Highlighted Courses for Spring 2010
LATAMER 136 Introduction to Contemporary Latin America
LATAMER 198.01 Applying Knowledge of Latin American & the Caribbean “Learning to Connect the World”
LATAMER 199S.01 Formation of Haitian Society and Culture*
LATAMER 199S.02 Brazilian Popular Music in Political, Historical, and Cultural Perspective
LATAMER 200S.01 Haiti in the 20th Century*
*taught by Mellon Visting Professor Jean Casimir--former Haitian Ambassador to the U.S.
LATAMER 136 Introduction to Contemporary Latin America
(History 136A.01,ICS 132A.01)
Kristin Anne Wintersteen—instructor
Introduction to Contemporary Latin America serves as an interdisciplinary gateway course for the undergraduate certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, offering an introduction to the problems and themes that shape contemporary Latin American society and culture. Rather than providing a survey of Latin American history, this course examines cases that will help illuminate some of the most pressing issues in Latin America today. In addition to regular response papers, students will complete a research project on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor, which they will present to the class at the end of the semester.
A central aim of this course is that students learn to analyze and critique contemporary representations of Latin America through an historical understanding of the region's complexity. We will engage in close reading of written texts and visual images in order to explore—and challenge—how people and events are portrayed in works of journalism, literature, music, photography, art, and film. What sort of assumptions and values, for example, can we observe in contemporary media representations of Latin American countries, leaders, and citizens? What is the model of “progress” against which Latin America is being measured in discussions of economic development? What have been some of the obstacles to the economic “success” of Latin America in the current model of political economy? What challenges have the peoples of the region confronted as a result of broader geo-historical processes, and how have they in turn shaped such processes?
LATAMER 198.01 Applying Knowledge of Latin American & the Caribbean “Learning to Connect the World”
(ICS 130ES.01,EDUC 185.01) W 4:25-6:55pm
LeAnne Disla Ph.D/Outreach Coordinator Duke-UNC Consortium in Latin American & Caribbean Studies and Antonio Arce, MA Academic Program Coordinator CLACS
This capstone course challenges the student to synthesize and apply knowledge gained in previous coursework with personal experiences developed from internships, volunteer work, or study abroad programs in Latin America and the Caribbean , for the purpose of creating meaningful dialogues about key social, political, and economic issues in this region of the world with the greater public. One of the best ways to maximize the students' international experience and translate intellectual and cultural knowledge is by asking the student to become the teacher. Each student in this course will be required to develop a curriculum unit linking personal experiences in Latin America and/or the Caribbean to current topics in the region, such as global health, indigenous social movements, immigration, poverty alleviation, etc. The student will present the curriculum unit in class and then make a public presentation in a local high school or community college.
Applying knowledge of Latin America and Caribbean has the following goals: 1) to explicitly link personal stories with theoretical literature from previous coursework; 2) to solidify and deepen the understanding of a particular social or political issue by being asked to teach this to others; 3) to reveal the inherent power structures involved in education and research by using a sociology of knowledge lens to critically evaluate the biases involved in teaching about another culture, political environment, or social complexity; 4) to understand that knowledge is power and that to share this with the wider community can lead to greater levels of understanding if the knowledge and personal experience is translated responsibly. (Becoming a global citizen does not just mean having studied about other cultures or traveled to other countries—it demands the creation of thoughtful and challenging dialogues in order to share knowledge and question and critique one's own world view)
In addition to the creation of curriculum units that apply knowledge of Latin America and the Caribbean, students in this course will be exposed to a series of workshops with professionals (professors, artists, intellectuals, activists) who have dedicated their careers to studying and teaching about Latin America and the Caribbean . During these in-class discussions, students will be asked to apply the theoretical course readings in asking the guest speakers how they would teach their areas of specialization and knowledge to a wider public audience. Guest speakers will represent diverse disciplines such as global health, cultural anthropology, film and art, and the social sciences.
*This course is open to all students who have had DukeEngage, Study Abroad, or other extended personal experience in Latin America or the Caribbean, or who have had extensive experience working with Latin Americans in the U.S.
*Juniors and seniors enrolled in the undergraduate certificate program in Latin American Studies may count this as the capstone requirement for the certificate.
LATAMER 199S.01 Formation of Haitian Society and Culture
(ICS 140.01,SOCIOL 195S.01,POLSCI 199BS.01) MW 10:05-11:20
Jean Casimir—Mellon Visiting Profesor, Haitian Intellectual, former Haitian Ambassador to the U.S.
This course will use an exploration of the formation of Haitian society and culture to introduce students to a range of scholarly approaches in History, Anthropology, Economics and Sociology. The course will begin with the formation of colonial Saint-Domingue through its creation by France as part of the modern Atlantic World, analyzing its similarities and differences with other plantations societies in the Americas . It will analyze the formation of its main social categories and the interplay of racial strata within the colony. It will show the limits of the creolization processes and of the resulting Creole cultures, and how ethnicity survived unabated by the racial overtone of modernity. It explains the emergence of an alternative culture within the plantation society, put constantly under siege by the dominant one, and how in this context of two competing cultural systems, the French Revolution intensified on going class conflicts, leading to the Independence War and the subsequent formation of a State in Haiti. The course will conclude with an examination of internal and external challenges facing the new state that emerged in 1804.
LATAMER 199S.02 Brazilian Popular Music in Political, Historical, and Cultural Perspective
(ICS 140S.01,MUSIC 138S.01,PORTUGUES 143S.02) T Th 2:50-4:05pm
Tom Moore, Head Music Librarian, Brazilian Music Expert
Learn about the exciting, sensual, absorbing, popular music of Brazil in the context of Brazilian culture and politics, with a survey of genres including choro, samba, MPB, and many others, beginning with Independence in 1822 and going to 2008. Composers and performers examined will include Pixinguinha, Noel Rosa, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Lenine, Ney Matogrosso, and many others, with in-depth looks at complete CDs, as well as shows and documentaries on DVD. Through a comprehensive study of Brazilian music students will also be exposed to important social and political themes such as the Brazilian Independence movement, racism, authoritarianism, and poverty.
LATAMER 200S.01 Haiti in the 20th Century
(FRN 252S.01/ HST299S.02/ SOCIOL299S.02/ ICS299S.02)
Professors Jean Casimir and Laurent Dubois
Tuesdays 2:50-5:20
This course brings together history, anthropology, literature and sociology to explore Haiti 's complex 20th century. The course will begin with a broad introduction to the history of Haiti since the eighteenth century, but will focus in particular on the experience and impact of the U.S. Occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934 and on the cultural and political movements it inspired in Haiti . Throughout the course we will focus in particular on the writings of Haitian writers and intellectuals, and seek to understand the historical roots and causes of the political and economic situation in contemporary Haiti . As part of the course, students will participate in a conference on Haiti featuring leading scholars from a range of disciplines. Assignments will include a class presentation and a research paper. The course is open to interested undergraduates and graduate students in all fields. Readings will be in French and English, and discussions will take place in both languages, so reading and speaking ability in French is required. Students enrolled through FRN will do written work in French, while others will submit written work in English.
The course will be co-taught by Laurent Dubois (History and Romance Studies) and Mellon Visiting Professor Jean Casimir, a leading Haitian intellectual and former ambassador to the U.S. For more information email: laurent.dubois@duke.edu .
What differentiates a citizen from an “exile” and how is s/he constituted through dominant understandings of sexuality? How is sexual shame generated on a mass scale, and how does it assert control over people's lives and choices? This course investigates the role that sexuality — defined both as an anatomical designation that supposedly determines gendered behavior and as an identity related to sexual desire — plays in proscribing citizenship in the Americas , specifically in the U.S. and Latin America . We will investigate some of the multiple and shifting ways in which sex is considered a natural difference that distinguishes citizens from non –citizens, and we will seek to understand how sex influences different groups' efforts to exercise power, challenge the powerful, or reinforce their own powerlessness. We will also address the ways in which knowledge about citizenship is filtered through assumptions about sex and race. How, for example, do we come to know what we know about sex, gender, race, and citizenship? What does globalization contribute to the distribution of this knowledge? Readings and assignments will also help us address the ways in which sexual rights remain a site of contestation and struggle in the global Americas. hide