The United States and Latin America: Conflict and Cooperation Across the Americas
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Document Index
Purpose
of the Course |
PURPOSE
For over two hundred years the United States, the first
independent republic in the Western Hemisphere, has been connected to the lands
and peoples of Spanish and Portuguese America. But despite the sharing
of a hemisphere and their common origins as republics that emerged from struggles
against European colonial rule, the US usually confronted
Latin America as an alien, different "other” eventually conceptualizing it as
inferior and subject to its own emerging expansionist and imperialist ambitions
and projects. From trade to territorial expansion; from invasion to covert action;
from "gunboat diplomacy'' to economic cooperation--US-Latin America relations
have spanned many an issue and stirred hundreds of controversies and debates.
This course will introduce students to the diverse and complex connections between
the United States--its government, peoples and institutions--and Latin America.
Emphasizing the twentieth century, this course will provide a space for close
examination of historical sources and debates about the motivations, interests,
and results of different kinds of "inter-American relations.”
REQUIREMENTS:
Your participation in this class constitutes a agreement
between us. As part of this agreement I expect you to follow the guidelines
presented below and I, in, turn will do my best to facilitate to you, in a variety
of manners, a body of knowledge that is both polemical and shifting. Most
important, I expect a reasonable degree of enthusiasm and interest from you
through active engagement with course materials. You will have to complete
all requirements in order to receive a grade in this course. I expect
you to come to all class sessions prepared and on time. In return, I will
provide you with feedback on your progress.
Journal Notebook: All students will keep a looseleaf journal notebook that will be submitted for review every other week. These journals should include:
These assignments will be graded with a check, a plus or a minus. The usual grade will be a check which will indicate satisfactory completion. A minus indicates the absence of important components which will be specified.
- Weekly entries on your response to the readings and films
- A short presentation/critique of the news relating to one Latin American country every two weeks
- Your responses to short assignments should be handed in individually but should be inserted in your journal after being checked.
- For further instructions and details on the journal and short assignments please read the document linked here.
Participation: Your participation in class activities, including attendance, will be an important component of your final grade. The short assignments that form part of the participation grade include occasional short response papers. They should be about one page long and need not be typewritten as long as your handwriting is legible. Occasionally we will break down into small discussion groups in order to tackle a particular question or designate students as discussion leaders for a particular session.
Discussion Papers: I will provide the topics for the first two of these papers. They will be based on class readings and discussion. These papers will need to be 6-8 pages in length and reflect your participation in class, your completion of readings, and your own analysis of these materials. They will also provide a basis for class discussion. The third paper will reflect the results of independent research projects which will form the basis for a policy discussion during the last weeks of the semester.
All papers will have to be properly footnoted and formatted according to Prucha’s handbook which is available in the bookstore and online through our webpage. This implies the usage of footnotes and not parenthetical citation. Students are required to be familiar with departmental and College guidelines on plagiarism and the submission of written work--READ IT! Please note that stringing together fragments of notes taken from the reading materials does note constitute paper-writing! Your papers will require analysis of relationships, not mere recitation of facts or stories. Late papers will be penalized for each day of lateness at the rate of a grade per day. There will be a writing center tutor assigned to this course and I encourage you to take advantage of this resource. You are also required to meet with me individually to discuss your strategy for the first paper assignment.
Films: Occasionally I will schedule or reserve films for you to watch, perhaps as part of a Latin American Studies-sponsored film festival. These are required and an integral part of the course.
Research/Library Lab: We will hold a research/library lab at some point during the first few weeks of the semester. The main goal of this is to get you familiar with the different journals and other publications that keep you current on inter-American relations.
Primary Sources: On various weeks we will discuss primary source related to the week’s theme.
Country Research and Presentations: During the last two weeks of the semester every student will participate in a panel discussion of alternative policies and conceptualizations of state-state relations based on their individual research project on current controversies involving their selected country and the US. For further information on the individual research projects please see the document linked here. The written reports (third paper) should include appendices such as a time-line, maps, an outline of the major issues involved, and a discussion of useful sources.
Final Exam: There will be a two hour comprehensive exam scheduled during exam period.
Determination of Grade:
Web Materials: Please notice that this web page is not an optional component of the course but a vital “parallel track” to our class discussions and readings. You should check it once or twice a week and your email daily.
- Three papers: 15%,15%,20%
- Class participation: 25%
- Journal: 10%
- Final Exam 15%
- Participation and improvement will decide borderline cases
BOOKS FOR THIS COURSE:
The following books have been ordered by the bookstore.
Other readings for this course are available on reserve or will be photocopied
for you. Some of these readings might be changed after the semester starts.
COURSE ORGANIZATION AND SCHEDULE:
Week 2: [Sept 6 7,9] The US and Latin
America to 1898
Reading: Schoultz, Chaps 1,3-7; O’brien, Chaps. 1-2.
Documents: Adams-Ónis Treaty; William Walker’s Inauguration Speech; The Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary;
Week 3: [Sept 13,14,16] Mexico
and Cuba: A Special Relationship, 1800-1920
Reading: Schoultz, Chaps. 2,8-12; Smith, Talons of the Eagle, [photocopied].
Documents: Account of the Battle of the Alamo; A Consideration of the Mexican War; A Memoir of Nineteenth Century Texas;
Week 4: [Sept 20,21,23]
Liberal Imperialism in the Caribbean, 1898-1950s: Cuba and Puerto Rico
Reading: Schoultz, Chaps 13-17; Benjamin, Chaps. 1-4; Nancy Morris, Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics and Idenitity, Chaps. 2-3 [photocopied]; O’brien, Chap 5.
Documents: Our America; The Truth about the United States; The Yanqui Invasion of 1898; The Four Storied House; Puerto Rican Nationalists Clash with the US;
Week 5: [Sept 27,28,30] Informal Empire in
the Caribbean: Haiti, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua
Reading: Schmidt, Entire.Documents: Sandino.
Week 6: [Oct 4,5,7]
Slavery, Empire and White Supremacy
Week 7: [Oct 14] The Cold War: Counterrevolution in Guatemala, 1944-1955
Week 8: [Oct 18,19,21] The Cold War: Counterrevolution in Guatemala, 1944-1955Reading: Completion of Schmidt.
Reading: Schlesinger and Kinzer, entire.
Documents: Selected documents from the National Security Archive or the CIA history of the coup
Week 9: [Oct 25,26,28] The Cuban Revolution 1953-1965
Week 10: [Nov 1,2,4] The Alliance for Progress and Dictatorship in Latin America, 1960-1980Reading: Benjamin, Chaps. 5-9.Documents: History will Absolve me; Man and Socialism in Cuba; Political Sovereignty and Economic Independence; Castro Speech database
Reading: Schoultz, Chaps. 18-19; Smith, Talons of the Eagle, Chaps. 7-8.Thursday Movie Screening: 4 or 7 PM! (Or on Reserve at MRC under my name!)
Week 11: [Nov 8,9,11]
Economic Relations: Modernization and Foreign Investment, 1950-1980
Reading: O’brien, Chaps. 4-5; other reading TBA.
Week 12: [Nov 15,16,18]
Week 13: [Nov 22,23] Revolution in Central America: El Salvador, 1979-1992
Reading: Binford, Entire.
Week 14: [Nov 29] Neo-Liberalism, Globalisation,
Finance, and Democratization since the 1980s
Week 15: [Dec 6]Reading: Smith, Talons of the Eagle, Chaps. 10-12 [photocopied][30,Dec 2] What to do? OR How then Shall we Live?: Policy, Citizenship and Power
Reading: Smith, Talons of the Eagle, Chap. 13/Conclusion [photocopied]
Final Exam Format and Content