Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Specific details of courses to be offered will be published prior to enrollment each term.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course is a weekly seminar on contemporary Latin America. It aims to build a basic understanding of continuity and change in relationships between the economies, societies, and politics of Latin American countries during the contemporary era. As a region characterized by considerable political volatility, trenchant inequalities, and dynamic social movements, Latin American countries offer insightful perspectives on themes such as the collapse of military rule, transitions to representative democracy, and the experience of and response to neoliberalism. Drawing on multidisciplinary readings from the social sciences and history, the course has three parts that explore these and other themes in specific countries. First, we assess general historical trends, including colonial legacies, critical political junctures of the 1920s and 1930s, U.S. imperialism, the emergence of authoritarian regimes in the 1960s and 1970s, transitions to democracy and economic liberalization during the 1980s and 1990s, the commodity boom-fueled “left turn” of the 2000s, and the post-2015 rise of right wing governments. Secondly, we consider case-studies of these and related themes in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, and Venezuela. Finally, we explore recent issues related to inequality, social movements, social policy, and the interplay between social media and recent election campaigns and outcomes.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of the course, students:
• gain substantive knowledge about contemporary Latin American politics, society, and economy
• gain familiarity with social scientific arguments about contemporary Latin America;
• improve skills in synthesizing such arguments through writing;
• improve skills in analyzing such arguments through writing;

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: