Course Description
01:595:312 Latin American Politics
- Course Code: 01:595:312
- Major Requirement: Upper-Level Elective
- Description:
Fulfills Upper-Level Elective for LCS Major and Minor
This course examines the dynamic, complex, and constantly changing political reality in Latin America from a comparative and historical perspective that places the region’s pattern of change within an international context. After providing the theoretical and conceptual basis, the course covers the empirical evidence, analyzing common patterns and processes of change and then focusing on case studies of selected countries for an in-depth exploration of similarities and differences in their trajectories of economic, social, and political change. The class will be run as a seminar with short lectures and intensive discussion of assigned readings.
- Learning Goals:
Upon completion of the course, students will demonstrate:
- An understanding of the basic theoretical and conceptual issues involved in the study of the historical process of political and economic development in Latin America.
- An understanding of national and international factors that have shaped the economic, social and political trajectories of Latin America.
- The ability to think analytically about common patterns and processes that emerge when comparing the development paths in Latin America while understanding the diversity of the region and the variety of trajectories of political, economic and social change.
- The ability to form a broad historical and international perspective of the contemporary socio-economic and political structures and processes in Latin America.
- The ability to articulate theoretically and empirically informed arguments on the processes contributing to or impeding political and economic development in Latin America.
- Required Reading:
This course has one required textbook. Weekly required readings will also be drawn from journal articles and book chapters as well as from regularly updated news readings in leading magazines and newspapers available for download through the course Canvas site.
Required textbook: Harry E. Vanden and Gary Prevost. 2018. Politics of Latin America. The Power Game. Sixth Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-084658-9.
- Evaluation:
Weekly Reading Summaries 20%
Two Analytical Papers 40%
Midterm Exam 40% - Credits: 3
- Disclaimer: The information in this course description is subject to change. For up-to-date course information, please refer to the syllabus on your course site (e.g. Canvas).
