Readings / Schedule
What is the Category “Latin America”?
August 28 Introduction
Ideas of Latin America: Where and What is Latin America
September 2 No classes
September 4
- Tom Holloway, “Latin America: What’s in a Name?” in A Companion to Latin American History (Waltham, MA: Wiley/Blackwell, 2008)
- Mapping – Explore Indigenous Map of Mexico and Central America
- 1492: An Ongoing Voyage (Library of Congress)
Chasteen, John Charles. 2016. “Welcome to Latin America” in Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America, 4th edition, 1-16. (password-protected PDF)
History, Memory, and Entanglements of 1492
September 11
- Columbus, Christopher. “A Letter Concerning Recently Discovered Islands” (National Humanities Center)
- Requerimiento (National Humanities Center)
September 13: In class debate: The People vs Columbus
Founding National Narratives of Colonialism and Mixture: Malinche and Paragacu
September 16
- Tate, Julee. “La Malinche: The shifting legacy of a transcultural icon.” The Latin Americanist 61, no. 1 (2017): 81-92. (password-protected PDF)
September 18: Discussion
September 23
- Amado, Janaína. “Mythic Origins: Caramuru and the Founding of Brazil.” Hispanic American Historical Review 80, no. 4 (2000): 783-811. (password-protected PDF)
Concepts of Race and Nation
September 25
September 30: Discussion
October 2: No Class
October 7
- Wade, P. (2008). Race in Latin America. In A Companion to Latin American Anthropology, D. Poole (Ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 177-192.
- Marisol de la Cadena, “Reconstructing Race: Racism, Culture and Mestizaje in Latin America” in NACLA Volume 34:6 (2001).
Imagining raza in Cuba
October 14
- Jose Marti, “My Race” [Mi raza], 1893.
October 16
- Blackness in Latin America film on Cuba (PBS)
Racial Democracy and Brazil
October 21
- Gilberto Freyre, “The Meeting of Races in Portuguese America,” 1956.
October 23
- Video (library link): Brazil: A Racial Paradise? From Blackness in Latin America
Beauty
October 28
- Jarrín, Alvaro. “Towards a biopolitics of beauty: Eugenics, aesthetic hierarchies and plastic surgery in Brazil.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 24, no. 4 (2015): 535-552. (password-protected PDF)
October 30
- “Brazil’s plastic surgery obsession”, Channel 4, Unreported
November 4: Election and Foreign Policy Research Day
- Listen: Have female presidents in Latin America improved women’s lives?
- On the Imperative of Transnational Solidarity: A U.S. Black Feminist Statement on the Assassination of Marielle Franco. The Black Scholar, March 23, 2018.
- Watch: Erdos, Fabio, dir. 2018. Marielle and Monica. The Guardian. Uploaded January 4, 2019. Vimeo, 25:09.
November 6 Discussion
November 11
Telenovelas and Identity
- Read: Porto, Mauro. “Telenovelas and representations of national identity in Brazil.” Media, Culture & Society 33, no. 1 (2011): 53-69. (password-protected PDF)
- Watch: Selections of telenovelas
November 18: Discussion and telenovela clips
Sports
November 20
- Archetti, Eduardo. 1999. “Introduction: Frameworks and Perspectives” in Masculinities: Football, Polo, and Tango in Argentina. New York: Berg Publishers. (password-protected PDF)
- “Why Doesn’t Argentina Have More Black Players in the World Cup?” The Washington Post.
November 22: Sports Research
November 25
- Cleuci Oliveira, “Is Neymar Black? Brazil and the Painful Relativity of Race.” New York Times, June 30, 2018.
- “Brazil’s iconic soccer shirt was a symbol of Bolsonaro” NPR.
Film and Social Movements and Politics
December 2 Film assignments TBD
December 4 Discussion
December 9 Film TBD
December 11: Discussion
December 16 Final Reflections
