The College Catalogue

First-Year Seminars

For a full description of first-year seminars, see the First-Year Seminar section.

10 {1010} c. Music and Race in Latin America. Fall 2012. Michael Birenbaum Quintero. (Same as Africana Studies 18 {1018} and Music 10 {1010}.)

Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses

130 {1330} c - IP. Introduction to the Arts of Ancient Mexico and Peru. Spring 2014. Susan Wegner.

A chronological survey of the arts created by major cultures of ancient Mexico and Peru. Mesoamerican cultures studied include the Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Maya, and the Aztec up through the arrival of the Europeans. South American cultures such as Chavin, Naca, and Inca are examined. Painting, sculpture, and architecture considered in the context of religion and society. Readings in translation include Mayan myth and chronicles of the conquest. (Same as Art History 130 {1300}.)

137 {1337} c - ESD, VPA. CuBop, Up-Rock, Boogaloo, and Banda: Latinos Making Music in the United States. Spring 2013. Michael Birenbaum Quintero.

Surveys the musical styles of Latinos in the United States. Discusses the role of these musics in articulating race, class, gender, and sexual identities for U.S. Latinos, their circulation along migration routes, their role in identity politics and ethnic marketing, their commercial crossover to Anglo audiences, and Latin/o contributions to jazz, funk, doo-wop, disco, and hip-hop. Case studies may include Mexican-American/Chicano, Puerto Rican/Nuyorican, and Cuban-American musics; Latin music in golden age Hollywood; Latin dance crazes from mambo to the Macarena; rock en español; the early 2000s boom of Latin artists like Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, and Jennifer Lopez; reggaetón, race politics, and the creation of the “Hurban” market; and the transnational Latin music industries of Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. (Same as Music 137 {1569}.)

202 {2302} c. Demons and Deliverance in the Atlantic World. Spring 2013. Laura Premack.

Seminar. Examines beliefs and practices having to do with evil spirits, demons, and the Devil in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States, and Western Europe. The primary focus is exorcism. What is it? How has it been practiced? By whom? Why? The approach to the subject is historical, transnational, and diasporic; examines changes and continuities across the Atlantic over the past five hundred years, beginning with cultural encounters between Africans, native Americans, and Europeans during the colonial period and continuing up through the reverse missionization and the new African diaspora of the present day. Readings include works of ethnography, anthropology, theology, history, personal narrative, and fiction. (Same as Africana Studies 202 {2202}.)

205 {2205} c. Advanced Spanish. Every semester. Fall 2012. Margaret Boyle and Nadia Celis. Spring 2013. María Báez Marco.

The study of topics in the political and cultural history of the Spanish-speaking world in the twentieth century, together with an advanced grammar review. Covers a variety of texts and media and is designed to increase written and oral proficiency, as well as appreciation of the intellectual and artistic traditions of Spain and Latin America. Foundational course for the major. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant. (Same as Spanish 205 {2305}.)

Prerequisite: Spanish 204 or placement.

206 {2407} c - ESD, IP. Francophone Cultures. Every fall. Fall 2012. Jay Ketner.

An introduction to the cultures of various French-speaking regions outside of France. Examines the history, politics, customs, cinema, literature, and the arts of the Francophone world, principally Africa and the Caribbean. Conducted in French. (Same as Africana Studies 207 {2407} and French 207 {2407}.)

Prerequisite: French 205 or higher, or permission of the instructor.

209 {2409} c - IP. Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Poetry and Theater. Every semester. Fall 2012. Elena Cueto Asín. Spring 2013. Margaret Boyle and Elena Cueto Asín.

A chronological introduction to the cultural production of the Spanish-speaking world from pre-Columbian times to the present, with particular emphasis on the analysis of poetry and theater. Examines major literary works and movements in their historical and cultural context. One weekly workshop with assistant in addition to class time. Conducted in Spanish. (Same as Spanish 209 {2409}.)

Prerequisite: Spanish 205 (same as Latin American Studies 205) or permission of the instructor.

210 {2410} c - IP. Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Essay and Narrative. Every semester. Fall 2012. Carolyn Wolfenzon. Spring 2013. Nadia Celis.

A chronological introduction to the cultural production of the Spanish-speaking world from pre-Columbian times to the present, with particular emphasis on the analysis of essay and narrative. Examines major literary works and movements in their historical and cultural context. (Same as Spanish 210 {2410}.)

Prerequisite: Spanish 205 (same as Latin American Studies 205) or permission of the instructor.

213 {2211} c - ESD, IP. Introduction to the Study and Criticism of Francophone Literature. Every spring. Jay Ketner.

Introduces students to the literary tradition of the contemporary Francophone world. Focuses on major authors and literary movements in historical and cultural context. Conducted in French. (Same as Africana Studies 209 {2411} and French 211 {2411}.)

Prerequisite: French 205 or higher, or permission of the instructor.

221 {2110} c. Beyond Capoeira: History and Politics of Afro-Brazilian Culture. Fall 2012. Laura Premack.

Seminar. Brazil has the largest population of African descent outside Africa. Nowadays, Brazilians pride themselves on their country’s unique racial and cultural heritage, but it hasn’t always been this way. For centuries, many Afro-Brazilian practices were illegal. Now, however, we are in the midst of what might be called an Afro-Brazilian renaissance. This is something to be celebrated, but it is also something to be questioned. Do these efforts to delineate, praise, and preserve Afro-Brazilian culture actually limit our understanding of it? Has labeling certain aspects of Brazilian cultural heritage as African created a situation in which other ways that Africa has influenced Brazil are overlooked? Just what do we mean by “African” and “Brazilian” anyhow? Takes a historical and anthropological approach to these and other related questions. (Same as Africana Studies 210 {2210} and History 200 {2871}.)

223 {2724} b - ESD. Religion and Globalization in the Andes. Spring 2013. Krista Van Vleet.

Explores the ways various religious beliefs and practices have intersected at particular historical moments, using the Andean region as an exemplary case. Examples from pre-Columbian and Inca, Spanish colonial, and contemporary republican periods highlight the continuities and transformations in local and global religious institutions and the significance of religion to political-economic and social relationships. Uses scholarly readings in anthropology, archaeology, and history as well as novels and films to introduce anthropological theories of religion and globalization; analyze local cosmologies, rituals, and conceptions of the sacred alongside institutionalized global religions such as Catholicism and evangelical Protestanism; social, economic, and political processes. (Same as Anthropology 224 {2723}.)

Prerequisite: Anthropology 101 or 102, or permission of the instructor.

226 {2626} b - IP. Political Economy of Pan-Americanism. Fall 2013 or Spring 2014. Stephen Meardon.

Examines programs for economic and political integration of the Americas from the early nineteenth century to the present. Surveys the material and ideological motives for Pan-Americanism from the Congress of Panama (1826) to the Organization of American States (1948), the draft of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (2001), and beyond. Different forms of integration are evaluated in light of historical consequences and economic ideas. (Same as Economics 226 {2226}.)

Prerequisite: Economics 101.

[229 {2729} b. Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory. (Same as Anthropology 229 {2828}.)]

235 {2625} b - IP. The Economy of Latin America. Fall 2013 or Spring 2014. Julián P. Díaz.

Analyzes selected economic issues of Latin America in the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Issues covered include the Import Substitution Industrialization strategy, the Debt Crisis of the 1980s, stabilization programs, trade liberalization and economic integration, inflation and hyperinflation in the region, poverty and inequality, and the Washington Consensus and the rise of populism. Important economic episodes of the past three decades such as the Mexican Crisis of 1994–1995, the Chilean Economic Miracle, dollarization in Ecuador, and the recent crisis in Argentina will also be examined. (Same as Economics 225 {2225}.)

Prerequisite: Economics 101 and 102.

236 {2180} c - ESD. Borderlands and Empires in Early North America. Spring 2014. Matthew Klingle.

Survey of the making of North America from initial contact between Europeans and Africans and Native Americans to the creation of the continent’s three largest nations by the mid-nineteenth century: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Topics include the history of Native populations before and after contact; geopolitical and imperial rivalries that propelled European conquests of the Americas; evolution of free and coerced labor systems; environmental transformations of the continent’s diverse landscapes and peoples; formation of colonial settler societies; and the emergence of distinct national identities and cultures in former European colonies. Students write several papers and engage in weekly discussion based upon primary and secondary documents, art, literature, and material culture. (Same as Environmental Studies 235 {2415} and History 235 {2180}.)

[237 {2737} b - ESD, IP. Family, Gender, and Sexuality in Latin America. (Same as Anthropology 237 {2737} and Gender and Women’s Studies 237 {2237}.)]

[238 {2738} b - IP. Culture and Power in the Andes. (Same as Anthropology 238 {2729}.)]

241 {2141} c - IP. Dictatorship, Human Rights, and Memory in Latin America. Fall 2012. Elizabeth Shesko.

Seminar. Examines the military dictatorships that ruled Latin American countries from the mid-1950s to the 1980s, the movements for democracy that toppled them, and efforts to reckon with their aftermath. Topics include internal and external support for the regimes, the role of truth commissions, the prosecution of human rights violations, and the challenges of writing the history of dictatorship. Considers the cases studies of Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil through primary sources and recent scholarship. Taught at both the 200 level and the 300 level. Students at both levels attend the same class sessions; students enrolled in the 300-level course complete a substantial research paper. (Same History 230 {2741}.)

243 {2143} c - ESD, IP. Indigenous Identity and Politics in Latin America, 1492 to Present. Spring 2013. Elizabeth Shesko.

Examines the construction of indigenous identity in Latin America from the conquest to the present, focusing on how indigenous and European cultures mixed and affected one another, albeit under profoundly unequal conditions. Analyzes how authenticity, heritage, and tradition are set up against forms of progress, belonging, and exclusion. Topics include religion, sexuality, legal frameworks governing indigenous peoples, movements for autonomy, and the recent effects of migration, transnational networks, international law, and NGOs. Considers the case studies of Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Bolivia through primary sources and recent scholarship. (Same as History 209 {2286}.)

245 {2335} c. Global Pentecostalism: The Roots and Routes of Twentieth-Century Christianity. Spring 2013. Laura Premack.

Seminar. Pentecostalism is a form of Christianity centered on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals speak in tongues, heal, prophesize, see visions, and exorcise demons. By many accounts, Pentecostalism is the fastest growing religion in the world. While its population is difficult to count, current estimates place the world’s total number of Pentecostals at close to six hundred million. The vast majority of these Pentecostals are concentrated in the global South: Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The widespread assumption is that Pentecostalism started in the United States in 1906 and was taken to the rest of the world by missionaries. Challenging this assumption and exploring other interpretive possibilities is at the center of this course, which will focus on charting the origins and expressions of the global Pentecostal movement with emphasis on its African-American roots and its contemporary African and Latin American expressions. (Same as Africana Studies 242 {2235} and History 274 {2287}.)

250 {2005} c. The Making of a Race: Latino Fictions. Fall 2012. Nadia V. Celis.

Explores the creation, representation and marketing of U.S. Latino/a identities in American literature and popular culture from the 1960s. Focuses on the experience of artists and writers of Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican origin, their negotiations with notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the United States, their role in the struggle for social rights, in cultural translation, and in the marketing of ethnic identities, as portrayed in a variety of works ranging from movies and songs to poetry and narrative. Authors include Pietri, Blades, Álvarez, Hijuelos, Braschi, Ovejas, Díaz, and Quiñones. Readings and writing in English, discussions in Spanish. Spanish speaking skills required. (Same as Spanish 250 {2505}.)

252 {2401} c - IP. Colonial Latin America. Fall 2012. Elizabeth Shesko.

Introduces students to the history of Latin America from pre-Columbian times to about 1825. Traces developments fundamental to the establishment of colonial rule, drawing out regional comparisons of indigenous resistance and accommodation. Topics include the nature of indigenous societies encountered by Europeans; exploitation of African and Indian labor; evangelization and the role of the church; the evolution of race, gender, and class hierarchies in colonial society; and the origins of independence in Spanish America and Brazil. (Same as History 252 {2401}.)

Note: This course fulfills the pre-modern requirement for history majors.

[253 {2160} c. The United States and Latin America: Tempestuous Neighbors. (Same as History 253 {2860}.)]

254 {2161} c. Contemporary Argentina. Spring 2014. Allen Wells.

Seminar. Texts, novels, and films help unravel Argentine history and culture. Topics examined include the image of the gaucho and national identity; the impact of immigration; Peronism; the tango; the Dirty War; and the elusive struggle for democracy, development, and social justice. (Same as History 254 {2861}.)

255 {2402} c - IP. Modern Latin America. Fall 2013. Allen Wells.

Traces the principal economic, social, and political transformations from the wars of independence to the present. Topics include colonial legacies and the aftermath of independence; the consolidation of nation-states and their insertion in the world economy; the evolution of land and labor systems, and the politics of reform and revolution, and the emergence of social movements. (Same as History 255 {2402}.)

[258 {2403} c - IP. Latin American Revolutions. (Same as History 258 {2403}.)]

266 {2104} c - IP. History of Mexico. Spring 2014. Allen Wells.

A survey of Mexican history from pre-Columbian times to the present. Topics include the evolving character of indigenous societies, the nature of the Encounter, the colonial legacy, the chaotic nineteenth century, the Mexican Revolution, and United States-Mexican relations. Contemporary problems are also addressed. (Same as History 266 {2404}.)

271 {2711} b. The Caribbean in the Atlantic World. Fall 2012. Gregory Beckett.

An introduction to the cultures and societies of the Caribbean, focusing on the historical changes that have accompanied the European “discovery” of the region and its integration into the wider Atlantic world. Focuses on the culture, history, and political economy of Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba, among other cases. Topics include European conquest and colonialism; the trans-Atlantic slave trade; the sugar plantation; creolization and the creation of new languages, cultures, and religions; revolution and resistance to colonial and imperial domination; economic dependency and marginalization; the relation between the Caribbean and the United States; migration; popular culture; and tourism. (Same as Anthropology 271 {2711}.)

Prerequisite: Anthropology 101 or Sociology 101, or permission of the instructor.

[302 {3202} c. The Idea of Latin America. (Same as Spanish 302 {3002}.)]

[303 {3203} c. Conquest and Resistance in Latin America. (Same as Spanish 303 {3003}.)]

[304 {3204} c. Dress and Body Politics in Latin America. (Same as Spanish 304 {3004}.)]

305 {3005} c. The Making of a Race: Latino Fictions. Fall 2012. Nadia V. Celis.

Explores the creation, representation and marketing of U.S. Latino/a identities in American literature and popular culture from the 1960s. Focuses on the experience of artists and writers of Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican origin, their negotiations with notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the United States, their role in the struggle for social rights, in cultural translation, and in the marketing of ethnic identities, as portrayed in a variety of works ranging from movies and songs to poetry and narrative. Authors include Pietri, Blades, Álvarez, Hijuelos, Braschi, Ovejas, Díaz, and Quiñones. Readings in English, discussions and writing in Spanish. (Same as Spanish 305 {3005}.)

Prerequisite: Spanish 209 (same as Latin American Studies 209) or 210 (same as Latin American Studies 210).

[317 {3217} c. Childhood Memories: Reflections on Self and Home in the Postcolonial Francophone Caribbean. (Same as Africana Studies 317 {3317} and French 317 {3209}.)]

318 {3218} c. A Journey around Macondo: García Márquez and His Contemporaries. Spring 2013. Nadia Celis.

Studies the main topics, techniques, and contributions of Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez as presented in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Explores the actual locations, social, cultural, and literary trends that inspired the creation of Macondo, the so-called “village of the world” where the novel takes place, and the universal themes to which this imaginary town relates. Contemporary authors include Fuenmayor, Cepeda Samudio, and Rojas Herazo. (Same as Spanish 318 {3218}.)

Prerequisite: Two of the following: Spanish 209 (same as Latin American Studies 209), 210 (same as Latin American Studies 210), 310 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

[320 {3220} c. Beyond the Postcard: The Hispanic Caribbean. (Same as Africana Studies 320 {3320} and Spanish 320 {3220}.)]

322 {3222} c. Voices of Women, Voices of the People. Fall 2012. Hanétha Vété-Congolo.

Focuses on texts written by women from former West African and Caribbean French colonies. Themes treated—womanhood, colonization, slavery, individual and collective identity, relationships between men and women, independence, tradition, modernism, and alienation—are approached from historical, anthropological, political, social, and ideological perspectives. Readings by Mariama Bâ, Aminata Sow Fall (Sénégal); Maryse Condé, Gisèle Pineau, Simone Schwartz-Bart (Guadeloupe); Ina Césaire, Suzanne Dracius (Martinique); and Marie Chauvet and Jan J. Dominique (Haïti). (Same as Africana Studies 321 {3201}, French 322 {3201}, and Gender and Women’s Studies 323 {3323}.)

Prerequisite: Two of the following: French 207 or 208, French 209 or 210, one 300-level course in French; or permission of the instructor.

[329 {3229} c. Short Cuts: The Latin American Nouvelle. (Same as Spanish 329 {3229}.)]

330 {3201} c. Andean Modernities. Fall 2012. Carolyn Wolfenzon.

Through the discussion of essays, novels, short stories, and films, explores the different ways in which Andean nations have dealt with processes of social, political, and cultural modernization. Focuses on how literature and the arts have represented, responded, and contributed to those processes, since the late nineteenth century until the present day, through local reelaborations of modernist, avant-garde, and postmodernist aesthetics. Readings include works by Peruvian authors Clorinda Matto de Turner, César Vallejo, and Mario Vargas Llosa; Bolivians like Hilda Mundy and Jaime Sáenz; and Ecuadorians like Pablo Palacio and Jorge Enrique Adoum. Addresses the issue of migration and the reconfigurations of Andean identities in the United States, through the works of Bolivian author Edmundo Paz Soldán and the Ecuadorian-American writer Ernesto Quiñonez. (Same as Spanish 321 {3201}.)

Prerequisite: Two of the following: Spanish 209 (same as Latin American Studies 209), 210 (same as Latin American Studies 210), 310 or higher; or permission of the instructor.

[332 {3232} c. Poetry and Social Activism in Latin America. (Same as Spanish 332 {3232}.)]

[336 {3236} c. Reading Images: Intersections of Art, Film, and Literature in Contemporary Latin America. (Same as Spanish 336 {3236}.)]

[337 {3237} c. Hispanic Short Story. (Same as Spanish 337 {3237}.)]

[339 {3239} c. Borges and the Borgesian. (Same as Spanish 339 {3239}.)]

[341 {3241} c. Colonial Experience and Post-colonial Perspectives. (Same as Spanish 341 {3241}.)]

[343 {3243} c. Imaginary Cities/Real Cities in Latin America. (Same as Spanish 343 {3243}.)]

[345 {3245} c. Ecological Thought in Latin American Literature. (Same as Environmental Studies 285 {2485} and Spanish 345 {3245}.)]

347 {3247} c. Translating Cultures. Fall 2012. Janice Jaffe.

Far beyond the linguistic exercise of converting words from one language to another, translation is an art that engages the practitioner in cultural, political and aesthetic questions. How does translation influence national identity? What are the limits of translation? Can culture be translated? How does gender affect translation? Students explore these questions and develop strategies and techniques through translating texts from a variety of cultural contexts and literary and non-literary genres. Also explores ethics and techniques of interpreting between Spanish and English in different fields. (Same as Spanish 347 {3247}.)

Prerequisite: Two of the following: Spanish 209 (same as Latin American Studies 209), 210 (same as Latin American Studies 210), 310 or higher; or permission of the instructor

[348 {3248} c. The Others: The Nineteenth-Century Latin American Novel. (Same as Spanish 348 {3248}.)]

[352 {3101} c. The Mexican Revolution. (Same as History 351 {3401}.)]

[354 {3102} c. The Maya: Challenges of Forging Community and Identity. (Same as History 354 {3402}.)]

356 {3103} c. The Cuban Revolution. Fall 2013. Allen Wells.

The Cuban Revolution recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Offers a retrospective of a Revolution entering “middle age” and its prospects for the future. Topics include United States-Cuban relations, economic and social justice versus political liberty, gender and race relations, and literature and film in a socialist society. (Same as History 356 {3403}.)

366 {3141} c. Dictatorship, Human Rights, and Memory in Latin America. Fall 2012. Elizabeth Shesko.

Seminar. Examines the military dictatorships that ruled Latin American countries from the mid-1950s to the 1980s, the movements for democracy that toppled them, and efforts to reckon with their aftermath. Topics include internal and external support for the regimes, the role of truth commissions, the prosecution of human rights violations, and the challenges of writing the history of dictatorship. Considers the cases studies of Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil through primary sources and recent scholarship. Taught at both the 200 level and the 300 level. Students at both levels attend the same class sessions; students enrolled in the 300-level course complete a substantial research paper. (Same History 366 {3270}.)

401–402 {4000–4001} c. Advanced Independent Study and Honors in Latin American Studies. The Program.

405 {4029} c. Advanced Collaborative Study in Latin American Studies. The Program.