced from colonial times to the present. Some instances of this critical journey will focus on topics such as gender in the new Latin American republics, gender and modernization, identity politics, human rights and intersectionality. Required readings will be critical and theoretical pieces plus some fictional works. Particular cases will be approached through analysis of political figures (Eva Peron), women artists (Frida Khalo, Ana Mendieta), literary works (Bad Girls, novel by Camila Sosa Villada; Fever Dreams by Smanta Schweblin) and films (El cuarto de Leo (2009), and Fever Dreams (2021).
LATAM 5631 The Binational Condition. The Mexico-US Relationship in Mexican History and Culture.
From the 19th century onwards, the relationship between Mexico and the United States has been defined by intense tensions and contradictions. Closely intertwined by geopolitical engagement and integrations, mutual migration flows, and rich cultural exchange, both countries belong to a binational system with few equivalents around the world, which defines the lives of people living across North America. And yet, few people in the United States have access to a clear and rigorous understanding of the Southern neighbor, often leading to conflict at the political and social levels. This class explores this historically, from the early frictions caused by territory and slavery to the binational conditions of the present. The class emphasizes the Mexican perspective of the relationship, often erased in discussions from the U.S. From this perspective, the course will engage critical moments in the history of the relationships, such as the underground railroad to the South, the Mexican American War, the Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty, and the Cold War. The class will also discuss the ways in which Mexico has influenced the United States culturally, from the impact of Mexican post-Revolutionary art in the New Deal to the rise of film directors like Alfonso Cuarón and Gullermo del Toro. Finally, the class will lay out the ways in which Mexicans and scholars of Mexican studies think about questions such as regional development, the border, immigration, and the Drug War. Prereq. L45 165D or prior coursework on Global Studies, Latin American Studies or American Studies. The course covers the seminar requirement for majors and minors in Latin American Studies.
LATAM 5692 Citizenship in the HOT Seat. Migration and Borders in Latin America
This course is an introduction to concepts, interpretations, and debates related to different forms of human mobilization across borders, particularly in contemporary Latin America. However, class discussions will expand to other scenarios in order to contextualize the experience and characteristics of migration today. Some of the notions to be analyzed in connection to this topic are freedom of movement, citizenship, inequality, the labor market, borders, territoriality, and national security. Borders will be studied as material constructions (i.e., walls, wire fences, technological surveillance, funnel systems, and strategies of deterrence) and as conceptual/symbolic representations. In addition to migratory movements, other phenomena such as diaspora, exile, and forced displacements will also be introduced as they have developed in Latin America. Cultural and psychological aspects related to migratory experiences -- such as the role of memory and affect, individual and collective trauma, social effects of deportation, stereotyping, the role of race and gender, and so on -- will also be considered, as they constitute integral aspects of migratory studies. The course will be conducted in English as a combination of lectures, student presentations, and collective discussions of assigned readings. Fulfills the seminar requirement for Latin American Studies majors and minors. Prerequisite: L45 165D.