These are classes I'm scheduled to teach in the future.
Spring 2009
- Introduction to Latin American History (HIST 140)
- This course surveys the history of Latin America from Christopher Columbus to Hugo Chavez. We will examine a variety of issues including economics, democracy, racism, class structures, gender, ethnicity, human rights, globalization, and popular movements. Rather than analyzing Latin America from a North American point of view, we will examine how Latin Americans view themselves and how their culture, economics, and politics have developed in different directions than the United States and Europe.
- Latin American Revolutions (HIST 391)
- This course will present a critical comparative analysis of twentieth-century revolutionary theories and movements in Latin America, focusing on the countries of Haiti, Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, and Nicaragua. What were the socio-political conditions in each of these countries that led to a revolutionary situation? What were the differing responses to those conditions? What did these revolutions seek to accomplish? What were the outcomes of these revolutionary changes? In addressing these issues, we will emphasize the themes of nationalism, state formation, imperialism, agrarian reform, leadership strategies, and citizenship. The goal of this class is to acquire a more complex understanding of the nature of exploitation and oppression in Latin America and the continuing struggles for social justice.
- Latin American History at the Movies (HIST 368)
- How has the popular cinema industry portrayed Latin American History? What can we learn from these depictions? In this class we will watch and analyze films from the United States and Latin America which grapple with various events and issues in Latin America. Through these films, we will both critically analyze historical developments in Latin America as well as the assumptions and biases which go into the making of a film on Latin America. Through this process, we will develop a deeper appreciation for the complexities which embody Latin American and the problems which the region faces.