979518 Contemporary Latin(o) Americas
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particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2018 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 8 cp
Subject level:
Postgraduate
Result type: Grade and marksRequisite(s): (979508 Research in International Studies AND 8 credit points of completed study in spk(s): CBK90893 48 cp Major Choice) OR (979508 Research in International Studies AND 8 credit points of completed study in spk(s): CBK90891 24 cp Language, Culture and Society Choice)
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 976502 Contemporary Latin(o) Americas
Description
This subject introduces students to the Spanish-speaking Americas in their sociocultural, political and economic dimensions and is designed to prepare students for their year of in-country study in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica or Latino USA. The subject is based on the premise that that the 'Latinised' USA and Latin America are so mutually intertwined historically, socially, culturally and economically that it makes more sense to study them together.
Through a combination of tutorial-based, independent and collaborative learning, students develop research-led analytical skills and gain knowledge of important current theories, concepts and debates, and learn to apply these to contemporary patterns of sociocultural change in Latin America and in an increasingly Latinised USA, now the world's second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico.
The subject is taught through a dedicated Wordpress blog in combination with UTSOnline and is taught in flipped and blended learning mode. The subject begins with a seminar on maps, names and key terms, followed by seminars on the periods of colonisation, independence and nation-state formation as stages vital to understanding Latin America's problematic insertion into Western modernity in the 20th century. The subject then moves to seminars on the complex interactions between the USA and the Spanish-speaking Americas since the mid-19th century and the resultant migration patterns. It continues with seminars on popular music and church and gender before turning to country-specific studies. The subject ends with a reflection on the politics of difference, post-nationalism and technological revolution in the Latin(o) Americas in the 21st century. The subject links contemporary Latin American and US Latino peoples and cultures to broader processes of transnationalisation, globalisation and transculturation.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| a. | Describe and evaluate knowledge of the Contemporary Latin(o) Americas in their historical, political, cultural and social dimensions |
|---|---|
| b. | Apply knowledge of key concepts and key processes in both independent and collaboratively designed intercultural research |
| c. | Demonstrate critical problem-solving and research-led analytical skills |
| d. | Communicate effectively the results of their research in English in an appropriate academic register |
| e. | Follow good academic practice, including ethical practice and proper referencing procedures |
| f. | Reflect upon and improve their own learning processes |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (INT = International Studies CILOs):
- Graduates have the capacity to operate appropriately in complex intercultural professional contexts, with a high level of independence and personal accountability, demonstrating an advanced ability to negotiate cultural and linguistic diversity. (1.1)
- Graduates demonstrate the application of international knowledge as highly adaptable, flexible and resourceful practitioners. (1.2)
- Graduates have an advanced and practical understanding of the historical, political, cultural, social and economic situations of their host country. (1.3)
- Graduates are able to creatively and independently design and conduct a substantial, specialised, engaged and ethical body of research in and about other cultural contexts and societies. (2.1)
- Graduates possess advanced-level critical problem-solving and research-led analytical skills into international and intercultural change. (2.2)
- Graduates possess a high-level of oral and written communication skills in English and will be able to communicate effectively in at least one other language. (6.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
Contemporary Latin(o) Americas is a subject delivered in flipped and blended mode (see https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7081.pdf). This means that students engage outside the classroom with lectures, set readings and engaging with multimedia resources (developing subject content knowledge), while tutorials are dedicated to the application of that knowledge in dynamic, interactive learning through structured and semi-structured activities: in-class discussions, solving of questions, workshopping of collaborative assignments, and independent research. In other words, homework is (partly) done in class and lectures accessed at a time most convenient for each student, thus ‘flipping’ the normal teaching-learning process.
This subject has face to face lectures for the first 2 weeks only as students get used to the flipped mode, after which all face to face engagement will occur during the weekly two-hour workshop-like tutorials. Weekly lectures are posted to the Wordpress blog site two weeks in advance of the relevant seminar-tutorial. After cultural case studies have been submitted and graded, students will briefly present them to the whole class during Weeks 11 and 12.
Students are required to reflect on their tutor’s feedback for their Literature Review and Cultural Case Study and this reflection represents 20% of the mark for each assignment. In addition, students will use ReView software to self-assess their assignment work compared with tutor assessment.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Literature Review
| Intent: | The purpose of a Literature Review is: "to convey to the reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. The literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g. your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html accessed 27 April 2008). | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Objective(s): | a, d, e and f | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 30% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 2,000 words | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Cultural-case study
| Objective(s): | a, b, c, d, e and f | ||||||||||||||||
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| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 4,000 words | ||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 3: e-Learning Journal
| Weight: | 30% |
|---|
Minimum requirements
Complete all three assignments and attain an average of 50 per cent or more across the assessment tasks each semester.
Required texts
Students should be aware of the Policies and Procedures for Assessment of Coursework Subjects.
Recommended texts
The following titles in the UTS library give a general introduction to many of the topics. Students will find it useful to look at them regularly and as a starting point for all essays:
- Allatson, P. 2007. Key Terms in Latino/a Cultural and Literary Studies, Malden, MA, & Oxford, Blackwell.
- Anzaldúa, G. 1987. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, San Francisco, Spinsters/Aunt Lute Press.
- Benítez-Rojo, A. 1996. The Repeating Island: The Caribbean and the Postmodern Perspective, trans. J. E. Maraniss, 2nd ed., Durham & London, Duke University Press.
- Bakewell, P. 2004. A History of Latin America, Malden, MA, Blackwell.
- Beezley, W. & MacLachlan, C. 2000. Latin America: The People and Their History, Florence, KY, Wadsworth Punlishing.
- Browitt, J. 2000. ‘Nationalising the Popular: Ritual, Resistance and Survival in Latin American Popular Culture’, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, 6:2, pp. 1-26.
- Browitt, J. & Castrillón, N. (trans.) 2007. A New Catechism for Recalcitrant Indians, by Carlos Monsiváis, Mexico, Fondo de Cultura Económica.(
- Browitt, J., & Milner, A. 2002. Contemporary Cultural Theory, Sydney, Allen & Unwin; New York & London, Routledge.
- Chanady, A. (ed.), 1994. Latin American Identity and Constructions of Difference, University of Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
- Chasteen, J. C. 2001. Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America, New York : Norton.
- Chomsky, A., Carr, B. And Smorkaloff, P. M. 2003. The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics, Durham & London, Duke University Press.
- Clayton, L. A. & Conniff, M. L. 1999. A History of Modern Latin America, Fort Worth, TX, Harcourt Brace.
- Cubitt, T. 1995. Latin American Society, New York, J. Wiley.
- Dávila, A. M. 2000. Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People, Berkeley, University of California Press.
- Davies, C. (ed.), 2002. The Companion to Hispanic Studies, London, Arnold.
- Davis, M. 2000. Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the U.S. Big City, London & New York, Verso.
- De la Campa, R. 2000. Cuba on My Mind: Journeys to a Second Nation, London & New York, Verso.
- Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (eds) 1998.The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader, New York, New York University Press.
- Flores, J. 2000. From Bomba to Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity, New York, Columbia University Press.
- Fowler, W. 2002. Latin America 1800-2000, London, Arnold; New York, Oxford University Press.
- Fuentes, C. 1999, The Buried Mirror: Reflections on Spain and the New World, Boston, Houghton Mifflin.
- García Canclini, N. 1995. Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity, trans. C. L. Chiappari & S. L. López, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
- Guillermoprieto, A. 1995. The Heart That Bleeds: Latin America Now, New York, Knopf.
- Gwynne, R. & Kay, C. (eds) 1999. Latin America Transformed, London, Arnold; New York, Oxford University Press.
- Halperín Donghi, T. 1993. The Contemporary History of Latin America, Durham, Duke University Press.
- Joseph, G. M. et al. (eds). 1998. Close Encounters of Empire: Writing the Cultural History of U.S.-Latin American Relations, Durham & London, Duke University Press.
- Joseph, G. & Henderson, T. J. (eds) 2002. The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics, Durham & London, Duke University Press.
- Nouzeilles, G. & Montaldo, G. (eds) 2002. The Argentina Reader: History, Culture, Politics, Durham & London, Duke University Press.
- Kingstone, P. R. (ed.) 2005. Readings in Latin American Politics, Florence, KY, Wadsworth Publishing.
- Oboler, S. 1995. Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: Identity and the Politics of (Re)Presentation in the United States, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
- Pike, F. 1992. The United States and Latin America: Myths and Stereotypes of Civilization and Nature, Austin, University of Texas Press.
- Rodríguez, C. E. 2000, Changing Race: Latinos, the Census, and the History of Ethnicity in the United States, New York, New York University Press.
- Rowe, W. & Schelling, V. 1991. Memory and Modernity: Popular Culture in Latin America, Verso, London.
- Skidmore, T. E. & Smith, P. H. 2004. Modern Latin America, 6th Edition, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Skidmore, T., Collier, S. & Blakemore, H (eds). 1992. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean, Cambridge [England]; New York, Cambridge University Press.
- Urban, G. & Sherzer, J. 1992. Nation-states and Indians in Latin America, Austin, University of Texas Press.
- Williamson, E. 1992. Penguin History of Latin America, London, Penguin.
- Wyndham, M., Read, P. 2010: “From State Terrorism to State Errorism: Post-Pinochet Chile’s Long Search for Truth and Justice”, The Public Historian, University of California Press, 32(1), pp31-44.
- Wyndham, M., Read, P. 2008 “Putting Site Back into Trauma Studies: A study of five detention and torture centres in Santiago, Chile”, Life Writing, Taylor & Francis, UK, 5(1), pp79-96.
- Wyndham, M. 2008 “Dying in the New Country”, in P. Allatson, J. McCormack (eds) Exile Cultures, Misplaced Identities, Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York, pp267-276.
- Wyndham, M, Read, P. 2008 “Remembering the Soviets”, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, 13(2), December 2007, pp85-98.
- Yúdice, G., Flores, J. & Franco, J. (eds) 1991. On Edge: The Crisis of Contemporary Latin American Culture, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
