Postgraduate Course: Modern Latin American History (ODL) (PGHC11470)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is an introduction to the peoples, cultures, and events in Latin American history from the era of independence (c. 1800) to the present. Extending from the banks of the Rio Grande down to Patagonia, and including Brazil and much of the Caribbean, the expansive geographic and ethnic diversity of the region might make a survey of modern Latin America seem impossible. Yet rather than try to present the past two hundred years as a isolated collection nations or cultures, this course seeks to understand the overlapping processes that animate and give meaning to the region as a whole. |
| Course description |
Through the use of primary sources, secondary readings, film, music, and other materials, we will explore the historical evolution of the social, cultural, economic and political formation of Latin America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Among the central themes discussed are independence and sovereignty, postcolonialism, nation-building, liberalism, economic development, social stratification, gender relations, revolution, dictatorship, democracy, and globalisation. We shall also work to understand the diverse ways historians have studied these processes, as they seek to uncover the agency of all Latin Americans - including farmers, factory owners, dictators, demonstrators, musicians, artists, and many others who shaped these societies.
Through a variety of activities students will demonstrate a familiarity with the natural and political geography of Latin America as well as a firm command of the major historical periods, problems, processes, and personalities of post-independence Latin America. In helping students approach a deep understand of the peoples, histories, and places of Latin America, this course will develop the conceptual and methodological skills that historians use to analyse and make arguments about both the past and the present. These analytical skills are fundamental not only for the study of Latin America or the discipline of history, but for all future studies and professional paths. By the end of this course students will learn to engage a wide range of information, to think both critically and openly, and to articulate those ideas in written assignments and classroom discussions.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 20 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 x 3,000 word essay (80%)
1 x 750 word primary source analysis (10%)
Assessment of discussion forum posts (10%) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment and/or via email. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate in-depth, detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship, primary source materials, and conceptual approaches considered in the course;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand and apply specialised research or professional skills, techniques and practices considered in the course;
- demonstrate the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- demonstrate originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; and a considerable degree of autonomy.
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Reading List
Ferrer, Ada. 1999. Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Forster, Cindy. 2001. The Time of Freedom: Campesino Workers in Guatemala's October Revolution. Pittsburch, Pa: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Smith, Stephanie Jo. 2009. Gender and the Mexican Revolution: Yucatan Women and the Realities of Patriarchy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Steve J. Stern, 2004. Remembering Pinochet's Chile: One the Eve of London, 1998. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Rigoberta Mechu. 2009. I, Rigoberta Menchu. An Indian Woman in Guatemala. New York: Verso. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jacob Blanc
Tel: (0131 6)51 1925
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Lindsay Scott
Tel: (0131 6)50 9948
Email: |
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