Republican Latin America (HIST*2920) | College of Arts

Republican Latin America (HIST*2920)

Code and section: HIST*2920*01

Term: Winter 2023

Instructor: Matt Robertshaw

Details

Calendar Description:

This course will study selected themes in the history of Latin American republics from the independence period to the modern era.

Method of Delivery:

  • Face to Face
  • Lectures and discussions will take place in the classroom on Tuesdays 7:00pm – 9:50pm. 

Course Synopsis:  

HIST*2920 surveys the history of Latin America from the late colonial period to the present day. After an overview of the colonial era and independence movements throughout the region, the course is divided into two chronological halves c. 1820-1920 and c. 1920 to the present. Each week focuses on developments in one of five broad regions: Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America and the Southern Cone (with occasional forays into the Andean States). Within each of these contexts, the course examines the legacies of colonialism and wars of independence, and their impacts on women and African and Indigenous inhabitants of the republics. It traces the construction of nation-states in post- and neo-colonial contexts, the rise of liberal and export-oriented regimes, the role of the Catholic Church, and the revolutionary nationalism of the twentieth century, the Cold War, and social movements of the 1960s-1980s period. The course concludes with an examination of the post-1989 period of Neoliberalism, new social movements, and twenty-first century political and social issues. 

Methods of Evaluation and Weights:

Midterm 20%
Primary Document Analysis 15%
Essay 35%
Final Exam 30%

Texts and/or Resources Required:

Teresa A. Meade. A History of Modern Latin America, 3rd edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2022.

Additional weekly readings available through Courselink.

**Please note: This is a preliminary web course description only.  The department reserves the right to change without notice any information in this description.  The final, binding course outline will be distributed in the first class of the semester.**