Admission requirements
Be enrolled as a student in the Master's program in Latin American Studies at Leiden University.
Have a research idea with potential questions about Latin American cultural diversity and its multiple expressions. Have an interest in critically examining topics such as identities, subjectivities, representations, discourses, symbolic elements, artistic or literary practices, imaginaries, notions of territory, collective memory, gender relations, or the creation of cultural products, among others.
Students should have a Spanish language proficiency of C1 or C2 (according to the Common European Framework). Students with a proficiency level of Portuguese and a passive level of Spanish (reading and understanding) are also very welcome. Note: Although the sessions will be held in Spanish, students can write their weekly assignments and their final project in English.
Description
This theoretical and practical course offers master's students the necessary tools for the design and development of an individual research project on a specific object, discourse or cultural practice in the Latin American context. Through a thematic and methodological orientation, some of the interdisciplinary techniques and methods most used in cultural analysis are presented, such as discourse analysis, close reading, visual methods, interviews, among others. Parallel to the exploration of these methodological approaches, students outline their own research project and a preliminary ‘state of the art’ that will later form the basis of the fieldwork stage in Latin America and the writing of the thesis. To this end, specific tools are provided related to how to do a bibliographic search and critical evaluation of the literature found in relation to the topic and research question.
Student projects can address various cultural manifestations of Lusophone and Hispanophone Latin America that include, but are not limited to, literary texts of various genres, filmic texts, television, pictorial and musical texts in various formats, as well as performative arts or the multiple manifestations of Latin American popular culture.
Course objectives
- To understand the methods and techniques necessary for the elaboration of a qualitative research project and cultural analysis.
- To acquire critical and analytical skills through critical reading and close readings of a wide range of texts (both written and visual).
- To obtain knowledge of a variety of critical approaches within the field of cultural analysis.
- To know how to define a specific object of research, formulate a question and present a state of the art.
- To Identify the specificity of the Latin American context as a region of interdisciplinary study and acquire knowledge of strategies and methodologies for fieldwork.
- To know how to design, present, and develop a coherent research project and outline the design of a plan for fieldwork.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lectures and seminars.
Assessment method
Assessment
Weekly Assignments
State of the Art Review
Final project
Weighing
The final grade is calculated in the following way:
Weekly Assignments: 20%
State of the Art Review: 30%
Final project: 50%
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 6.0 or higher.
Resit
If the final research project receives a grade below 6.0, students may be given the opportunity to resubmit it. For an eventual resubmission, the student must prepare an improved version of the research project incorporating the lecturer’s comments. Please note: the deadline for resubmission is 10 working days after receiving the grade for the final project.
Inspection and feedback
Feedback-session to be programmed by lecturer.
Reading list
Preliminary Bibliography:
Booth, Wayne, et. al. The Craft of Research. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Ching, Erik et al. Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading of Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Houston: University of Texas Press, 2007.
Colombi, Beatriz (ed). Diccionario de términos críticos de la literatura y la cultura de América Latina. Buenos Aires: CLACSO, 2021.
Del Sarto, Ana, Alicia Ríos, Abril Trigo. The Latin American Cultural Studies Reader. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.
Szurmuk, Mónica, and Robert McKee Irwin. Dictionary of Latin American Cultural Studies. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.
** A list with the required and suggested readings for each session will be provided in the first session of the course.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Reuvensplaats
Remarks
Not applicable.