HIST 382
Summer 2008

Latin America, 1910 to the Present

Instructor: Professor Carlos Aguirre
Office and Phone number: 369 McKenzie Hall, 346-5905
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12-1 pm
E-mail: caguirre@uoregon.edu
Web page: http://uoregon.edu/~caguirre/home.html

Description of the Course

This course covers the history of Latin America from 1910 (the beginning of the Mexican Revolution) to the present. It pays particular attention to the political and social transformations that have affected the development of the region throughout the 20th century (revolutions, military dictatorships, social movements, democratic consolidation). Although this course gives special attention to a few countries (Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Nicaragua, and Peru), it tries to keep a regional and comparative perspective. By the end of the term students will have a more sophisticated understanding of the historical roots behind both the challenges and promises that Latin American countries confront today.

Course policies

1. Students are expected to attend lectures consistently. A passing grade will be hard to achieve without regular attendance. Students must also consistently read the assigned materials and actively participate in class discussions.
2. A common form of academic dishonesty, plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Students must become familiar with the University of Oregon rules about this issue. More information will be offered at the appropriate time.
3. An atmosphere of mutual respect, tolerance, and fairness will be enforced by the instructor. Students must behave in ways proper to an academic environment--i.e. no talking, eating, or newspaper reading during lecture. Cell phones, i-pods, laptop computers, and other electronic devices can not be used during class.
4. Course “incomplete” grades will be granted only in cases of extreme need and only to those students that have an acceptable record of class attendance and have at least a C average in their evaluations. Students that need an "incomplete" grade must make arrangements with the instructor on or before the last week of classes.

Evaluations

Course evaluations will include the following:

-1 map quiz (10 points)
-4 multiple-choice quizzes (10 points each, 40 points total)
-Final exam (50 points)

Required Readings

Thomas Skidmore and Peter Smith, Modern Latin America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 6th edition.
In addition, a few articles will be placed on electronic reserve through Blackboard.

Schedule of Lectures and Readings

Week 1

6/23 Introduction to the course / Latin America at the turn of the twentieth century
6/24 Map Quiz / Mexico: From Porfiriato to Revolution
6/25 The Post-Revolutionary State, 1920-1940
6/26 Quiz # 1 / Change and continuity in Mexico, 1940-2000

Readings: Skidmore and Smith, 1-68, 254-295; Niels Barmeyer, “The Guerrilla Movement as a Project: An Assessment of Community Involvement in the EZLN,” Latin American Perspectives 30, 2003: 122-138; Marc Eric Williams, “Traversing the Mexican Odyssey: Reflections on Political Change and the Study of Mexican Politics,” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, 18, 1, Winter 2002, pp. 159-188.

Week 2

6/30 The Cold War in Latin America / Seeing red in Guatemala
7/1 The Making of the Cuban Revolution
7/2 Quiz # 2 / Cuba in the 1960s
7/3 Cuba Since 1970: Change and Continuity

Readings: Skidmore and Smith, 296-327; Louis A. Perez, “Fear and Loathing of Fidel Castro: Sources of US Policy Toward Cuba,” Journal of Latin American Studies, 34, pp. 227-254; Julia Sweig, “Fidel’s Final Victory,” Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2007.

Week 3

7/7 Che Guevara: myth and legacy / Guerrillas in Latin America
7/8 Quiz # 3 / Argentina: Peronism, dirty war, and return to democracy (SS, 69-108)
7/9 Brazil: From Estado Novo to Lula (SS, 139-180)
7/10 Chile: Socialism, Dictatorship, and Democracy (SS, 109-138)

Readings: Skidmore and Smith, 69-180; Matt Childs, “An Historical Critique of the Emergence and Evolution of Ernesto Che Guevara’s Foco Theory,” Journal of Latin American Studies, 27, 3, 1995, pp. 593-624; J. Patrice McSherry, “Tracking the Origins of a State Terror Network. Operation Condor,” Latin American Perspectives, 29, 1, 2002, pp. 38-60.

Week 4

7/14 Quiz # 4 / Peru: Revolutions from above and from below (SS, 181-220)
7/15 Revolution and counter-revolution in Central America (SS, 356-395)
7/16 Latin America today / Review for final exam
7/17 Final exam

Readings: Skidmore and Smith, 181-220, 356-395, 440-455; Mark Danner, “The Truth of El Mozote,” The New Yorker, December 6, 1993; Orin Starn, “Maoism in the Andes: The Communist Party of Peru-Shining Path and the Refusal of History,” Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 27, No. 2 (May, 1995), pp. 399-421.