Latin American Studies

Program Adviser: Beatriz Riefkohl, Ky 308, 702-8420, clas@uchicago.edu
Center Director: Alan Kolata, Ky 308, 702-8420

Program of Study

Students concentrating in Latin American Studies gain competence in Spanish or Portuguese as a tool for further work; knowledge of one or more of the social sciences as they deal with Latin American materials; and a thorough grounding in selected aspects of Latin American history, politics, economics, or related subjects. The Bachelor of Arts program in Latin American Studies can provide an appropriate background for careers in business, journalism, or government, or for graduate studies in one of the social sciences disciplines. An alternative program of concentration in Romance languages and literatures is available.

Program Requirements

Before entering the program in Latin American Studies, students are expected to have completed the Common Core foreign language requirement with either Spanish (Spanish 101-102-103-201 or Spanish 121-122-201) or Portuguese (Portuguese 101-102-103 or Portuguese 204-205); this requirement may be fulfilled by taking the appropriate College courses or by satisfactory performance in a placement examination. The concentration program requires an additional two courses in Spanish or Portuguese, bringing the student's total language courses to six (for students with Spanish) or five (for students with Portuguese).

Students are required to fulfill the Common Core civilization requirement with the three-course sequence in Latin American Civilization (Latin American Studies 161-162-163). This sequence of courses is the best introduction to the concentration. In addition to the Latin American Civilization sequence, the concentration program requires five additional courses dealing with Latin America. The Center for Latin American Studies publishes an up-to-date listing of such courses, entitled "Courses to be Offered," available in Ky 308. Of these five required courses on Latin America, at least four must be in the social sciences. Courses that focus primarily on disciplinary, methodological, or comparative topics (such as international relations) may also be counted toward this requirement, provided the student successfully completes a paper or other major project treating a Latin American theme. The course instructor must certify the completion of such a project by means of a form available from the Center for Latin American Studies. Students are required to take two additional courses in the social sciences, bringing the concentration course total to nine.

Concentration course requirements may be fulfilled in part through successful completion of one of the College's academic programs in Costa Rica or Mexico. To apply, consult the director of undergraduate foreign studies (Lewis Fortner, HM 286).

B.A. Essay. All students in the Latin American Studies concentration are required to write a B.A. essay under the supervision of a member of the concentration faculty. Registration for the B.A. essay preparation course (Latin American Studies 299) is optional. Students who do register for Latin American Studies 299 may count this course as one of the five they must take dealing with Latin America. The grade students receive for this course depends on successful completion of the B.A. essay.

Summary of Requirements

Grading. All of the required courses for the Latin American Studies concentration must be taken for a letter grade.

Honors. Students who have done exceptionally well in their course work and on their B.A. essay are considered for graduation with special honors. Candidates must have a grade point average of 3.0 or better overall and 3.25 or better in the concentration.

Faculty

ROBERT Z. ALIBER, Professor, Graduate School of Business

ANDREW H. APTER, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College

PASTORA SAN JUAN CAFFERTY, Professor, School of Social Service Administration

MANUELA CARNEIRO DA CUNHA, Professor, Department of Anthropology

THOMAS CUMMINS, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and the College

RENÉ DE COSTA, Professor, Department of Romance Languages & Literatures and the College

PAUL W. FRIEDRICH, Professor, Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics and Committee on Social Thought

SUSAN GZESH, Lecturer in Law, the Law School

TAMAR HERZOG, Assistant Professor, Department of History and the College

THOMAS HOLT, James Westfall Professor, Department of History and the College

FRIEDRICH KATZ, Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor, Department of History and the College

ALAN L. KOLATA, Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College; Director, Center for Latin American Studies

CLAUDIO LOMNITZ, Professor, Department of History and the College

NORMAN A. MCQUOWN, Professor Emeritus, Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics

MARIO SANTANA, Assistant Professor, Department of Romance Languages & Literatures and the College

JULIE SAVILLE, Associate Professor, Department of History and the College

JOSÉ SCHEINKMAN, Alvin H. Baum Professor, Department of Economics and the College; Chairman, Department of Economics

PAUL SERENO, Associate Professor, Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy

LARRY A. SJAASTAD, Professor, Department of Economics and the College

RAYMOND T. SMITH, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology

SUSAN C. STOKES, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and the College

ROBERT TOWNSEND, Professor, Department of Economics and the College

TERENCE S. TURNER, Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College

Courses

In addition to the following courses, several special courses on Latin America are taught each year by the Edward Larocque Tinker Visiting Professors of Latin American Studies. Consult the quarterly Time Schedules for current information.

Anthropology

Anthro 212. Intensive Study of a Culture: Colonial New Mexico. In an area with a rich documentary and ethnographic record, indigenous communities have often been viewed as coherent, bounded, and persistent units of social, political, and economic organization whose ethnographic present can be unproblematically transposed onto an archaeological past. Using primary ethnographic, documentary, and archaeological source material, this course examines substantive and methodological issues raised by this claim. Beginning with the premise that the ethnographic/ethnohistoric present is a contingent outcome of historical process, we examine the development of novel and integral economic, political, and social networks that have defined colonial society in the region over the last five hundred years. M. Lycett. Spring.

Anthro 212. Intensive Study of a Culture: The Brazilian Amazon. This course deals with the Amazon and sustainable development. It focuses on international and Brazilian policies for the Amazon and on the involvement of traditional peoples in environmental issues. M. da Cunha. Not offered 1998-1999; will be offered 1999-2000.

Anthro 212/333. Intensive Study of a Culture: The Kayapo of Central Brazil. The Kayapo are notorious for their successful resistance to Brazilian and internationally financed invasion and development of their territory. One of the main foci of this course is their resistance and accommodation to the shifting challenges of interethnic coexistence and the social and cultural transformations this has involved. The course examines Kayapo videos, as well as ethnographic films by non-Kayapo. The course also considers the internal dynamics of Kayapo society, including kinship, gender and generational relations, the body and personal identity, social values, political hierarchy and institutions, the organization of social production, ritual, myth, and cosmology. T. Turner. Autumn.

Anthro 214/339. The Practice of Anthropology: Trends in Amazonian Ethnology. Class limited to twenty students. This course discusses some paradigmatic monographs on Lowland South American Indians. M. da Cunha. Spring.

Anthro 220/355. The Anthropology of Development (=EnvStd 220). This course applies anthropological understanding to development programs in "underdeveloped" societies through case studies of food production, nutrition, and health care practices. We pay special attention to the role and impact of indigenous and anthropological concepts in development projects. Topics include development within the world system, the role of national and international development agencies, the cultural construction of well-being and deprivation, the impact of world market mechanisms and consumerism on underdevelopment, local resistance and engagement in development, the politics of underdevelopment, and future development. J. Fernandez, R. Fernandez. Spring.

Anthro 245/405. Indigenous Rights: Australia and Brazil. A comparative course on indigenous rights in Brazil and Australia, their history, and the major sources of conflicts. E. Povinelli, M. da Cunha. Spring.

Anthro 275/475-1,-2,-3. Modern Spoken Quiché Maya I, II, III (=LngLin 278/478). Introduction to the spoken language with tapes and transcriptions, grammatical notes and exercises, aural comprehension, and oral practice. N. McQuown. Not offered 1998-1999; will be offered 1999-2000.

Anthro 279/479-1,-2,-3. Modern Spoken Yucatec Maya I, II, III. This class introduces the spoken language with tapes and transcriptions, grammatical notes and exercises, aural comprehension, and oral practice. N. McQuown. Not offered 1998-1999; will be offered 1999-2000.

Anthro 282/387. Archaeology of the Spanish Borderlands. Drawing on archaeological and ethnohistorical data, this course examines colonial and indigenous societies and their articulations on the northern periphery of New Spain between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries A.D. Although the scope of this course is geographically broad, including northern Mesoamerica and Spanish North America, its focus is topical and selective rather than chronological and exhaustive. We explore the ways European contact and colonization created new and locally variable social and ecological relationships that shaped both indigenous and colonial societies in these regions. M. Lycett. Not offered 1998-1999; will be offered 1999-2000.

Anthro 313-3. Rethinking the African Diaspora (=AfAfAm 203). The course focuses on the "African" experience in the New World, particularly Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad, and North America. Themes of acculturation, syncretism, adaptation, and resistance in the classic diaspora literature are critically reevaluated in light of current issues in cultural studies: hegemony and the politics of African identity, the symbolic construction (and deconstruction) of "origins," the rhetoric of racial and sexual difference, black nationalist ideologies, and the material conditions of imagined communities. Staff. Spring.

Anthro 364. Archaeological Field Studies: Southwestern Archaeology. PQ: Must be taken together with Anthro 365. Consent of instructor. Class limited to sixteen students. This course offers students an opportunity to participate directly in an ongoing scientific research project while pursuing studies in archaeological theory, method, and data collection. This course is set in the context of a long-term research project investigating the organization and transformation of indigenous and colonial societies in the late prehistoric and early historic Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Current archaeological, historical, and paleo-environmental research in the North American Southwest and beyond are introduced through direct field experience and evening seminars and lectures. Students are also introduced to the importance of cultural resource management, historic preservation, and active engagement with archaeology's interested publics. Advanced students have the opportunity to pursue directed research projects in close consultation with the instructor. M. Lycett. Summer.

Anthro 578-1,-2,-3. Classical Nahuatl I, II, III. N. McQuown. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Art History

ArtH 239/339. Native Books, Images, and Things in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century New Spain and Peru. PQ: Any 100-level ArtH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course explores the production of native paintings, books, and objects in Mexico and Peru after the European conquest. The intent is to examine how certain traditional forms and media continued to be employed by native artists, nobility, and intellects within the context of a colonial situation, as well as how certain European forms and media were adapted for Mexican or Andean expression. We look at famous examples but we also study images and texts that were produced for wills, legal documents, and other daily use. T. Cummins. Winter.

Economics

Econ 256. Problems of Economic Policy in Developing Countries (=PubPol 286/375). PQ: Econ 201 and 202, or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the application of economic analysis to economic policy issues frequently encountered in developing countries. Topics include sources of economic growth, commercial policy, regional economic integration, inflation and stabilization, fiscal deficits, the choice of an exchange rate regime, and the international debt problem. L. Sjaastad. Winter.

History

Hist 231/331. Iberian Discovery and Exploration. Based on primary and secondary sources, this course examines the conditions (especially political, cultural, and technical) that allowed for Iberian discovery and exploration. It inquires into the actual discoveries and explorations and also examines the problems poised (to the Iberians) by the "encounter" with the native American population. Some comparison is made between "old world encounters" (the encounter with Asians, Muslims, etc.) and "new world encounters" (the encounter with native American population). T. Herzog. Autumn.

Hist 238/338. Development Policy: Trends, Issues, and Debates. PQ: Consent of instructor. We focus on four main sets of issues that arise from contemporary change in the developing world: the current shift toward economic liberalization; the concomitant trend toward democratization; the "new security" concerns posed by drugs, trade, and migration; and the "nontraditional development issues stemming from ethnic and religious diversity, environmental sustainability, and gender. D. Boylan. Winter.

Latin American Studies

LatAm 161-162-163/346-347-348. Introduction to Latin American Civilization I, II, III (=Anthro 232-1,-2,-3, Hist 161-162-163, SocSci 261-262-263). This sequence fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilizational studies. This three-quarter course sequence introduces students to the history and cultures of Latin America, including Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean islands. The autumn quarter examines the origins of civilizations in Latin America with a focus on the political, social, and cultural features of the major pre-Columbian civilizations of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec. The quarter concludes with consideration of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest and the construction of colonial societies in Latin America. The winter quarter addresses the evolution of colonial societies, the wars of independence, and the emergence of Latin American nation-states in the changing international context of the nineteenth century. The spring quarter focuses on the twentieth century, with a special emphasis on the challenges of economic, political, and social development in the region. This course is offered in alternate years. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

LatAm 299. Preparation of the B.A. Essay. PQ: Consent of faculty supervisor and program adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Normally taken for a letter grade. Staff. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.

LatAm 301-302-303. Intensive Aymara I, II, III. Beginners' intensive course in modern spoken Aymara, stressing speaking, grammatical, and cultural structures. Intensively taught to reach beyond intermediate speaking skills. Instruction by a native speaker who provides instructional materials. This course is offered on a rotating basis with other less frequently taught languages such as Nahuatl and Quechua during the summer session. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Political Science

PolSci 250/351. Comparative Politics of Latin America. This course introduces major theories of Latin American political and social change, and the political systems of three countries. We focus on the determinants and dynamics of regime change in Latin America. Why do some democracies succumb to military takeover? And why in the past fifteen years did most military governments in Latin America fall? Do regimes fall under economic stress? What is the quality of the democracies that have succeeded Latin American dictatorships? We first read general studies of modernization, and focus on these issues as they worked themselves out in Chile, Mexico, and Nicaragua. S. Stokes. Spring.

Public Policy

PubPol 238/338. Development Policy: Trends, Issues, and Debates. PQ: Consent of instructor. We focus on four main sets of issues that arise from contemporary change in the developing world: the current shift toward economic liberalization; the concomitant trend toward democratization; the "new security" concerns posed by drugs, trade, and migration; and the "nontraditional development issues stemming from ethnic and religious diversity, environmental sustainability, and gender. D. Boylan. Winter.

Romance Languages and Literatures

Portuguese

Portu 101-102-103. Elementary Portuguese I, II, III. PQ: This course sequence fulfills the Common Core foreign language requirement. This is the basic three-quarter sequence of Portuguese foreign language instruction. The course stresses oral communication and conversational expression in the first quarter, leading to gradual acquisition of reading and writing skills in the second and third quarters. Strong emphasis is placed on classroom activities throughout the sequence; these center increasingly on Brazilian and Portuguese cultural themes. Reading and writing tasks also increase in complexity, accompanying students' growing knowledge of the spoken language. Staff. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Portu 201/301. Intermediate Portuguese. PQ: First-year Portuguese or consent of instructor. While maintaining an emphasis on spoken expression, this course incorporates grammar review with selected readings from the Luso-Brazilian literary tradition. Writing assignments stress the culture and civilization of Portugal and Brazil. Extra weekly meeting designed to provide additional practice and review optional. A.-M. Lima. Autumn.

Portu 202/302. Advanced Portuguese. PQ: Portu 201/301 or consent of instructor. Careful reading of a broad range of texts in conjunction with selective grammar review supports students' increasing awareness of literary style. At least one major work from the Portuguese and Brazilian literary traditions is chosen for closer study and analysis; past choices have included Jorge Amado and Machado de Assis. Extra weekly meeting designed to provide additional practice and review optional. A.-M. Lima. Winter.

Portu 215/315. Estilística da língua portuguesa. PQ: Portu 201/301 or consent of instructor. The principal aim of this course is to advance knowledge of written Portuguese while creating awareness of grammatical and stylistic patterns that characterize the more complex registers of the language. Special consideration is given to the major differences between continental and Brazilian Portuguese. In addition to reading, analyzing, and commenting on advanced texts, both literary and nonliterary, students practice and extend their writing skills in a variety of compositions. A.-M. Lima. Spring.

Portu 297. Readings in Special Topics. PQ: Portu 103 or 202/302, depending upon the requirements of the program for which credit is sought. Directed readings in special topics not covered by courses offered as part of the program in Portuguese. Subjects treated and work done in the course must be chosen, in part, in consultation with the instructor no later than the end of the preceding quarter. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Spanish

Span 101-102-103. Beginning Elementary Spanish I, II, III. This three-quarter sequence emphasizes the development of communicative (linguistic, sociolinguistic, and cultural) competence in Spanish. Students develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills by practicing specific language functions in context and by communicating in Spanish. Classroom activities are supplemented by individualized listening and speaking exercises in the language laboratory and by structured communication and review tasks undertaken with peers. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Span 121-122. Continuing Spanish I, II. PQ: Placement. This course provides a complete review of the essential semantic and syntactic structures of Spanish. Extra attention is given to individual remediation needs. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Span 201-202-203. Language, History, and Culture I, II, III. PQ: Span 103, 122, or placement. In this intermediate level sequence, students review all major grammar points and develop their skills in description, narration, and argumentation. They read and discuss both literary and historical texts in order to understand contemporary Hispanic societies and their historical roots. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Span 209. Literatura hispánica: textos hispanoaméricanos. This course examines Latin American literature from 1890 to 1990. Authors may include Quiroga, Darío, Borges, Cortázar, García Márquez, Paz, Neruda, Pacheco, Ferré Sábato, and Skármeta. P. O'Connor. Autumn.

Span 211/311. Curso de perfeccionamiento. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. The goals of this course are to help students achieve mastery of composition and style in Spanish through the acquisition of numerous writing techniques. Using a variety of literary and nonliterary texts as models, students examine the linguistic structure and organization of several types of written Spanish discourse and are guided in the acquisition of the rules underlying each discourse type. Staff. Autumn.

Span 212/312. Fonética y fonología. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. This advanced language course is devoted to the acquisition of competence in spoken Spanish. There is special emphasis on problems in phonetics particular to Anglophones. To help students expand their linguistic competence, class work focuses on frequent oral presentations that exemplify the use of patterns in the spoken language. Staff. Spring.

Span 213. Curso de perfeccionamiento para hablantes nativos. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. This advanced language course is devoted to those areas that present the most difficulties for native speakers of Spanish, with particular emphasis on the use of language in formal spoken and written contexts. To help students improve their writing skills, class work focuses on frequent writing exercises, including orthographic conventions. Reading is also stressed to introduce and exemplify the use of different styles and levels of writing. Staff. Winter.

Span 254/354. El ensayo hispanoamericano. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. This is a lecture/discussion course on the essay as a genre, a vehicle of ideas, and an exercise in ethic-esthetical persuasion. The course includes representative readings of authors from the colonial period to the present, covering a history of changing ideas, esthetics, and topics. R. de Costa. Autumn.

Span 263/363. La poesía del siglo XX. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. This course examines the changing forms and topics of poetic expression in the Spanish-speaking world from Modernismo to the present day, with an emphasis on the mechanics of poetry and on what makes certain poems affective and/or effective. R. de Costa. Spring.

Span 270/370. Violencia, fantasía, y la literatura argentina, 1930 to 1956. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. This course poses the question of the relationship between fantasy and violence in a specific historical and cultural moment, Argentina/Uruguay from the years of the first dictatorship until the fall of the Peróns. Together with some readings of political and social history (Sarlo, Taylor, Naipaul) we read literature by writers from the whole range of the political spectrum (Borges, Lugones, Arlt, Storni, S. Ocampo, F. Hernández, and Cortázar) in an era which (from our perspective of the so much more terrible years of dirty war and exile) was aware of sociocultural movements of great violence, but which sought literary forms to express, contain, or escape it. P. O'Connor. Autumn.

Span 297. Readings in Special Topics. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Directed readings on special topics not covered by courses offered as part of the program in Spanish. Subjects treated and work done must be chosen, in consultation with the instructor, no later than the end of the preceding quarter. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.