Course Descriptions
Contact
Latin American StudiesHumanities Building, Room 219 651-696-6395
zis@macaelester.edu
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Latin American Studies
LATI 141 - Latin America Through Women's Eyes
Latin American women have overcome patriarchal "machismo" to serve as presidents, mayors, guerilla leaders, union organizers, artists, intellectuals, and human rights activists. Through a mix of theoretical, empirical, and testimonial work, we will explore issues such as feminist challenges to military rule in Chile, anti-feminist politics in Nicaragua, the intersection of gender and democratization in Cuba, and women's organizing and civil war in Colombia. Teaching methods include discussion, debates, simulations, analytic papers, partisan narratives, lecture, film, poetry, and a biographical essay. This class employs an innovative system of qualitative assessment. Students take the course "S/SD/N with Written Evaluation." This provides a powerful opportunity for students to stretch their limits in a learning community with high expectations, but without a high-pressure atmosphere. This ungraded course has been approved for inclusion on major/minor plans in Political Science, Latin American Studies, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
LATI 151 - Caribbean Literature and Culture: Aesthetics of Resistance
Explore literary, visual and musical expressions of resistance against colonialism and neocolonialism in the Caribbean, and examine street performance as a means of redefining public space and creating community. Students will learn about the tensions between culture and capital. Offered as a First Year Course only.
Frequency: Occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: SPAN 151
LATI 181 - Introduction to Latin America
This course offers a general survey of the complex and heterogeneous region we somewhat reductively term Latin America. It follows a roughly chronological approach, beginning with the eve of encounter and continuing through the contemporary era. Discussions will consider themes such as the institution and legacy of colonialism, the search for new national identities, and the onset of modern racial and political strife. The course will emphasize the import of global economic, political, and cultural trends on the formation of the region.
Frequency: Offered every year.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 181
LATI 194 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
LATI 235 - Captives, Cannibals, and Capitalists in the Early Modern Atlantic World
This course explores cross-cultural encounters in the Americas that characterized the meetings of Europeans, Africans, and Americans in the early modern world between 1492 and 1763. During this period, the Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent land masses became critical locations for economic, biological, and cultural exchanges. This course focuses on the Americas as sites for discovery, mutual incomprehension, and exploitation. The course explores the ways that conquest, resistance, and strategic cooperation shaped peoples' "new worlds" on both sides of the Atlantic. It also considers how colonialism framed and was framed by scientific inquiry, religious beliefs, economic thought, and artistic expression. Students interrogate primary sources-written, visual and aural--that emerged from these encounters and the secondary literatures that have sought to make sense of them.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
LATI 239 - Neotropical Landscapes
This course provides students a basic understanding of the most important biophysical and social characteristics of the dominant landscapes of the Neotropics. The Neotropical realm refers to the biogeographic region that includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and South America's temperate zone. These areas provide a range of services-both locally and globally-including water sources, climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. They are also home to various human populations and support the livelihood of local and global human populations. Among others, these include tropical rain forests, Andean páramos, tropical dry forests, wetlands, deserts and temperate forests of southern South America. For each of these landscapes, we will learn the key biophysical processes that govern their functioning. We also study the peoples that live in them including indigenous communities, afro-descendants, and mestizos. Finally, using examples of these areas, we also analyze human-environment interactions including land-use change, biodiversity, resource and cultural conservation, and climate change impacts and responses.
Frequency: Every year; Fall semester.
LATI 244 - Urban Latinx Power in the U.S.
Comparative study of Latinx political struggles in U.S. cities. How did Chicana feminists transform student social movements on college campuses? In San Antonio, Denver, and Los Angeles, how did multiracial coalitions elect pioneering Latino mayors? And in Chicago, who fought for immigrant rights and who stood in their way? We will explore the themes of subordination and empowerment through study of anti-immigrant ballot initiatives in California, Cuban dominance in Miami politics, multiracial violence in Los Angeles, and battles over labor conditions, affirmative action, bilingual education, and racial profiling.
Frequency: Alternate years.
LATI 245 - Latin American Politics
Comparative study of political institutions and conflicts in several Latin American countries. Through a mix of empirical and theoretical work, we analyze concepts and issues such as authoritarianism and democratization, neoliberalism, state terror and peace processes, guerrilla movements, party systems, populism, the Cuban Revolution, and U.S. military intervention. Themes are explored through diverse teaching methods including discussion, debates, simulations, partisan narratives, lecture, film, and poetry. This class employs an innovative system of qualitative assessment. Students take the course "S/SD/N with Written Evaluation." This provides a powerful opportunity for students to stretch their limits in a learning community with high expectations, but without a high-presure atmosphere. This ungraded course has been approved for inclusion on major/minor/concentration plans in Political Science, Latin American Studies, and Human Rights and Humanitarianism.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: POLI 245
LATI 246 - Comparative Democratization
This course focuses on theories of democratic breakdown, regime transitions, and democratization in Southern Europe, Latin America, and Post-Communist Europe. Some of the cases we will study include Pinochet's coup and Chile's return to elections, the end of the South African apartheid regime, and Russia's post-Cold War shift toward both democratic elections and new strands of authoritarianism. Building on the literatures on transitions, consolidation, civil society, and constitutional design, the course culminates in an examination of democratic impulses in Iran and the Middle East. Themes are explored through diverse teaching methods including discussion, debates, simulations, partisan narratives, lecture, film, and poetry.
Frequency: Offered every year.
Cross-Listed as: POLI 246
LATI 248 - Struggles for Reproductive Justice: A Global Perspective
This course focuses on reproductive health as a human right following the reproductive justice framework. It will focus on women and how they navigate the system to expand their rights. The course will pay particular attention to women who are marginalized due to their race, class, gender identity, indigeneity, and religion. In doing so, this course studies reproductive health and human rights in relation to the broader structural context in the Americas (e.g. national laws and international conventions). As the topic of women's reproductive rights is vast, we will be focusing on abortion, domestic violence, and motherhood. Students in the class will study these issues from the perspective of women's organizations that have mobilized to expand reproductive rights. This course will be comparative in nature as it will focus on reproductive rights in the U.S. and Latin America from the 1980s onwards. These two regions are intimately connected politically and economically, and in regards to reproductive rights. For example, the gag rule introduced by the Reagan administration in 1984 jeopardized the reproductive health services provided in Latin American countries that received funding from the U.S. government. Yet another way that these two regions have been coupled is through feminist networks that have been working to expand reproductive rights in the Americas.
Frequency: Every year.
LATI 249 - Environment and Society in Latin America
This course offers geographical perspectives on one of the world's most vibrant regions, Latin America and the Caribbean. Extending from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, this world region stretches across diverse landscapes, from tropical rainforests to the snowcapped peaks of the Andes, from mega-cities to verdant plains and sparsely populated deserts. This course combines thematic and regional approaches to understanding the geography of Latin America. Major topics include the dynamics of climate, physical geography, and natural hazards; how indigenous peoples of the Americas transformed their environments, especially through agriculture; how European colonialism and the Columbian Exchange altered patterns of land use, labor, and trade; the development patterns of modern nation-states within a globalized economy; the environmental and social impacts of commodity production (e.g. coffee in Central America, rubber in the Amazon); challenges to and persistence of small-scale agriculture in the Andean region; the causes and consequences of tropical deforestation; conflicts over land and natural resources; the resilience and political resurgence of indigenous groups and people of African descent, and the evolution of pluriethnic or multinational states; the causes of mass urbanization and the environmental problems of cities; patterns of international migration, including flows between Latin American countries and towards the US and Europe; and the development of Latino culture and identity in the U.S. Along the way, we will examine the human-environment geography of various regions and countries such as The Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Brazil, the Andean Countries, and Argentina.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: GEOG 249
LATI 251 - Politics of Memory in Latin America
This course examines and critically analyzes various approaches to the study of how different individuals and communities in particular historical and cultural scenarios in contemporary Latin America create meanings about their past experience with political violence. The course addresses questions related to the tension between remembering and forgetting, the presence of conflicting memories and truths and how these are negotiated or not through distinct forms of representation. The cultural analysis of different means of representation: human rights and truth commission reports, testimonials, film, art and memorials will be the basis for class discussions on different notions of truth and different forms of truth-telling. A close examination of these forms of representation will reveal the extent to which they can conflict with each other while at the same time feed on each other, creating "effects of truth" and leaving room for secrecy as a mode of truth-telling. Finally, the course will also compel students to think about what consequences the politics of memory have for the future.
Frequency: Alternate years
Cross-Listed as: ANTH 251
LATI 255 - Latin America in Motion
This course is an introduction to the cultural diversity and complexity of Latin American societies. We will examine regional differences from an anthropological perspective and discus how social institutions and cultural practices and traditions have been shaped, and how they have dealt with continuity and change. Ethnographic case studies will allow us to explore relevant topics related to ethnicity, social stratification, gift-giving/reciprocity, kinship, rural/urban relationships, cosmology and religion, and gender. These issues will be examined within the context of particular histories, considering the legacy of colonialism, the formation of the nation-state, the emergence of social movements, post-colonial nationalism, the impact of migration and urbanization, and the effects of neo-liberalism and globalization.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: ANTH 255
LATI 258 - Immigrant Voices in Times of Fear
According to the International Organization for Migration (OIM), in 2019, the United States had the largest foreign-born population in the world. During the same year, immigrants represented 15% of the United States population while 53% of the foreign-born migrants came from Latin America. At the same time, we are observing the securitization of the US-Mexico border that is resulting in the removal of undocumented individuals from the U.S. in large numbers, specifically Latino men. The course examines recent U.S. immigration as part of a global (historical) phenomenon to understand how we got to where we are. While we will become familiar with immigration policies, we will pay attention to the experiences of immigrants, particularly those coming from Latin America. We will explore questions such as: What motivates people to migrate? How does migration reconfigure social relations, such as parental and community relations? This is a discussion-based course and includes guest speakers and a civic engagement project with a local organization.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: SOCI 258
LATI 281 - The Andes: Landscape and Power
This course explores the interaction between landscape and power in Andean history from the colonial period to the present day. The dramatic mountains have both shaped and have been shaped by sociopolitical relations, from the "vertical archipelagos" of ancient Andean peoples to the extractive economies of the Spanish and post-colonial Andean states. The course incorporates analytical perspectives from environmental, cultural, and urban history, alongside eyewitness accounts, to consider the relationship between the natural and built environments, on the one hand, and Andean racial and social identities, on the other. In selected years, this course will involve collaboration with contemporary Andean communities deploying oral history as a means of community and environmental preservation.
Frequency: Alternate years.
LATI 282 - Latin America: Art and Nation
This course presents an historical overview of the interaction between artists, the state, and national identity in Latin America. After an introduction to the import of images to crafting collective identities during the colonial era and the 19th century, we will focus on the 20th century. Topics to be discussed include the depiction of race, allegorical landscapes and architectures, the art of revolution, and countercultures. Multiple genres will be explored with an emphasis on the visual arts, architecture, and popular music.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 282
LATI 283 - Amazon: A Cultural History
This course traces depiction of the Amazon rainforest from the 16th century to the present with an emphasis on three central allegories - the Amazon as cultural crossroads; the Amazon as untapped economic resource; and the Amazon as a-historical paradise (or hell).
Frequency: Every other year.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 283
LATI 285 - Cold War Latin America
During the Cold War, Latin America was a decidedly "hot zone." This course considers this phenomenon as a result of internal and external pressures, including political and socioeconomic instability, a deep tradition of revolutionary and socialist activism, and the region's conflictive relationship with the United States. The class examines dramatic moments of the Latin American Cold War, such as the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions, and the Dirty Wars in Chile and Argentina. It also examines less heralded aspects of the Latin American Cold War, such as its important role in fostering transhemispheric solidarities, the creative possibilities of Cold War cultural production, the emergence of a youth counterculture, and the many attempts by Latin Americans across the political spectrum to reject the premise of the Cold War altogether.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: HIST 285
LATI 294 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
LATI 307 - Introduction to the Analysis of Hispanic Texts
This course presents the student with essential tools for the critical analysis of a broad range of topics and forms of cultural production (literature, cinema, art, e-texts, etc.) in the Hispanic world. It also teaches the student advanced language skills in written composition and public oral presentation. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Cross-Listed as: SPAN 307
LATI 308 - Introduction to U.S. Latinx Studies
This course provides an interdisciplinary discussion of the Latinx experience in the United States with a focus on Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban- Americans. Using fiction, poetry, films and critical essays, we will examine issues of race and ethnicity, language, identity, gender and sexuality, politics, and immigration. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Every semester.
LATI 316 - Mapping the New World: Exploration, Encounters, and Disasters
Europeans were by no means the first peoples to explore new territories and human populations. Renaissance scientific methodology, however, led European travelers to meticulously document each New World encounter in writing and develop new tools with which to navigate and represent space, devices that subsequently became weapons of colonial domination. But as Nature and indigenous populations refused to be subjected to European epistemology, failure and disaster were frequent events: shipwrecks left Old World survivors stranded among unknown lands and peoples in the Americas; Amerindians rejected the imposition of a foreign culture and religion, murdering colonists and missionaries; Africans rebelled against slavery and escaped to mountains and jungles to form autonomous communities. An examination of maps, exploration logs, missionary histories, travel literature, historiography and colonial documents will provide the foundation for this course on the ambivalent reality of the Old World's encounter with the Americas, in which Europeans were often the losers. This course satisfies the Area 1 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Generally taught alternate years.
LATI 331 - Journeys though Brazil
Primarily designed to improve oral communication and to strengthen students' written proficiency and their awareness of grammar intricacies in Portuguese. In relation to writing, it serves as a bridge to upper-level courses. Conversations and compositions are based on the civilization and cultures of Brazil, which despite its continental size and being among the largest world economies remains a mystery to many. This course explores the socio-historical, political and cultural trajectory Brazil has undertaken while, at the same time, reflecting on how ideas such as nation, identity, race, ethnicity, and class have transformed the face of the country. A wide array of texts and materials -literature, music, painting, sculpture, architecture, dance, and cinema- is used to gain a broad and critical understanding of the Brazilian universe. It involves extensive reading appropriate to the level.
Frequency: Spring semester
Prerequisite(s): PORT 221
Cross-Listed as: PORT 331
LATI 341 - Comparative Social Movements
How did the Arab Spring and Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement deploy a similar tactical repertoire, yet provoke different outcomes? Comparing movements for Black lives in Colombia and South Africa, does participant diversity boost or undercut mobilization? And does mobilization of identity explain how indigenous Bolivians ejected U.S. corporations and scored lasting victories against the white power structure? This advanced research seminar engages theories that seek to explain the origins and development of movements, including LGBTQ+ movements struggling to avoid deradicalization in Germany, feminist organizations in Nicaragua navigating tensions between autonomy and agenda-setting, mobilization of Brazilian prisoners resisting pandemic lockdowns within lockdowns, and artists making visible the erased contributions of Kenyan women to the global climate justice movement. Students planning to conduct social movements research while studying away may write a research prospectus to launch that field research project.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
Cross-Listed as: POLI 341
LATI 342 - Urban Politics of Latin America
In Sao Paulo and Mexico City, how are multi-racial coalitions challenging police violence and housing segregation? Has Bogota's election of an openly gay mayor made the city safer for LGBTQ+ Colombians? And in El Alto, how did a 34-year old Aymara woman build a coalition of street unions and Bolivian youth to beat the party establishment and capture City Hall? Democratic elections have penetrated metropolitan Latin America, offering excluded communities new avenues for making demands. In this research seminar, we will explore how the changing rules of political competition affect urban struggles around representation, gender inequality, housing discrimination, and the informal sector. The course examines mayoral elections and urban movements in cities such as Caracas, Lima, Medellin, Montevideo, Porto Alegre, and Santiago de Chile. Student responsibilities include seminar leadership roles, a research project, and presentation of your findings in a public colloquium.
Frequency: Every year.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
Cross-Listed as: POLI 342
LATI 355 - Cultural Resistance and Survival: Indigenous and African Peoples in Early Spanish America
In the Old World, Spain defined its national identity by locating its "others" in Jews, conversos , Muslims, moriscos , Turks, gypsies, pirates and Protestants. In the New World, Spaniards employed many of the same discursive and legal tactics-along with brute force-to subject Amerindian and African peoples to their will and their cultural norms. But indigenous and African populations in the Americas actively countered colonization. They rejected slavery and cultural imposition through physical rebellion, the use of strategies of cultural preservation and the appropriation of phonetic writing, which they in turn wielded against European hegemony. We will examine a fascinating corpus of indigenous pictographic codexes, architecture, myths, and histories and letters of resistance, along with a rich spectrum of texts in which peoples of African descent affirm their own subjectivity in opposition to slavery and cultural violence. What will emerge for students is a complex, heterogeneous vision of the conquest and early colonization in which non-European voices speak loudly on their own behalf. This course satisfies the Area 1 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Generally taught alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 305 and another 300-level Spanish course or consent of the instructor.
LATI 362 - Modern Hispanic Novel and the Visual Arts
We use an interdisciplinary approach to narrative that focuses on the cooperation between the written and the visual text. For example, how did nineteenth-century painting influenced the novel? Or, what are the connections between cinematic adaptations of narratives? We also consider the perennial dilemma of literal versus personal interpretation. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Generally taught alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 307 or consent of the instructor.
Cross-Listed as: SPAN 362
LATI 376 - Spanish Dialectology
A survey of modern dialectal variations of Spanish and Peninsular Spanish varieties. Sociolinguistic issues and historical aspects of language will be addressed, along with other extralinguistic factors. Through this course, students will gain a linguistic understanding of the principal varieties of Modern Spanish. This course satisfies the Area 3 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Generally taught alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 309 or consent of the instructor.
LATI 381 - Transnational Latin Americas
Examines critical and primary literatures concerning the transnational, hemispheric, Atlantic, and Pacific cultures that have intersected in Latin America since the early colonial era, with a particular focus on the 19th and 20th centuries.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): One 100- or 200- level history course or consent of instructor.
LATI 385 - Frontera: The U.S. Mexican Border
The border region between the United States and Mexico exists as both a physical space and an ideological construct. This seminar uses literary and filmic narratives to explore issues of identity, opportunity, and violence that arise from this contested space. How does the border shape individual and cultural identities? In what ways does the border create opportunities for both advancement and exploitation? How do these works engage conflicts and tensions of race, nationalism, gender, and power? The course will include writers and filmmakers from both countries, and we will read original texts both in Spanish and English. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Generally taught alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 308 or consent of the instructor.
LATI 386 - Constructions of a Female Killer
Explorations of the relationship between women and violence typically take place from the perspective of women as victims. However, how does the discourse change when the traditional paradigm is inverted and we explore women as perpetrators of violence? This seminar examines representations of women who kill in Latin American and Latino narratives (including novels, short stories, films, and newspapers). Drawing on feminist theory, media studies, criminology, and literary criticism, we will seek to understand the ways women's violence has been read and framed in contemporary society as well as how their violence intersects with discussions of nationalism, race, class, and gender. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major.
Frequency: Generally taught alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 307 or consent of the instructor.
LATI 387 - Latinx in the Midwest
This course uses literature, film, and scholarly works to explore the Latinx experience in the Midwest. We will examine how this population creates and sustains community, constructs their own sense of Latinidad, and how that identity and its cultural practices are informed by and impact the region. Events involving the Twin Cities' Latinx communities will enrich our learning and discussions. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement of the Spanish major.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPAN 308
LATI 394 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
LATI 488 - Senior Seminar
An integrative, research-oriented capstone which gathers senior majors of diverse regional and disciplinary focuses during the final semester. A faculty convener will integrate a schedule of issue-area seminars, faculty methods and topics presentations, talks by visiting speakers, and student reports on research projects. The course culminates in a lengthy final paper.
Frequency: Every fall.
LATI 494 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
LATI 601 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study for advanced students on a subject not available through regular catalog offerings.
Prerequisite(s): Approval of program director and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 602 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study for advanced students on a subject not available through regular catalog offerings.
Prerequisite(s): Approval of program director and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 603 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study for advanced students on a subject not available through regular catalog offerings.
Prerequisite(s): Approval of program director and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 604 - Tutorial
Closely supervised individual or small group study for advanced students on a subject not available through regular catalog offerings.
Prerequisite(s): Approval of program director and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 611 - Independent Project
An opportunity for advanced students to pursue an independent research project of some scale under the supervision of a sponsoring faculty member. Such a project must begin with a brief written proposal to the faculty supervisor and the program director.
Frequency: Every spring.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 612 - Independent Project
An opportunity for advanced students to pursue an independent research project of some scale under the supervision of a sponsoring faculty member. Such a project must begin with a brief written proposal to the faculty supervisor and the program director.
Frequency: Every spring.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 613 - Independent Project
An opportunity for advanced students to pursue an independent research project of some scale under the supervision of a sponsoring faculty member. Such a project must begin with a brief written proposal to the faculty supervisor and the program director.
Frequency: Every spring.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 614 - Independent Project
An opportunity for advanced students to pursue an independent research project of some scale under the supervision of a sponsoring faculty member. Such a project must begin with a brief written proposal to the faculty supervisor and the program director.
Frequency: Every spring.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing and permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 621 - Internship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
LATI 622 - Internship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
LATI 623 - Internship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
LATI 624 - Internship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
LATI 634 - Preceptorship
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
LATI 641 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 642 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 643 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
LATI 644 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.