Admission requirements
This course is open to BA students who have taken at least one course in a relevant area of specialization (i.e. in Latin American studies) in the first year.
Description
This course provides an overview of the emergence of contemporary Latin America as an important actor on the world stage. Culture, economics, history, language and politics are ever more intertwined in international relations. With this in mind, the interdisciplinary approach adopted by this course offers a rounded, three-dimensional means of understanding the region’s current reality in a global perspective.
The course focuses on selected thematic issues covering some of the most urgent questions of our time, addressed from alternative disciplinary angles. This is mindful of the fact that Latin America is an important player in a number of current global debates – ranging from global urbanization, diasporas, Indigenous rights etc.. This interdisciplinary course will provide important insights into the region as a site of global challenges and solutions, social, artistic and cultural diversity, economic struggles and potential, all of which have impact and relevance well beyond its regional borders.
The following key topics are covered in the course:
The rise of Latin America as a key player in the global economy
Latin America diasporas communities and how language and identity have helped shape these communities
Communication skills and intercultural competence through the exploration of language and identity dynamics in Latin American diasporas
Latin American migration in a complex international context: new barriers and new challenges
Discourses on identity in Latin American modernity: from nationalism to ethnicity in an intersectional context
The city in Latin America: cultural perspectives in the age of global urbanization.
Activisms in Latin America: Indigenous and Afro Diasporic interventions.
Course objectives
Academic skills that are developed include:
Oral presentation skills:
- to explain clear and substantiated research results
- to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using up-to-date presentation techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience; - to actively participate in a discussion following the presentation.
Collaboration skills:
1. to be socio-communicative in collaborative situations;
2. to provide and receive constructive criticism and incorporate justified criticism by revising one’s own position;
3. adhere to agreed schedules and priorities.
Basic research skills:
1. to collect and select academic literature using traditional and digital methods and techniques;
2. to analyze and assess this literature with regard to quality and reliability;
3. to formulate on this basis a sound research question;
4. to design under supervision a research plan/paper of limited scope, and implement it using the methods and techniques that are appropriate within the discipline involved;
5. to formulate a substantiated conclusion.
Written presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured written presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using relevant illustration or multimedia techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Research
Assessment method
Assessment
Active Participation/coöperation in class/group
Essay, paper
Abstract, oral presentation
Weighing
To complete the final mark, please take notice of the following:
Paper: 50%; Student Presentation: 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
In the case of papers and presentations, resubmission in the case of a failed assignment is possible. The maximum possible grade to be obtained for re-submission is a 6.0
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The booktitles and / or syllabi to be used in the course, where it can be purchased and how this literature should be studied beforehand.
Selected readings are given below with a fuller version to be shared closer to the start of the course
V. Garrard, P. Henderson& B. Mc Cann (2022) Latin America in the Modern World: New York: Oxford University Press.
Marcela Cerrutti, Marcela and Parrado, Emilio (2015). Intraregional Migration in South America: Trends and a Research Agenda.* Annual Review of Sociology*, 41: 399-421.
Peter Wade (2001). Racial identity and nationalism: a theoretical view from Latin America. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 24(5): 845-865.
Paschel, Tianna S. (2016) Becoming Black Political Subjects: Movements and Ethno-Racial Rights in Colombia and Brazil. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016. doi:10.1515/9781400881079.
Biron, Rebecca E. (2009) City/Art: The Urban Scene in Latin America. Durham: Duke University Press.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration Exchange
I
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
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
N.a.