Courses offered Fall 2007 and Spring 2008

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Core Curriculm

Foreign Cultures 46 - Caribbean Societies: Socioeconomic Change and Cultural Adaptations
Orlando Patterson
Fall 2007
Caribbean societies are largely the economic and political creations of Western imperial powers. Though in the West, they are only partly of it, and their popular cultures are highly original blends of African and European forms. The course examines the area as a system emerging from a situation of great social and cultural diversity to the present tendency toward socio-economic and cultural convergence. Patterns of underdevelopment are explored through case studies of Latin and Afro-Caribbean states, as are cultural adaptations through studies of Afro-Caribbean religions, folkways, and music.

Historical Study B-64. The Cuban Revolution, 1956-1971: A Self-Debate
Jorge I. Dominguez
Fall 2007
Focus on the insurrectionary war, the consolidation of power, Fidel Castro's role, the role of organized labor and the peasantry, the US-Cuban conflict, the alliance with the Soviet Union, the choice of economic strategy, the "remaking of human beings," the role of intellectuals, the support for revolutions in Africa and Latin America, and the change toward "orthodox" policies. The instructor will debate himself, presenting two or more views on each issue. Readings include original documents in translation.

African and African-American Studies

Yoruba A. Elementary Yoruba
Nike S. Lawal
Full course (indivisible). Hours to be arranged.Yoruba is spoken in the West African countries of Nigeria, Benin Republic, and parts of Togo and Sierra Leone, therefore constituting one of the largest single languages in sub-Saharan Africa. Yoruba is also spoken in Cuba and Brazil. Students will acquire the Yoruba language at the basic or elementary level.

Yoruba B. Intermediate Yoruba
Nike S. Lawal
Full course (indivisible). Hours to be arranged.Continuation of Yoruba A. Yoruba is spoken in the West African countries of Nigeria, Benin Republic, and parts of Togo and Sierra Leone, therefore constituting one of the largest single languages in sub-Saharan Africa. Yoruba is also spoken in Cuba and Brazil. Students will acquire the Yoruba language at the basic or elementary level.

Anthropology

Anthropology 1795 : The Politics of Language and Identity in Latin America
Catalina Laserna
Spring 2008
Introduces theory and research in linguistic anthropology in the context of ethnographic research, film and popular music, from cumbia to hip-hop in Latin America. Examines how the multiplicity and contention of language ideologies play out in the everyday practices. What are the social, linguistic and discursive means by which social identity is constructed? How do ways of speaking, such as border talk and code switching, link face to face communities to the national and transnational spheres? Texts include regional ethnographies and documentaries from the region as well as the literature in the burgeoning new field of linguistic anthropology.

Government

Government 1295 : Comparative Politics in Latin America
Steven R. Levitsky
Spring 2008
Examines dynamics of political and economic change in modern Latin America, focusing on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela. Topics include the rise of populism and import-substituting industrialization, revolutions and revolutionary movements, the causes and consequences of military rule, the politics of economic reform, democratic transitions, and democratic consolidation. The course analyzes these phenomena from a variety of different theoretical perspectives, including cultural, dependency, institutionalist, and leadership-centered approaches.

History

History 1963 : Cold War Crises: Research Seminar
Ernest R. May
Spring 2008
We focus on three crises of the Cold War: Berlin, 1948-49; Suez, 1956; and Berlin/Caribbean missiles, 1961-62. Discussion compares not only the crises but types of historical sources and problems involved in analyzing collective memory.

History of Art and Architecture

Visual Culture of Latin America in the 20th Century
Robin Greeley
Fall 2008
This course considers the trajectory of Latin American art from the Mexican Revolution (1910-20) to the present. It will be less a chronological march through the history of the widely diverse countries and cultural productions, than an investigation of a constellation of issues. Some of these: address to a colonial & pre-conquest past; dialogue with European avant-gardisms (particularly Surrealism and Cubism); uses of indigenous/popular arts in defining cultural identities; abstraction vs. figuration; modernism vs. postmodernism.

Romance Languages and Literature

Latin American Studies 70 : Modernity, Culture and Politics in Latin America
Mariano Siskind
Fall 2007
This course introduces students to central debates and problems that have shaped (and continue to shape) the field of Latin American Studies. We address questions of cultural identity, gender, race, politics and aesthetics by looking at historical documents, literary texts, film, visual arts, architecture and urban development from an interdisciplinary perspective. We will think about colonial encounters and gendered subjectivities; the Haitian, Mexican and Cuban Revolutions; cultural and political relations between US and Latin America; popular oral cultures and their lettered genealogies; Latin American cities from Brasilia to Ciudad Juarez; and memory, trauma and traces of dictatorships, among other topics.


Spanish 36 : La cultura y la gramatica del espanol a traves de cuatro paises: Cultura urbana actual
Adriana Gutierrez
Spring 2008
Consolidates and expands fluency, accuracy and stylistic range in Spanish through an examination of diverse literary and cinematographic works which depict contemporary life in the large cities of Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. In addition to in-class discussions, course work involves a comprehensive grammar review and practice in writing.

Spanish 271 : Hispanic Caribbean Transitions
Arnaldo Cruz-Malave
Spring 2008
Mourning, migration, sexuality, and movement in the contemporary literature of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, as they transition to a global economy. Lezama, Arenas, Padura Fuentes, Gutierrez, Diaz, Hernandez, Ramos Otero, and Santos-Febres.