Latin American Studies

Program Adviser: Beatriz Riefkohl, Ky 308, 702-8420, clas@uchicago.edu

Center Director: Alan Kolata, Ky 308, 702-8420

Program of Study

Students concentrating in Latin American Studies gain competence in Spanish or Portuguese as a tool for further work; knowledge of one or more of the social sciences as they deal with Latin American materials; and a thorough grounding in selected aspects of Latin American history, politics, economics, or related subjects. The Bachelor of Arts program in Latin American Studies can provide an appropriate background for careers in business, journalism, or government, or for graduate studies in one of the social sciences disciplines. An alternative program of concentration in Romance languages and literatures is available.

Program Requirements

Before entering the program in Latin American Studies, students are expected to have completed the Common Core foreign language requirement with either Spanish (Spanish 101-102-103-201 or Spanish 121-122-201) or Portuguese (Portuguese 101-102-103 or Portuguese 204-205); this requirement may be fulfilled by taking the appropriate College courses or by satisfactory performance in a placement examination. The concentration program requires an additional two courses in Spanish or Portuguese, bringing the student's total language courses to six (for students with Spanish) or five (for students with Portuguese).

Students are required to fulfill the Common Core civilization requirement with the three-course sequence in Latin American Civilization (Latin American Studies 345-346-347). This sequence of courses is the best introduction to the concentration. In addition to the Latin American Civilization sequence, the concentration program requires five additional courses dealing with Latin America. The Center for Latin American Studies publishes an up-to-date listing of such courses, entitled "Courses to be Offered," available in Ky 308. Of these five required courses on Latin America, at least four must be in the social sciences. Courses that focus primarily on disciplinary, methodological, or comparative topics (such as international relations) may also be counted toward this requirement, provided the student successfully completes a paper or other major project treating a Latin American theme. The course instructor must certify the completion of such a project by means of a form available from the Center for Latin American Studies. Students are required to take two additional courses in the social sciences, bringing the concentration course total to nine.

Concentration course requirements may be fulfilled in part through successful completion of one of the College's academic programs in Costa Rica or Mexico. To apply, consult Lewis Fortner, the director of undergraduate foreign studies (HM 286).

B.A. Essay. All students in the Latin American Studies concentration are required to write a B.A. essay under the supervision of a member of the concentration faculty. Registration for the B.A. essay preparation course (Latin American Studies 299) is optional. Students who do register for Latin American Studies 299 may count this course as one of the five they must take dealing with Latin America. The grade students receive for this course depends on successful completion of the B.A. essay.

Summary of Requirements

General Introductory sequence in Spanish or Portuguese

Education or equivalent

LatAm 345-346-347

Concentration 2 courses in Spanish or Portuguese (in addi-

tion to the Common Core requirement)

5 courses dealing with Latin America

(four in the social sciences)

2 courses in social sciences

- B.A. essay

9

Grading. All of the required courses for the Latin American Studies concentration must be taken for a letter grade.

Honors. Students who have done exceptionally well in their course work and on their B.A. essay are considered for graduation with special honors. Candidates must have a grade point average of 3.0 or better overall and 3.25 or better in the concentration.

Faculty

ROBERT Z. ALIBER, Professor, Graduate School of Business

ANDREW H. APTER, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College

PASTORA SAN JUAN CAFFERTY, Professor, School of Social Service Administration

MANUELA CARNEIRO DA CUNHA, Professor, Department of Anthropology

THOMAS CUMMINS, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and the College

RENÉ DE COSTA, Professor, Department of Romance Languages & Literatures and the College

PAUL W. FRIEDRICH, Professor, Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics and Committee on Social Thought

SUSAN GZESH, Lecturer in Law, the Law School

THOMAS HOLT, James Westfall Professor, Department of History and the College

FRIEDRICH KATZ, Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor, Department of History and the College

ALAN L. KOLATA, Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College; Director, Center for Latin American Studies

CLAUDIO LOMNITZ, Professor, Department of History and the College

NORMAN A. MCQUOWN, Professor Emeritus, Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics

MARIO SANTANA, Assistant Professor, Department of Romance Languages & Literatures and the College

JULIE SAVILLE, Associate Professor, Department of History and the College

JOSÉ SCHEINKMAN, Alvin H. Baum Professor, Department of Economics and the College; Chairman, Department of Economics

PAUL SERENO, Associate Professor, Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy

LARRY A. SJAASTAD, Professor, Department of Economics and the College

RAYMOND T. SMITH, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology

SUSAN C. STOKES, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and the College

ROBERT TOWNSEND, Professor, Department of Economics and the College

TERENCE S. TURNER, Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College

Courses

In addition to the following courses, several special courses on Latin America are taught each year by the Edward Larocque Tinker Visiting Professors of Latin American Studies. Consult the quarterly Time Schedules for current information.

Anthropology

Anthro 244. Image and Fetish. This course discusses issues arising from visual representation, such as the role of image and iconography as a system. Examples are taken from diverse cultural contexts. M. Carneiro da Cunha. Autumn.

Anthro 245/405. Indigenous Rights: Australia and Brazil. A comparative course on indigenous rights in Australia and Brazil, their history, and the major sources of conflicts. E. Povinelli, M. Carneiro da Cunha. Spring.

Anthro 263. Andean Prehistory. This course is designed as an in-depth examination of selected pre-Hispanic Andean societies and their evolution. It is not intended as an exhaustive survey of South American prehistory. Rather, emphasis is placed on the formulation of general theoretical cultural models for Andean civilization, and their evolution through a series of empirical case studies. The central role of ethnohistorical research in understanding the dynamics and institutional bases of indigenous Andean civilization is a recurrent theme during the course. A. Kolata. Spring.

Anthro 275/375-1,-2,-3. Spoken Quiché Maya I, II, III (=LngLin 278/478). This three-quarter sequence is an introduction to the spoken language, with tapes and transcriptions, grammatical notes and exercises, aural comprehension, and oral practice. N. McQuown. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Anthro 313. The African Diaspora: Colonial Society (South Africa and the Caribbean). This course deals with the formation of colonial societies in the Caribbean and southern Africa, concentrating on the way Africans and people of African descent become part of complex multiracial societies with new forms of culture and social life, sometimes called "Creole." Particular attention is paid to the governmental institutions, racial hierarchies, and cultures of domination and resistance characteristic of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. J. L. Comaroff, Staff. Not offered 1997-98; will be offered 1998-99.

Anthro 313-3. Rethinking the African Diaspora (=AfAfAm 203). The course focuses on the "African" experience in the New World, particularly Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad, and North America. Themes of acculturation, syncretism, adaptation, and resistance in the classic diaspora literature are critically reevaluated in light of current issues in cultural studies: hegemony and the politics of African identity, the symbolic construction (and deconstruction) of "origins," the rhetoric of racial and sexual difference, black nationalist ideologies, and the material conditions of imagined communities. Staff. Spring.

Anthro 364. Archaeological Field Studies: Southwestern Archaeology. PQ: Must be taken together with Anthro 365. Consent of instructor. Class limited to sixteen students. This course offers students an opportunity to participate directly in an ongoing scientific research project while pursuing studies in archaeological theory, method, and data collection. This course is set in the context of a long-term research project investigating the organization and transformation of indigenous and colonial societies in the late prehistoric and early historic Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Current archaeological, historical, and paleo-environmental research in the North American Southwest and beyond are introduced through direct field experience and evening seminars and lectures. Students are also introduced to the importance of cultural resource management, historic preservation, and active engagement with archaeology's interested publics. Advanced students have the opportunity to pursue directed research projects in close consultation with the instructor. M. Lycett. Summer.

Art History

ArtH 276/376. The Imperial Arts of the Inca and Aztec. PQ: Any 100-level ArtH or COVA course. This course concentrates on the art and architecture of the Inca and the Aztec civilizations. We survey the forms of representation used to establish imperial presence within the accepted vernacular of Mesoamerican and Andean artistic traditions. Special attention is given to the role of the arts as means of expressing imperial claims to mythic and historic precedents upon which political and economic expansion could be legitimized. We explore issues such as archaism, memory, object, and interior and exterior space in relation to ritual. Ultimately, however, the issue of what we think is knowable about these arts and the cultures that produced them is discussed as a result of these comparative examinations. T. Cummins. Winter.

Economics

Econ 296. Problems of Economic Policy in Developing Countries (=PubPol 286/375). PQ: Econ 201 and 202, or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the application of economic analysis to economic policy issues frequently encountered in developing countries. Topics include sources of economic growth, commercial policy, regional economic integration, inflation and stabilization, fiscal deficits, the choice of an exchange rate regime, and the international debt problem. L. Sjaastad. Winter.

Education

Educ 225/425. Education and Social Change in the Third World. A comparative examination of education in developing countries. Topics include the impact of Western educational systems on traditional social structures; patterns of educational expansion; and the contributions of education to social mobility, demographic changes, economic productivity, and national integration. J. Craig. Winter.

Educ 281/381. Colonialism and Schooling (=Hist 548). An examination of the impact of colonialism, both formal and informal, on schooling in non-Western societies. Subjects include the interaction of indigenous educational traditions and colonial initiatives; the origins and features of competing models of colonial schooling; the ways in which colonial policies and their implementation were affected by missionaries, international agencies, and planning for decolonization; and the postcolonial legacy of colonial practices. J. Craig. Autumn.

History

Hist 264/364. History of Modern Mexico I. PQ: Class limited to twenty-five students. C. Lomnitz, F. Katz. Autumn.

Hist 265/365. History of Modern Mexico II. PQ: Class limited to twenty-five students. C. Lomnitz, F. Katz. Winter.

Latin American Studies

LatAm 202. Sociocultural Dynamics of Pre-Columbian Civilization. This course explores, in a comparative framework, the social and cultural dynamics of selected Pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Andean region, including the Maya, Moche, Inca, and Aztec, among others. We focus on three themes related to social structure and cultural expression: social production and human-environment interaction, systems of representation and knowledge, and the nature of rulership and sovereignty. T. Cummins, A. Kolata. Winter.

LatAm 238. Latin America and Its Literature. R. de Costa. Spring.

LatAm 299. Preparation of the B.A. Essay. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Normally taken for a letter grade. Staff. Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.

LatAm 301-302-303. Intensive Aymara I, II, III. Beginners' intensive course in modern spoken Aymara, stressing speaking, grammatical, and cultural structures. Intensively taught to reach beyond intermediate speaking skills. Instruction by a native speaker who provides instructional materials. This course is offered on a rotating basis with other less frequently taught languages such as Nahuatl and Quechua during the summer session. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

LatAm 301-302-303. Intensive Nahuatl I, II, III. Beginners' intensive course in modern spoken Nahuatl, stressing speaking, grammatical, and cultural structures. Intensively taught to reach beyond intermediate speaking skills. This course is offered on a rotating basis with other less frequently taught languages such as Aymara and Quechua during the summer session. Staff. Summer.

Political Science

PolSci 250. Comparative Politics of Latin America. This course introduces the student to theories of sociopolitical development and change in Latin America and to the political systems of three Latin American countries (to be announced). Through theoretical and substantive readings on the region, we explore concepts such as modernization, dependency, authoritarianism, and democracy. S. Stokes. Winter.

Romance Languages and Literatures

Portuguese

Portu 101-102-103. Elementary Portuguese I, II, III. PQ: This course sequence fulfills the Common Core foreign language requirement. This is the basic three-quarter sequence of Portuguese foreign language instruction. The course stresses oral communication and conversational expression in the first quarter, leading to gradual acquisition of reading and writing skills in the second and third quarters. Strong emphasis is placed on classroom activities throughout the sequence; these center increasingly on Brazilian and Portuguese cultural themes. Reading and writing tasks also increase in complexity, accompanying students' growing knowledge of the spoken language. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Portu 111-112-113. Intensive Elementary Portuguese I, II, III. A.-M. Lima, A. McLean, Staff. Summer.

Portu 204/304. Intermediate Portuguese. PQ: First-year Portuguese or consent of instructor. While maintaining an emphasis on spoken expression, this course incorporates grammar review with selected readings from the Luso-Brazilian literary tradition. Writing assignments stress the culture and civilization of Portugal and Brazil. Students enrolled in Portu 204 have the option of attending an extra weekly meeting designed to provide additional practice and review. A.-M. Lima. Autumn.

Portu 205/305. Advanced Portuguese. PQ: Portu 204 or consent of instructor. Careful reading of a broad range of texts in conjunction with selective grammar review supports students' increasing awareness of literary style. At least one major work from the Portuguese and Brazilian literary traditions is chosen for closer study and analysis; past choices have included Jorge Amado and Machado de Assis. Students enrolled in Portu 205 have the option of attending an extra weekly meeting designed to provide additional practice and review. A.-M. Lima. Winter.

Portu 206/306. Estilística da língua portuguesa. PQ: Portu 205 or consent of instructor. The principal aim of this course is to advance knowledge of written Portuguese while creating awareness of grammatical and stylistic patterns that characterize the more complex registers of the language. Special consideration is given to the major differences between continental and Brazilian Portuguese. In addition to reading, analyzing, and commenting on advanced texts, both literary and nonliterary, students practice and extend their writing skills in a variety of compositions. A.-M. Lima. Spring.

Portu 298. Readings in Special Topics. PQ: Portu 103 or 205, depending upon the requirements of the program for which credit is sought. Directed readings in special topics not covered by courses offered as part of the program in Portuguese. Subjects treated and work done in the course must be chosen, in part, in consultation with the instructor no later than the end of the preceding quarter. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Spanish

Span 101-102-103. Beginning Elementary Spanish I, II, III. This three-quarter sequence emphasizes the development of communicative (linguistic, sociolinguistic, and cultural) competence in Spanish. Students develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills by practicing specific language functions in context and by communicating in Spanish. Classroom activities are supplemented by individualized listening and speaking exercises in the language laboratory and by structured communication and review tasks undertaken with peers. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Span 121-122. Continuing Spanish I, II. PQ: Placement. This course provides a complete review of the essential semantic and syntactic structures of Spanish. Extra attention is given to individual remediation needs. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Span 201. Intermediate Spanish I. PQ: Span 103, 122, or placement. This course fulfills the Common Core foreign language requirement. In this one-quarter course students expand their basic knowledge of Spanish by incorporating all communicatively relevant patterns in both written and spoken language. Students are also introduced to a number of cultural and literary readings that reflect the social dimensions of the Hispanic world. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Span 202-203. Intermediate Spanish II, III. PQ: Span 201. In this two-quarter course, students examine in detail all grammatical patterns as they relate to specific spoken and written material. Students analyze stylistic patterns that characterize different genres and are expected to understand the processes involved in the production of creative and factual writing, as well as the language of objectivity in oral and written style. This study is based on the reading of literary and nonliterary texts and the analysis of authentic spoken discourse. Staff. Autumn, Winter.

Span 209. Literatura hispánica: textos hispanoaméricanos. This course examines Latin American literature from 1890 to 1990. Authors may include Quiroga, Darío, Borges, Cortázar, García Márquez, Paz, Neruda, Pacheco, Ferré Sábato, and Skármeta. Staff. Autumn.

Span 211/311. Advanced Spanish Grammar and Composition. The goals of this course are to help students achieve mastery of composition and style in Spanish through the acquisition of numerous writing techniques. Using a variety of literary and nonliterary texts as models, students examine the linguistic structure and organization of several types of written Spanish discourse and are guided in the acquisition of the rules underlying each discourse type. Staff. Autumn.

Span 212/312. Advanced Spanish Conversation and Phonetics. This advanced language course is devoted to the acquisition of competence in spoken Spanish. There is special emphasis on problems in phonetics particular to Anglophones. To help students expand their linguistic competence, class work focuses on frequent oral presentations that exemplify the use of patterns in the spoken language. Staff. Spring.

Span 216. Advanced Composition and Grammar for Spanish Speakers. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. This advanced language course is devoted to those areas that present the most difficulties for native speakers of Spanish, with particular emphasis on the use of language in formal spoken and written contexts. To help students improve their writing skills, class work focuses on frequent writing exercises, including orthographic conventions. Reading is also stressed to introduce and exemplify the use of different styles and levels of writing. Staff. Winter.

Span 227/327. Historia y ficción en la nueva narrativa hispanoamericana. The line of great Latin American literature that starts with Borges is obsessed with time and history, but also with historiography and the writing of history. Texts include Borges, Ficciones; Carpentier, El reino de este mundo; Fuentes, Aura; García Márquez, Cien años de soledad; Arenas, El mundo alucinante; Cortázar, Libro de Manuel; and Piglia, La ciudad ausente. All work in Spanish. P. O'Connor. Autumn.

Span 261/361. El teatro en la vuelta del siglo. PQ: Span 203 or consent of instructor. A reading/discussion course in Spanish aiming toward an in-depth examination of the changes in thematics and technique in a representative selection of major plays from the theater repertories of Spain and Spanish America, from Naturalism to psychological (Pirandellian) drama (1880-1920). R. de Costa. Autumn.

Span 269/369. Locas, raros, y "Latin Lovers": Queer Theory Hispana. This course examines the burgeoning new theoretical interventions around the concept "queer," in three different regions of our discipline: the search for the construction of the "normal" subject and the resistances to it in the fin-de-siècle (Foucault: Darío, Casal, and Ingenieros); the rereadings of canonical texts with a new attention to their "perversities" (Butler: Echevarría, Cortázar, and Donoso); and the explosion of literature, film, and popular culture since 1967 (in Spain, 1980) that refuses to accept heterosexual conventions in art or in life (Smith: Sarduy, Puig, Almodóvar, Livingston, Hermosillo, Zapata, and Peri Rossi). Besides Foucault, Paul Julian Smith, and Judith Butler, other secondary readings may include Sedgwick, Merck, Simpson, and de Lauretis. All work in Spanish. P. O'Connor. Winter.