Module overview
The course examines major turning points in Spanish and Portuguese America from the middle nineteenth century to the present, with a focus on how these upheavals affected and reflected the politics of class, gender and race.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Modern Latin American history, politics and society
- theories of gender, race, class and nation-state formation
- the historical construction of gender, class and race
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- set and monitor goals, reflecting on your own learning and learning from feedback
- work with a range of sources, taking accurate notes and keeping records
- communicate effectively and confidently both orally and in writing
- produce academic writing to required conventions
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- apply knowledge, understanding and critical analysis to the histories of race, class, gender and nation in Latin America
- formulate and clarify critical questions relating to nation formation in Latin America
Syllabus
In this course you will study the past in order to understand the present. The course examines major turning points in Spanish and Portuguese America from the middle nineteenth century to the present, with a focus on how these upheavals affected and reflected the politics of class, gender and race. We will investigate how nation- states endeavoured to forge class, gender and race relations of a particular type, and how different sectors in society struggled with or against the state.We examine the role of outside actors, particularly the U.S. and Great Britain, and assess their impact on Latin American politics and society. The course introduces you to theoretical debates on gender, race, class and the nation-state; we analyse how race and gender are historically constituted, and how different theoretical approaches to history mould our understanding of the past and present.
An indicative list of topics that may be covered is as follows : the Myth of racial democracy in Brazil and Cuba, Mestizaje and the Mexican Revolution, the Zapatistas, the Brazilian Landless Workers’ Movement, Chile before and after Pinochet, the Sandinistas of Nicaragua, Guatemalan Indians and the State, the Perons and the Dirty War in Argentina, Drugs and Violence in Colombia, extractivism. Material studied will include primary and secondary sources.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include:
Lectures introducing the key topics
Small group seminars to discuss primary sources and secondary readings
Individual essay tutorials
Learning activities include:
Close analysis of using and evaluating primary and secondary historical texts
Extensive reading of secondary and theoretical literature
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Wider reading or practice | 40 |
Completion of assessment task | 40 |
Seminar | 12 |
Lecture | 12 |
Preparation for scheduled sessions | 40 |
Follow-up work | 6 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Elizabeth Dore and Maxine Molyneux, editors (2000). Hidden Histories of Gender and the State in Latin America. Duke University Press.
Peter Wade (2009). Race and Sex in Latin America. London: Pluto Press.
Peter Wade (2010). Race and Ethnicity in Latin America. Peter Wade.
Laura Gotkowitz editor (2011). Histories of Race and Racism. The Andes and Mesoamerica from Colonial times to the present. Durham NC: Duke University Press.
Thomas H. Holloway editor (2011). A Companion to Latin American History.
Ada Ferrer (1999). Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation and Revolution,1868-1898. University of North Carolina Press.
Alejandro de la Fuente editor (2018). Afro-Latin American Studies. An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Analytical essay | 45% |
Analytical essay | 45% |
Individual Oral Presentation | 10% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Individual Oral Presentation | 10% |
Analytical essay | 45% |
Analytical essay | 45% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Analytical essay | 45% |
Analytical essay | 45% |
Individual Oral Presentation | 10% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External