Latin American Studies (LASP)
LASP 1230 Introduction to Quechua 3 Credits
Quechua, also known as Runasimi, is the most widely spoken indigenous language family in Abya Yala. The diverse varieties of Quechua are spoken largely in and around the central Andes mountains, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. In this course, students will gain an introduction to the structure and the vocabulary of Quechua. The course is conversation-centered, prioritizing speaking and listening. We will also take time to understand Quechua's social, historical, and cultural context. Materials will be in Quechua and Spanish. Films will be in Spanish and/or Quechua with Spanish subtitles. This class will be conducted in Spanish.
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 2290 The Problem of Empathy 0-3 Credits
Does Domenico Ghirlandaio’s 15th century “Slaughter of the Innocents” incite empathy in its viewers? If it does, to what could we attribute that empathy? Is it in the fresco’s composition, its dramatic rendering of soldier’s murdering children, helpless mothers, and rearing horses? Does its placement in Santa Maria Novella, a sacred space, inform our reading? If we do experience empathy, might that feeling engender anger regarding a state’s treatment of children, or are we moved by the mothers’ powerlessness? Are we morally or ethically called to political action for the sake of others, or are we ultimately more concerned with the threat of our own loss? And does the representation of such atrocities within distinct temporal, cultural, or geographic contexts make any difference? This course engages aesthetic and cultural forms as models for the problem of empathy, a central and pressing concern of humanistic studies. Students will consider paintings, photography, literature, music, theater, and performance art, across Florence’s historical and current art scenes—from churches to the Uffizi and digital art galleries, an LGBTQ festival, La Pergola Theater, and diverse musical events. We address the role of empathy, its possibilities and limits, as we face the local and global challenges of climate change, unprecedented rates of migration, the rise of populisms, and seemingly endless political upheaval. We center our engagement of artistic and cultural works in Florence and dialogue with Italian philosophers, from Benedetto Croce to Silvia Benso, as well as other European, Latin American, and US artistic and philosophical traditions.
Level: Undergraduate
Course attribute: Core:HALC - Hum, Art, Lit, Cul
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 2291 The Art of Translation 0-3 Credits
What’s at stake in the art of translation? Is it an act of faith in a sacred, original word, or can it represent a human bravura for shifting meanings from one context to another? Does it reflect our ability to fully understand each other, despite our different cultures and histories, or is it a painful reminder of our ultimate incommensurability?
This course traces theories and debates regarding the art of translation from Roman orators and practitioners including, for example, Saint Jerome (395 AD), depicted in a 17th-century painting by Caravaggio, who addresses the difference between sacred and secular translation, to Antonio Prete, the contemporary Italian poet, philosopher, and translator who considers translation an act of love. We place this extensive Italian tradition in dialogue with other European writers, translators, and philosophers, including John Dryden (1680), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (1819), and Walter Benjamin (1923). While we begin the course with an Italian and European genealogy of translation, we address a simultaneous US and Latin American tradition, from Hernán Cortés’ early 16th-century translator, La Malinche, and the Incan Emperor, Atahualpa, to William Carlos Williams and his translation of baroque poetry. We consider Langston Hughes’s translations of Nicolás Guillén’s negritude and Gabriela Mistral’s queer poetics and maternal scenes, to translation as a form of intergenerational memory and survival for Originary peoples throughout the Americas. In addition to engaging with theories and practices of translation, students will choose a short story or a series of poems to translate from any language. We will workshop their translations throughout the course with the purpose of publishing them at the end of the semester. Along with the translations, each student will write essays that dialogue with the theories we’ve read and explain decisions involved in their own art of translation.
Level: Undergraduate
Course attribute: Core:HALC - Hum, Art, Lit, Cul
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3200 Indigenous Literatures LatAm 3 Credits
This course introduces students to twentieth- and twenty-first-century Indigenous literatures from across Latin America. Over the course of the semester, we will engage with a variety of primary and secondary materials that prompt us to consider the following questions: What is ‘Indigenous literature’? What does it mean to write as an ‘Indigenous author’? How might Indigenous authors engage literature to contest stereotyped notions of indigeneity and Indigenous authorship? What ideological and political projects do these literatures put forth? How do Indigenous authors engage various literary forms and genres to develop these projects? Given the wide range of materials with which we will engage, our work will be highly comparative, with students asked to make connections and identify tensions across and between literary works and the national contexts within which they were produced.
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3201 Latin American Film 3 Credits
Latin American Film This course provides an overview of the significant National Cinemas of Spanish-speaking countries in the hemisphere. Within the overarching framework of society and culture, specific topics such as representation, adaptation, ideological constructs, docudrama and cinematographic techniques as markers of meaning serve to sharpen the close-film analysis as well as a micro/macro-examination of contemporary Latin America.
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3220 WomenInBrazil:HealthGenderRace 3 Credits
This course would examine the complex issues surrounding women's place within the Brazilian context, exploring factors like access to healthcare, reproductive health rights, maternal mortality, gender-based violence, socioeconomic disparities, cultural influences on health practices, and the impact of policies like the Unified Health System (SUS) specifically on women's health needs, all while considering the unique historical and social dynamics of Brazil. Taught in Portuguese.
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3230 Lit and Culture of the Andes 3 Credits
This course introduces students to twentieth- and twenty-first-century Andean literature, film, and cultural production, with an emphasis on questions of indigeneity, migration, and place-based identities. Course materials move across the highlands of Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru in the form of novels, short stories, poetry, film, rap, photography, architecture, and visual art. Central to our in-class discussions will be the following question: What does it mean to be “Andean”? How does Andean cultural production uphold, construct, and/or deconstruct notions of “Andeanness”? How do questions of indigeneity, migration, and geographic situatedness inform renderings of the Andes, past and present? How might cultural production support or contest a sense of regional, trans-Andean identity? Students will also participate in various Quechua-language workshops aimed at exposing them to the Andes’s most widely spoken Indigenous language.
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3413 Envir Justice in Latin America 3 Credits
This course is cross-listed with CULP 3413 Envir Justice in Latin America
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3490 Global Perspectives on IR 3 Credits
Since its origins early in the 20th century, the field of international relations has been
dominated by western thought and approaches. The orthodoxy in the field, whether by realists, neorealists or constructivists, draws heavily from the experiences, philosophies and
conceptions of what the international system of nations should be from the perspective of the US and Western Europe. As a result, the field has focused heavily on the concerns and “national interests” of countries in the West, which are often assumed to be those of the rest of the world. This influences greatly the questions we ask about relations among nations, and how we answer them. As a result, and ironically, the field has not been very “international”. This has led to a rise in the “international politics of discontent” with the current world order in several regions of the world among theoreticians and practitioners that question the effectiveness of the orthodoxy in the field to explain and understand the complexities of today’s world and the effectiveness of the institutions that were created after World War II to foster and maintain a “liberal world order”.
Can we make sense of an increasingly globalized world in which the Global South plays a more salient role based only on orthodox analysis? This seminar is designed to allow students to explore and challenge the conventional “truths” about the discipline of international relations and to think critically about the world as is in the third decade of the twenty-first century. The seminar reflects the calls for a more diversified understanding of, and engagement with, the different conceptual, theoretical and resulting foreign policies of a less Eurocentric international relations. In the process, we will discuss the role of identity, nationalism, regionalism, culture and ideology in foreign policy, and explore dynamics of inequality, authority and hierarchy in international politics. Through readings from scholars and policy-makers from the Global South and visitors from Latin America and the Caribbean, students will become aware of how different social constructions shape both national, regional and global political strategies. The aim is to collectively attempt to understand the complexities and realities of international politics today.
Evaluation in the seminar will be continuous. Although there will be no in-class exams, students will be expected to participate actively in class discussions. Students will also be required to make presentations, lead discussions, and write four reflective essays on the assigned readings.
A final take home exam will be given at the end of the semester.
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3501 Econ Dev Lat Am Countries 3 Credits
This course introduces students to the political economy of development in Latin America: Why is Latin America poorer than the richer north? Why are some regions of Latin America much more economically developed than others? To explore these questions, the first part of the course examines the impact of deep-seated differences across countries or regions, such as their culture, institutions, or geography, on their development paths. In the second part of the course, we look at particular roadblocks to development and whether specific actions by governments or states can address them. Given the complex and multidimensional nature of development, this class combines insights from history, political science, economics, environmental sciences, and sociology. Basic knowledge of economic concepts will be helpful, although it is not a requirement to take this class.
The goals of the course are to:
§ Place the economic trajectory of Latin American countries in a long-term historical perspective;
§ Develop theoretical and methodological tools to understand economic development in general and its particularities in the region.
§ Think critically about the policies of economic development implemented in Latin America in the past and in more contemporary times
§ Draw lessons from successful (or unsuccessful) policies implemented in Latin America with implications for other regions
The goals of the course are to:
§ Place the economic trajectory of Latin American countries in a long-term historical perspective;
§ Develop theoretical and methodological tools to understand economic development in general and its particularities in the region.
§ Think critically about the policies of economic development implemented in Latin America in the past and in more contemporary times
§ Draw lessons from successful (or unsuccessful) policies implemented in Latin America with implications for other regions
Level: Undergraduate
Course attribute: FS42 name
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 3502 Latin Amern Govt and Politics 3 Credits
This course offers an introduction to the contemporary politics of Latin America. The introductory section of the course considers historical dynamics and the foundation they laid for subsequent political and economic development in the region. We briefly examine the region’s colonial history, its wars of independence, and the struggle to construct nations and the emergence of industrialization in the 19th century. We also explore democratic development and the interventionist economic strategies that Latin American governments pursued through much of the 20th century, considering theories that seek to account for Latin American underdevelopment, the breakdown of democracy in the 1960s/1970s, and transitions from authoritarian rule in the 1980s. The rest of the course focuses on crucial contemporary questions. We consider democracy’s problems and pathologies; the various ways in which (and success with which) market reform has proceeded across the region; poverty, inequality, and informality; and the rule of law. We will also examine integration among Latin American countries, as well as the role the United States has played in the region. The final weeks of the course comprise case studies of a handful of Latin American nations.
Level: Undergraduate
Course attribute: FS54 name
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4011 Pols of Inclusion in Latin Am 3 Credits
This seminar examines the politics of inclusion in Latin America. This course is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the course by discussing the concept of inclusion and the inclusionary dynamics of Latin American states in recent decades. The emphasis will be on analyzing the paths to inclusion in the region and its relationship with democracy and state institutions. The second part focuses on how the concept of inclusion has shaped social policy. Specifically, we will discuss the fundamentals of contemporary social policy and how it has been used to promote access of the traditionally disadvantaged social groups to public goods and services. The third part of the course examines the role of parties and the party system as facilitators of inclusive and exclusive dynamics in the political system. This section will also discuss the relationship between the left turn in Latin American governments since the beginning of the century and the inclusionary turn. We will debate whether they are the same phenomenon and, if not, what elements they share. We will also analyze the phenomenon of populism in Latin America (in its left- and right-wing versions) and the rhetoric of inclusion. The final part of the course will discuss contemporary inclusionary challenges that the region still faces in some critical areas: gender, ethnicity, and race. The emphasis will be on the trends that the region should overcome in these areas and the social movements that have pushed the political system to address these issues, such as indigenous movements, feminist movements, Afro-Latin American movements, and the growing intersectionality of these struggles. This seminar exposes students to the frontier of the academic literature on inclusion in Latin America. The course is designed for students who want to be practitioners in Latin American policy or to develop an academic career researching Latin American issues. Previous knowledge of the region is required; therefore, taking introductory courses in Latin American Politics is recommended. Students should complete this seminar with a clear understanding of the main contemporary challenges that the region is facing and the critical actors of their political systems. They also will develop their research, analytical, and writing skills through reading, discussing, and writing their assignments.
Course will be taught by Jill Hopper Fellow Simón Ballesteros
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4070 Contemporary Mexico 3 Credits
Dr. Pablo Paras This seminar will review the major trends and issues that have shaped Mexico in the last five decades. We will depart from the current state of affairs and discuss structural and cultural explanations for these processes. It is an interdisciplinary seminar that will include: (a) reading materials from history, economics, and political science, and (b) the use of public opinion survey data to complement the analysis and discuss government responsiveness. Topics to be discussed include the dual transition (economic + political), rule of law/justice system, security/violence, civil society, religion/values; and the bi-lateral relation with the United States.
The analysis for each topic will have three components: discussion of relevant literature, analysis of survey data, and invited expert guest to have and in-depth discussion with students.
Main textbooks to be used
• Edmonds-Poli E, 1970, Shirk DA, 1971. Contemporary Mexican politics. Third ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield; 2015. • González González FE. Dual transitions from authoritarian rule: institutionalized regimes in Chile and Mexico, 1970-2000. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins U. Press; 2008. • Camp RA, Joseph A. O'Hare Fund. The Oxford handbook of Mexican politics. Oxford;New York;: Oxford University Press; 2011. • Castañeda, Jorge G. Mañana forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 2011. • Corchado A. Midnight in Mexico: a reporter's journey through a country's descent into the darkness. New York: The Penguin Press; 2014. • Pollock, Philip H. 2011. The Essentials of Political Analysis, CQ Press, Washington DC. Fifth Edition. • Selected short textbooks from SAGE´s Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences series
Further readings will be assigned on BB according to the topic to be covered in each session.
The analysis for each topic will have three components: discussion of relevant literature, analysis of survey data, and invited expert guest to have and in-depth discussion with students.
Main textbooks to be used
• Edmonds-Poli E, 1970, Shirk DA, 1971. Contemporary Mexican politics. Third ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield; 2015. • González González FE. Dual transitions from authoritarian rule: institutionalized regimes in Chile and Mexico, 1970-2000. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins U. Press; 2008. • Camp RA, Joseph A. O'Hare Fund. The Oxford handbook of Mexican politics. Oxford;New York;: Oxford University Press; 2011. • Castañeda, Jorge G. Mañana forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 2011. • Corchado A. Midnight in Mexico: a reporter's journey through a country's descent into the darkness. New York: The Penguin Press; 2014. • Pollock, Philip H. 2011. The Essentials of Political Analysis, CQ Press, Washington DC. Fifth Edition. • Selected short textbooks from SAGE´s Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences series
Further readings will be assigned on BB according to the topic to be covered in each session.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4180 Chronicles and Capitalism 3 Credits
This course will examine discursive and visual collections—chronicles, correspondence, questionnaires, codices, surveys, and maps—that imperial subjects created in Spain and Spanish America in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We will explore how Amerindian and European creators gathered, depicted, and described the American continent's plants, animals, minerals, and humans. We will also consider the relationship between these cultural products and the production of knowledge and value in the colony: by categorizing objects in terms of their potential utility to the Crown and its settlers, Spanish chroniclers engage in a kind of primitive accumulation, divorcing American beings from Amerindian modes of producing knowledge and instead reconfiguring them as resources for Spanish global expansion.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4201 Indig Movemts of Lat Amer 3 Credits
This course provides a perspective on the uses of ethnic identity as a resource for grassroots social and political movements, economic development programs, and the broader processes of nation-building in Latin America. The course will expose students to theories, themes, issues and empirical studies related to the utilization of indigenous cultural resources in social mobilization, citizen political participation, constitutional reform and forging alternative models for socioeconomic development.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4202 Journalism Politics:Americas 3 Credits
Journalism and Politics in the Americas Prof. Hector Schamis
We live in a time of democratic decay, we hear often. Rising nationalism, growing xenophobia and the omnipresence of populism appear to account for the erosion of fundamental rights and liberties, freedom of the press among them. As a result, we are told, the very survival of democratic politics and institutions is at stake.
It is, indeed, a new time. We have seen too many examples of a president harassing a journalist. And we have countless illustrations of the propensity of those in power to blame the messenger. At the same time, much of these conflicts are played out in the convergence of our TV screens, newspapers and social media, not just as the places we get information from but also as arenas for participation and debate.
This course seeks to understand the interaction of journalism and politics in the Americas. At times, it will be a course on democratic theory and comparative politics, as we come to terms with democracy, authoritarianism, populism and other related phenomena. But it will also be a course on the theory and practice of journalism, with some formative texts in that field.
The course will be structured as a bilingual seminar, with readings in English and in Spanish. Students will be encouraged to speak and write in either of these languages. That is also a way to understand journalism today. As most American media outlets have their “Spanish Edition”, so are traditional Spanish language newspapers venturing into an English version.
As a seminar, the course will have frequent visitors, journalists and media scholars for the most part.
We live in a time of democratic decay, we hear often. Rising nationalism, growing xenophobia and the omnipresence of populism appear to account for the erosion of fundamental rights and liberties, freedom of the press among them. As a result, we are told, the very survival of democratic politics and institutions is at stake.
It is, indeed, a new time. We have seen too many examples of a president harassing a journalist. And we have countless illustrations of the propensity of those in power to blame the messenger. At the same time, much of these conflicts are played out in the convergence of our TV screens, newspapers and social media, not just as the places we get information from but also as arenas for participation and debate.
This course seeks to understand the interaction of journalism and politics in the Americas. At times, it will be a course on democratic theory and comparative politics, as we come to terms with democracy, authoritarianism, populism and other related phenomena. But it will also be a course on the theory and practice of journalism, with some formative texts in that field.
The course will be structured as a bilingual seminar, with readings in English and in Spanish. Students will be encouraged to speak and write in either of these languages. That is also a way to understand journalism today. As most American media outlets have their “Spanish Edition”, so are traditional Spanish language newspapers venturing into an English version.
As a seminar, the course will have frequent visitors, journalists and media scholars for the most part.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 4221 Topics: Brazil 3 Credits
This course is taught each year by a Visiting Brazilian professor, selected by Georgetown and Fulbright Brazil and FAPESP, to hold the Visiting Ruth Cardoso Fulbright Brazil chair. Topics will depend on the expertise of the Visiting Professor.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4222 Politics and Music in Brazil 3 Credits
Music and politics have a deep history. Nationalists, for example, have long used music to imagine the nation in exclusive terms. Twentieth century cultural ambassadors, by contrast, employed music to speak to their nation’s inclusivity and thereby lobby for its interests. In the case of Brazil, music has been used by official and nonofficial in the construction of an image of a joyful multiracial democratic nation, in stark contrast with the disturbing history of economic, social, and political instability which led it to be one of the most unequal and violent countries in the world despite being one of the wealthiest. How then have the arts, and especially music, been used by different governments in the building of a nation? Furthermore, how have they been used by diverse social groups and organizations in order to defend their political ideas?
This seminar explores the construction of Brazilian identity through the relationship of music to nationalism, religion, race, gender, cultural diplomacy, heritagization, and finally, protest. More broadly, it aims to give students the tools to understand, from historical, political, and critical perspectives, how different visions of a nation are molded through creative processes.
This seminar explores the construction of Brazilian identity through the relationship of music to nationalism, religion, race, gender, cultural diplomacy, heritagization, and finally, protest. More broadly, it aims to give students the tools to understand, from historical, political, and critical perspectives, how different visions of a nation are molded through creative processes.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4223 Race and Inequality in Brazil 3 Credits
Course is co-taught by the J.W. Fulbright - Ruth Cardoso Chair in Brazilian Studies and Bryan McCann. The focus is on issues of race and inequality in Brazil.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4224 Brazil:An Anthropological View 3 Credits
Brazilian Anthropology in the Global Context
COURSE This research seminar will engage students in discussions related to significant debates, issues, questions, and current research scenarios in the field of social and cultural anthropology. It will delve into various epistemologies, methodologies, as well as ethical and political considerations in research, all from a global perspective encompassing diverse anthropological approaches. These insights will then be applied to evaluate the research being conducted by the students.
COURSE OBJECTIVES The primary aim of this seminar is to assist students at different stages of their research by encouraging critical examination of research practices, theoretical dialogues, and writing and publishing methodologies. The ultimate goal is to broaden the spectrum of options available to students in their ongoing research, enabling them to produce results with societal and public policy significance. Emphasis will be placed on ethical considerations in relation to the communities studied during fieldwork and the knowledge communities in the research locations. Consequently, it seeks to stimulate interest in various anthropological perspectives and their distinct canons, moving beyond the dominant centers of anthropology. The seminar will also prompt reflection on the histories of national anthropologies, theories, and methodologies, including fieldwork and writing, while acknowledging critiques from different regions of the world regarding Eurocentric research practices in anthropology.
COURSE This research seminar will engage students in discussions related to significant debates, issues, questions, and current research scenarios in the field of social and cultural anthropology. It will delve into various epistemologies, methodologies, as well as ethical and political considerations in research, all from a global perspective encompassing diverse anthropological approaches. These insights will then be applied to evaluate the research being conducted by the students.
COURSE OBJECTIVES The primary aim of this seminar is to assist students at different stages of their research by encouraging critical examination of research practices, theoretical dialogues, and writing and publishing methodologies. The ultimate goal is to broaden the spectrum of options available to students in their ongoing research, enabling them to produce results with societal and public policy significance. Emphasis will be placed on ethical considerations in relation to the communities studied during fieldwork and the knowledge communities in the research locations. Consequently, it seeks to stimulate interest in various anthropological perspectives and their distinct canons, moving beyond the dominant centers of anthropology. The seminar will also prompt reflection on the histories of national anthropologies, theories, and methodologies, including fieldwork and writing, while acknowledging critiques from different regions of the world regarding Eurocentric research practices in anthropology.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4225 Culture, Music, and Soft Power 3 Credits
The Culture, Music, and International Relations course offers a unique and interdisciplinary approach to how music influences and reflects global cultural and political dynamics. The course analyzes movements such as bossa nova, tropicalismo, and the Beatles' cultural revolution, exploring the role of music as a tool of soft power, cultural resistance, and diplomacy. Based on the Evolutionary Theory of Sapiens Survival (ETSS), we will discuss how music contributes to survival, reproduction, and alleviation of human suffering, challenging narratives based on fear and control. Throughout the course, students will participate in lectures, interactive debates, and live musical performances, connecting themes such as cultural identity, globalization, and political conflicts. Iconic cases will be analyzed, such as the global influence of "The Girl from Ipanema", the impact of "Imagine" as an anthem of hope, and the music of resistance during the Military Dictatorship in Brazil. This course is ideal for students who wish to understand music as a powerful cultural and political expression capable of transforming narratives and creating bridges between cultures. Furthermore, it offers a practical and reflective experience that combines theory, analysis, and musical performances.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4226 Brazilian Lit in Translation 3 Credits
A survey of Brazilian literature from 1500 to the present. Students will engage a wide variety of texts, including representative works of the colonial period, 19th and 20th century, as well contemporary literary productions. Special consideration will be given to the idea of a national literature, looking at issues such as local and “universal”, “modernity”, country and city, representations of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Readings in Spanish and English. To be taught in Spanish.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4230 Lit and Culture of the Andes 3 Credits
GRADUATE LEVEL SECTION: This course introduces students to twentieth- and twenty-first-century Andean literature, film, and cultural production, with an emphasis on questions of indigeneity, migration, and place-based identities. Course materials move across the highlands of Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru in the form of novels, short stories, poetry, film, rap, photography, architecture, and visual art. Central to our in-class discussions will be the following question: What does it mean to be “Andean”? How does Andean cultural production uphold, construct, and/or deconstruct notions of “Andeanness”? How do questions of indigeneity, migration, and geographic situatedness inform renderings of the Andes, past and present? How might cultural production support or contest a sense of regional, trans-Andean identity? Students will also participate in various Quechua-language workshops aimed at exposing them to the Andes’s most widely spoken Indigenous language.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4301 Drug Trafficking: The Americas 3 Credits
Course Objectives: To provide students with a historical, comparative and contemporary examination of the evolution of drug trafficking in Latin America and several important drug control policies to combat this trade. The course takes a multi-disciplinary, historical and comparative country and regional approach in focusing on Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Brazil and the regions of Central America and the Caribbean. The course will provide students with an understanding of the evolution of drug trafficking strategies, related agro-industry organization, smuggling routes, money laundering practices, illicit markets and the mix of criminal organizations. It will also enable the students to examine the interplay of the illegal drug industry (cocaine, heroin and marijuana) along with related public policy (such as illicit crop eradication, extradition, interdiction, alternative development, counterinsurgency and other law enforcement and security measures) with globalization, social movements, guerrilla and paramilitary organizations, arms trafficking, migration, indigenous and popular Latin American culture, national and geo-politics, corruption, democracy, and socio-economic development.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 4302 Environmental Politics:LatAmer 3 Credits
This course examines the politics of environmental governance in Latin America: why environmental problems arise, who shapes the rules that govern natural resources, and how effective different interventions are at addressing environmental degradation. We begin by asking why governing the environment is a political challenge, drawing on foundational frameworks around collective action, public goods, and the commons. We then examine the tension between economic development and environmental protection, and trace how political institutions, from executives and legislatures to subnational governments, shape environmental policymaking and implementation. The course explores the role of interest groups, electoral and distributive politics, and international agreements and supply chain governance in driving or constraining environmental outcomes. Thematic weeks address climate change and energy transitions, forest governance, property rights, and environmental justice. By the end of the course, students will be able to diagnose environmental problems, assess political and institutional constraints, and propose politically feasible solutions.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4331 ViolencePolit Change:Andes 3 Credits
The Andean region -- for the purposes of this course comprising principally the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia --is perhaps the most politically as well as conceptually interesting area of Latin America. It is also a region undergoing profound social transformation, political instability and political violence. This course will provide an immersion into the issues of understanding conflict, social change and political transformation in the contemporary Andes. It will introduce some of the best and most recent scholarly and policy research on and from the region, addressing such issues as the reconstruction of indigenous identity; the movement to reach a political settlement with the guerrilla insurgency in Colombia; the rise of what some have called the neo-populist Left; the attempt to bring justice and national reconciliation in post-Sendero Peru, including the work of the Peruvian Truth Commission and the later trial and conviction of former president Albert Fujimori; the politics of constitution making to reform the political regime (Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia). A reading knowledge of Spanish is required, as some of the best literature is not available in English.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4401 Political Leadership in Lat Am 3 Credits
This course attempts to take a systematic look at the question of political leadership in Latin America. Our principal concern will focus on to what extent this factor helps account for democratic performance throughout the region. The emphasis will be on how presidents have shaped their societies and have, in turn, been shaped by them. We will explore a variety of distinctive leadership styles and analyze whether policy agendas have been pursued through a democratic approach, or more authoritarian means. We will examine some specific decisions in both domestic and foreign policy as case studies to highlight presidential behavior and effectiveness.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4402 IR NewRegionalism:LatAmCarib 3 Credits
The past two decades have witnessed the evolution of different movements and organizations that are challenging traditional conceptions of relations among nations in the Western Hemisphere as we have known them since 1945. What has brought about the emergence of these movements and organizations? Are we witnessing paradigmatic changes that will redefine hemispheric relations in years to come? What is the importance, if any, of these changes for the future of the Hemisphere? This seminar examines the changing nature of inter-hemispheric relations in the 21st century. It will combine a variety of theoretical approaches and policy issues to illustrate and analyze the history and nature of these changes. It is designed for upper level undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing further research and/or careers in inter-hemispheric affairs. Although the seminar does not presume a prior knowledge of International Relations Theory, it does presume knowledge of Latin American political economy and history and a reading knowledge of Spanish.
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4409 Democracy in the Americas 3 Credits
This course will consider democracy in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4434 Amazon/Andes:Viol,Divers,Envir 3 Credits
Amazon & Andes: Violence, Diversity, and Environment Professor Liliana Duica-Amaya
Informality and illegality have become cliches to describe and categorize social and political interactions in the Amazon and Andean regions. It is easier depicting these spaces as ungoverned than understanding their social, cultural, and territorial complexity. The purpose of this class is to navigate the human and environmental diversity of these regions visiting notions such as gunpoint conservation, bastard justices, state margins, and community-led bodies as crucial concepts to understand the interconnection among diversity, environment, and governance. This class will provide a critical assessment on how concepts such as state, governance, or sovereignty are constructed and disputed in regions in which multiple political and social allegiances overlap. Students will grasp the wide gap between formal narratives and on-the-ground reality, achieving a more factual and comprehensive understanding of the complexity of these two regions.
Informality and illegality have become cliches to describe and categorize social and political interactions in the Amazon and Andean regions. It is easier depicting these spaces as ungoverned than understanding their social, cultural, and territorial complexity. The purpose of this class is to navigate the human and environmental diversity of these regions visiting notions such as gunpoint conservation, bastard justices, state margins, and community-led bodies as crucial concepts to understand the interconnection among diversity, environment, and governance. This class will provide a critical assessment on how concepts such as state, governance, or sovereignty are constructed and disputed in regions in which multiple political and social allegiances overlap. Students will grasp the wide gap between formal narratives and on-the-ground reality, achieving a more factual and comprehensive understanding of the complexity of these two regions.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4485 Understanding Modern Caribbean 3 Credits
Understanding the Modern Caribbean Professor Dessima Williams When it comes to the Caribbean as a region, international relations scholarship and policy discussions are often perceived through the lens of great power competition and the geo-political issues of the north, and ignore or minimize the agency and impact of small island developing states (SIDS) like those found in the Caribbean. Is there a need to alter conceptual and or theoretical frames to better understand the region? The Caribbean has often played an outsized and generally underappreciated role in world affairs as well as in U.S. domestic and foreign policy. The Caribbean region is an exceedingly diverse area in its cultural, socio-political, developmental, diplomatic, environmental, and geo-strategic profiles. Indeed, there is a spectacular quantum to discover intellectually from this region that is simultaneously an old and a new civilization. Also, due to an accumulation and a burst of creative and sustainability activities, there are innumerable opportunities to synthesize new knowledge for the use of decision-makers in policy formulation and programme development. This course will concern itself with both – the intellectual discovery of the region as well as an opportunity to develop and share new hypotheses and knowledge for a Caribbean civilization that is thriving in the 21st century. The broad themes of the course will be predicated on (1), identity and independence; (2), politics and geo-political dynamics; (3), diplomacy; (4), development models and sustainable development; (5), climate change, biodiversity, and the environment; (6), youth, ICT/digitalization, and the future coming toward the region. The course is taught by the inaugural Visiting Distinguished Professor of Global Perspectives Dessima Williams. Ambassador Williams was Grenada’s representative to the Organization of American States, Deputy Governor to the World Bank, and Deputy Permanent Representative to the Inter-American Commission of Women at the time of the US invasion. She then became Grenada’s Ambassador to the United Nations and Special Adviser for the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals to the UN President. She is now President of the Grenada Senate.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4501 Lat Am ProSeminar I 1 Credit
This course provides an opportunity for students pursuing the undergraduate Certificate in Latin American Studies to start building the content and making connections for their Senior Thesis project.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4502 Latin Amer Stud Thesis Seminar 3 Credits
This course is for undergraduate students writing the Latin American Thesis. All students enrolled in this course meet during their senior spring semester to discuss the research they are conducting, to learn about the projects that other students are carrying out, and to share ideas and research techniques. Students work on set assignments that lead to the completion of their thesis (proposal, annotated bibliography, drafts, oral presentations etc.). Each stage of the thesis is to be prepared in consultation with and approval of the thesis advisor, presented in class, and submitted to the advisor and the professor of the pro-seminar.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4605 Methods: Qualit ResearchCraft 3 Credits
This course guides students through applied qualitative research processes, covering the design, collection, processing, and analysis of information. Students begin by defining a research problem and developing theoretically informed questions and objectives through a structured, creative design process. The course then introduces major qualitative approaches—such as ethnographic interviewing, participant observation, and focus groups—and emphasizes how to select and adapt methods to different research contexts. Students Will gain hands-on experience organizing, coding, and analyzing qualitative data as well as learning how to navigate institutional review processes (IRB) and critically apply ethical principles in research practice. In the final part of the course, students experiment with analytic strategies and writing genres aimed at producing rigorous, high impact scholarly and applied outputs, while becoming familiar with qualitative analysis software that supports systematic, scalable qualitative research outputs. This course is designed for students engaging with complex research themes—such as development, climate change, and conflict—who seek to apply multidisciplinary methodological approaches to better structure and clarify their research process.
Level: Undergraduate
Course attributes: FS42 name, SFS/CULP Humanities, XHIS name
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4701 Econ Politica Latino Americana 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4702 Finance,PoliticsDemocracy:LAC 3 Credits
This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive and comparative understanding on how the state’s public finances (revenues, expenditures, and debt) interact with politics and policies. It builds from a comparative and comprehensive literature specialized in the Latin American and the Caribbean region (LAC region) to claim that the state’s public finances are directly and inextricably related with politics and policy rather than being just a utility function of economics and finance.
Globally, the LAC region is seen as a group of countries which denote a high degree of poverty and inequality. In developed countries, the capacity of governments to extract resources from economic activity, manage and spend them with both a redistributive and productive approach is a key element to reduce poverty and inequality and guarantee stable economic growth and, perhaps more important, development for all. Unfortunately, governments in the LAC region do not raise the sufficient amount of revenue to build a strong, efficient, and effective public sector nor are they capable to deliver goods and services, as well as public investments to reduce poverty and inequality or promote economic growth. The result is that public finance is highly constrained by scarce resources, and strongly politicized.
How the government’s financial resources, i.e. the public budget- in Latin America is intertwined with politics, policy, and the economy? This course will try to understand when, how and why the public budget is another way to understand politics, policy, and the economy in the LAC region.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Course attribute: FS42 name
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4721 Political Economy of Brazil 3 Credits
This seminar is aimed at students interested in learning about Brazil’s quest in the last few decades for political and economic development. We will survey Brazil’s transition from a state-led development economy into a market-oriented one. Assigned texts are primarily drawn from economics and political science. Therefore some knowledge of economic and methodological concepts will be helpful, although it is not a requirement for taking this class.
The course is divided into three parts. In the first part, we will examine some factors that led Brazil to adopt an industrialization strategy based on import-substitution. In the second part, we study the collapse of the import-substitution model and the rise of economic liberalization. In the final section, we will focus on Brazil’s efforts to further liberalize its economy through reforms aimed at strengthening its democratic institutions and improving state capacity. The course will also consider case materials on other Latin American countries that have experienced similar political and economic problems that Brazil has faced. Exposing you to such cases will remind you that the Brazilian experience of economic development cannot be thought of as disconnected from the reality of the rest of the continent.
The course is divided into three parts. In the first part, we will examine some factors that led Brazil to adopt an industrialization strategy based on import-substitution. In the second part, we study the collapse of the import-substitution model and the rise of economic liberalization. In the final section, we will focus on Brazil’s efforts to further liberalize its economy through reforms aimed at strengthening its democratic institutions and improving state capacity. The course will also consider case materials on other Latin American countries that have experienced similar political and economic problems that Brazil has faced. Exposing you to such cases will remind you that the Brazilian experience of economic development cannot be thought of as disconnected from the reality of the rest of the continent.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4722 Econ Polit Integ Regl Na AL 3 Credits
O curso examina fatores políticos e econômicos que têm inspirado o movimento de integração regional entre os países das Américas Latina no recente período de redemocratização do continente. Discussões em sala de aula quanto, textos selecionados e trabalhos para avaliação serão todos em português. A bibliografia deste curso, que incluirá tanto matérias jornalísticas quanto resenhas acadêmicas, tem o objetivo principal de expor os alunos a assuntos relevantes, e muitas vezes polêmicos, da política externa na região.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4801 GenderEnvironment:Lat Amer 3 Credits
This course is designed to enhance the students’ understanding of the interrelation of gender and the environment/agriculture in one of the most urbanized world regions, namely Latin American. The course will be divided into two sessions: First, we will review current trends of sustainable development, population growth and its implications for environmental, agricultural and social wellbeing that characterizes and shapes the region today. We will focus on production patterns with a gender lens to understand the role of men and women in rural societies and that of Indigenous Peoples, in biodiversity conservation to achieve food security (Andes and Central America). Secondly, we will review the impact of farming and natural resource management (NRM) in selected sub-regions, and landscapes along with patterns of land use, the role of ecosystem services and sustainable management of resources in Latin America. We will underlie the main implications of climate change and adaptation strategies. Gender analysis and resource management strategies will also will be presented in order to analyze consumption patterns in conservation and agricultural production efforts. Students will be presented with real case studies documenting gender gaps in the access to a large range of agricultural resources, including land and farm labor, forest, livestock, extension services, and other assets. Current international trends and research streams on gender and agriculture will be discussed and analyzed with the aim to influence policy to reach lasting change. Latin america sub-regional geographic areas: Mesoamerica, The Andean Region, The Guyana Shield, The Caribbean and the Brazilian Amazon.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4802 Gender Sust Devt Lac 3 Credits
This course will focus on the gendered perspectives of environmental sustainability and eco-efficient agriculture in order to reach food security and equitable access to resources. The course will present an overview of gender analysis to understand patterns of land use and conservation strategies, both individually and collectively and how male and female farmers contribute differently to conservation and agricultural production efforts. Students will be presented with real case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America, documenting gender gaps in the access to a large range of agricultural resources, including land and farm labour, forest, livestock, extension services, and other assets. Current international trends and research streams on gender and agriculture will be discussed and analyzed with the aim to influence policy to reach lasting change.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 4803 Pathway to Food Security: LAC 3 Credits
Pathway to Food Security: Latin America & the Caribbean
Course Description
This course provides an overview of food security, food systems and food sovereignty, globally and regionally, with emphasis in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. Today, approximately 785 million people suffer from food insecurity worldwide and don’t have access to adequate nutrition. Food security and nutrition policy play an important role in any given society and aim to understand extreme situations that range from under-nutrition to the causes of obesity that affect large populations. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) will be analyzed to provide a needed framework to reach consensus and adopt strategies to engage under-served populations and to address issues of inequality. The course will introduce the main pillars of food security, the causes and repercussions of the most recent food crisis, along with sustainable development patterns, value chain analysis, consequences of climate change, food losses and waste, and how countries in Latin America dealt with these issues through their institutions and policies. All topics will be introduced through a gender lens and the need to consider gender as a pre-requisite to reach food security. The course dynamics will examine complex case studies and alternative approaches at local and global levels to reach food and nutrition security. It is expected that the course will be enriched by the participation of guest speakers from government, UN Agencies, NGOs and other Washington DC based think-tanks from a variety of related disciplines. Students will be presented with hands-on activities and research tasks to enhance their understanding of food production, transformation and market access as needed ingredients to access food for all through a critical perspective.
Course Description
This course provides an overview of food security, food systems and food sovereignty, globally and regionally, with emphasis in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. Today, approximately 785 million people suffer from food insecurity worldwide and don’t have access to adequate nutrition. Food security and nutrition policy play an important role in any given society and aim to understand extreme situations that range from under-nutrition to the causes of obesity that affect large populations. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) will be analyzed to provide a needed framework to reach consensus and adopt strategies to engage under-served populations and to address issues of inequality. The course will introduce the main pillars of food security, the causes and repercussions of the most recent food crisis, along with sustainable development patterns, value chain analysis, consequences of climate change, food losses and waste, and how countries in Latin America dealt with these issues through their institutions and policies. All topics will be introduced through a gender lens and the need to consider gender as a pre-requisite to reach food security. The course dynamics will examine complex case studies and alternative approaches at local and global levels to reach food and nutrition security. It is expected that the course will be enriched by the participation of guest speakers from government, UN Agencies, NGOs and other Washington DC based think-tanks from a variety of related disciplines. Students will be presented with hands-on activities and research tasks to enhance their understanding of food production, transformation and market access as needed ingredients to access food for all through a critical perspective.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4804 Ineq/Dev/Soc Change in Lat Am 3 Credits
The Spanish speaking countries of the Americas, along with Brazil, that make up the Latin American region constitute a historically dynamic set of communities. From the emergence of large-scale, organized pre-Columbian societies, to being the first region of the world to face foreign colonization, to becoming among the first independent republics in the world, Latin America has played a pivotal role in world history. Yet despite its proximity to and parallel historical development alongside the United States, we have and continue to observe profound differences in human development and social inequality vis-à-vis the United States- inequalities that not only affect the quality of life of hundreds of millions of people, but whose impact is also felt in the U.S. How can we understand why issues such as poverty, wide income inequality and social exclusion are endemic to many parts of Latin America? Why these problems are more profound in Latin America than in the United States and Europe, despite an abundance of natural resources and human capital and a long history of political independence? What possibilities exist for social change that will alleviate or eliminate these different forms of inequality in the region?
This course seeks to provide a series of perspectives that attempt to understand the nature and reasons Latin American countries continue to cope with different and profound forms of social inequality, a central concept of sociological inquiry. The course will focus on both the region as a whole, as well as individual countries, in order to examine the different forms of inequality that affect the people of Latin America and the social problems that result from these different forms of inequality. At the regional level we will look at the issues of economic development and democratization, and the extent to which colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, warfare and population dynamics have generally led to significant social exclusion. Country-level studies will focus on the different forms of social inequality that exist in the region, including class, gender and racial disparities that exacerbate social exclusion limit the region’s human development. Finally the course will examine what efforts are made by governments, civil society groups and popular movements to address these different forms of social inequality throughout the region.
This course for graduate students. Undergraduates please register for SOCI-258-01.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 4805 BusinessHuman Rights in Devel 1.5 Credits
Since the endorsement of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (hereinafter the ‘Guiding Principles’ or the ‘UNGPs’) by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, they became a soft (non-binding) international framework to address the relationship between business and society through its “Protect, Respect and Remedy” approach.
These Guiding Principles are grounded in the recognition that (a) States’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedoms; (b) the role of business enterprises as specialized organs of society performing specialized functions, required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights; (c) the need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached. This course will analyze the substantive and practical implications of embedding a business and human rights dimension in sustainable development across Latin America and the Caribbean region through the Guiding Principles framework lens.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4806 Sustainable Urban Devt in LA 3 Credits
Latin America is one of the most urbanized continents on the planet. Some countries are currently at levels of unsustainable urban growth with inequitable access of low-income residents to critical services such as housing, water, sanitation, security, solid waste disposal and basic health and education. In this class we probe the factors behind contemporary trends, the relentless process of rural-urban migration, urban labor force/job stratification issues, impacts of the commodity export economy, the urban informal sector and the problem of socio-spatial exclusion in cities. We also explore how current urban development challenges are intensified by the impacts of climate change such as flooding, especially of coastal cities, salinization of aquifers, drought and vulnerability to natural disasters. We examine historical and urban development trends in the region, from pre-Columbian human settlement to colonial and post- colonial patterns, as we create the backdrop to analyze urbanization and mega-city development, using case studies. While exploring current limitations to sustainable urban development, we will identify municipal and urban policy options and approaches to make cities/mega-cities greener, more sustainable, inclusive and equitable.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4807 Sustainable Devel in L.A. 3 Credits
This course examines the concept of sustainable development, applied to Latin America. Structured in an interactive seminar format, it examines a number of factors in a holistic way: the influence of factors such as physical setting (climate, land characteristics, topography, natural resources, location), settlement and human interactions (historical and current relationships to natural environments) and the impacts of institutions, economic models, globalization, trade patterns, politics and policies on sustainable development in Latin America. It poses a number of key questions: What explains the historical and ongoing divide in Latin American society along many fault lines? What is the social and environmental impact of historical and current resource extraction and settlement patterns? What conflicts with indigenous and local communities have emerged due to the extractive export economy and land/forest/marine degradation? What natural resource management and climate change challenges does Latin America face? What is Latin America’s commitment to sustainable development/Paris Accord pledges, and what challenges/opportunities do countries face in this regard, in a post-COVID pandemic and economic contraction world? How can communities, stakeholders, civil society be engaged in such efforts?As part of this inquiry, we analyze concepts of carrying capacity and sustainable development – and their application in Latin America. We seek to uncover connections between poverty, the commodity export model/globalization/natural resource use/degradation/conflicts/refugee streams – and climate change. And we assess Latin America’s policy options, progress on Paris Accord pledges, climate change adaptation strategies and opportunities for increased use of renewable energy and greening the economy. We combine theory with practice through analyses of specific case studies and programs in Latin America. Given that Latin America is the highest urbanized continent in the world, we also examine the impact of urbanization and migration/out-migration patterns, especially in Central America. We review cases of environmental hot spots such as: mega-cities, the Amazon Basin, the Panatanal, the Peten, mining conflicts (tailings dams, gold, future lithium), cattle ranching, water resources, tourism management (Galapagos etc.) from a multi-disciplinary point of view. The aim is to understand how growth without equity, socio-spatial polarization, and the unequal access of communities to crucial goods and services undermine sustainable development as well. Structure of Course: The first part deals with conceptual and theoretical issues pertaining to sustainability and its definition, an overview of Latin America’s key geographical/historical features and variables of socio-economic and environmental change. The second part includes analyses of regional source documents, country policies and practices and case studies, supplemented by a range of examples and case studies of natural resource management conflicts and climate change challenges. The third part looks at issues of demographic change, social exclusion, migration, urbanization, crime and violence, impact of drug cartels, refugee flows, and their linkages to unsustainable development and poverty, integrating these elements into the overall analyses. The course content is underpinned by the structure and interactive nature of the seminar, with emphasis placed on participation, individual/group discussions and presentations, and the development of critical analysis and problem solving skills to support learning outcomes.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4821 BRA, Development Complexity 3 Credits
Full Title: BRAZIL, DEVELOPMENT AND COMPLEXITY.
This course is structured to support and promote a rigorous and pluralistic understanding of Brazil in its domestic and international multiple dimensions. Although Brazil shares some of its neighbors’ characteristics, the history, economy, social structure, and political dynamics of the only Portuguese speaking country in the Western Hemisphere recommend an approach taking into consideration its specificities. Based on an interdisciplinary perspective, the course will work with different levels of abstraction. We’ll review and update critically the different theoretical approaches to Development, including the ones within the framework of the new paradigm of Complexity Theory and, concomitantly, we will articulate that analysis with concrete elements of Brazil’s long-term historical trajectory in order to give intelligibility to processes that cannot be reduced to chronological sequences.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4891 ConflictIndig Land:Americas 3 Credits
Conflict and Indigenous Land, is a comprehensive examination of the historical and contemporary conflicts over Indigenous lands in the Americas. It delves into the complex interplay of historical injustices, legal frameworks, resource extraction, and Indigenous resistance movements. The course explores diverse experiences of Indigenous peoples across the region, from Canada to Patagonia, analyzing the origins of land-related conflicts, strategies employed by both state and corporate actors, and diverse forms of Indigenous organizing and advocacy.
This course is interdisciplinary, drawing on scholarship from anthropology, history, political science, law, environmental studies, and sociology. It is designed for students interested in Latin American studies, Indigenous rights, human rights, environmental justice, and international development.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 4949 Tutorial: LASP 3 Credits
Level: Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5010 The Southern Cone 3 Credits
Seminar: The Southern Cone This graduate seminar examines the political, economic and social development of the Southern Cone since 1945, with a strong emphasis on the first decade and half of the 21st century. The foreign policy and connections with the world of this sub-region will be examined. Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay will be studied providing balanced attention to common characteristics and challenges as well as distinctive and idiosyncratic aspects of each country. Chronologically, the seminar will analyze several overarching themes, such us the relations between state & markets, military coups, transition to democracy, democratic quality, political parties systems, the role of extractive sectors (agriculture, mining), stressing its connections with the world economy, import substitution industrialization (ISI), bureaucratic authoritarianism (BA), the external debt & crisis, the lost decade (1980s), the neoliberal reforms and the Washington Consensus, the integration process among Southern Cone countries (MERCOSUR), the political cycle called “turn to the left” and its aftermath, and the political and economic effects of the growing relations with China.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5030 Sem:Venezuela Caribbean 3 Credits
Between the 1960s and early1980s, social scientists often heralded Venezuela, a medium-size country with a vast Caribbean coast and the largest proven reserves of petroleum in the world, as an ‘exception’ in an area of the world plagued by political turmoil and dictatorial regimes. In retrospect, this ‘exceptionalism’ seemed to have been justified. After all, when compared to other countries in Latin America, Venezuela appeared to have found the long sought equilibrium between economic, social and political development. Such an analysis, however, tended to ignore warning signs emerging from Venezuela’s grassroots and from analysts in Venezuela and North America whom had warned -as early as the late 1960s- of the dangers posed by an elite-based “pacted democracy” and an economic development model fueled by oil rents in a ‘dependent’ nation.
Then, in 1998, came the election of the late Hugo Chávez Frias and what became known as the "Bolivarian Revolution", which served as the beginning of what has been called the "pink tide" across Latin America and the Caribbean. His election also began a process of redefinition of Venezuela's foreign policy --and interhemispheric relations-- whose impact we are yet to fully understand. This redefinition of Venezuela's foreign policy has had an important impact on the Caribbean and on Venezuela's role as a key actor in the wider Caribbean basin. Although much has been said about the rise and current turmoil of the ‘revolution’ Venezuela has experienced since 1999, the level of understanding and analysis in terms of the origins, impact and future of such events remains unsatisfactory.
This seminar will attempt to fill that gap. Using a multidisciplinary 2 approach, the seminar will analyze specific events that led to the transformation experienced in Venezuela over the past century. Beginning with an analysis of the colonization period and the failed attempts to create a unitary nation-state in the 19th century, the seminar will explore economic, social and political developments that led to the emergence and breakdown of “Punto Fijo” and the election of the late Hugo Chávez Frias in December of 1998. The seminar will also analyze the record of the “Bolivarian Revolution” and its impact on Venezuela. The impact of petroleum on Venezuela’s development and the history of the country’s foreign policy, particularly in relation to the Caribbean Basin, will also be analyzed in the context of contemporary inter-American relations.
Then, in 1998, came the election of the late Hugo Chávez Frias and what became known as the "Bolivarian Revolution", which served as the beginning of what has been called the "pink tide" across Latin America and the Caribbean. His election also began a process of redefinition of Venezuela's foreign policy --and interhemispheric relations-- whose impact we are yet to fully understand. This redefinition of Venezuela's foreign policy has had an important impact on the Caribbean and on Venezuela's role as a key actor in the wider Caribbean basin. Although much has been said about the rise and current turmoil of the ‘revolution’ Venezuela has experienced since 1999, the level of understanding and analysis in terms of the origins, impact and future of such events remains unsatisfactory.
This seminar will attempt to fill that gap. Using a multidisciplinary 2 approach, the seminar will analyze specific events that led to the transformation experienced in Venezuela over the past century. Beginning with an analysis of the colonization period and the failed attempts to create a unitary nation-state in the 19th century, the seminar will explore economic, social and political developments that led to the emergence and breakdown of “Punto Fijo” and the election of the late Hugo Chávez Frias in December of 1998. The seminar will also analyze the record of the “Bolivarian Revolution” and its impact on Venezuela. The impact of petroleum on Venezuela’s development and the history of the country’s foreign policy, particularly in relation to the Caribbean Basin, will also be analyzed in the context of contemporary inter-American relations.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 5040 Modern Cuba 3 Credits
Despite its comparatively small population, Cuba has played an outsize role in the modern economic, political, and cultural history of the Americas and the world. In the nineteenth century, the island was among the pioneers of a new model of capitalism, combining unfree labor with emerging industrial and communications technologies and forging new economic and cultural links with North America. In the last third of the century, emerging contradictions — residual Spanish sovereignty, rising U.S. power, divisions among Creole elites, aspirations for justice by black, brown, and white Cubans alike — led to a rising independence movement, arguably the first modern revolutionary movement in the global South, and provoked the first of several U.S. interventions. During the Cuban Republic (1902-58), amidst a cultural renaissance with transnational resonance, these contradictions of truncated sovereignty and social, economic, and political injustice endured amidst cycles of economic boom and bust and continued political crises, precipitating another revolutionary cycle that resulted – unexpectedly for nearly all concerned – in the first and longest-enduring socialist state in the Americas. Its impact and legacies helped reshape the rest of Latin America and the global South, and remain complex and contested to this day in Cuba, the United States, and around the world. With special attention to Cuba's changing hemispheric and global connections, this graduate seminar will allow students to explore the rich and often contentious history of modern Cuba from the early nineteenth century to the present, through common readings and individual projects.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Course attribute: XHIS name
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5070 Contemporary Mexico 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5101 Usos y abusos de memoria en AL 3 Credits
Curso orientado hacia el análisis y la interpretación de los principales temas de cultura y poder en América Latina desde la perspectiva de los trabajos de la memoria y las representaciones del pasado. A través de una revisión selectiva de crónicas, testimonios, artículos periodísticos, filmes documentales y textos de ficción y no-ficción, los estudiantes son invitados a reconocer y analizar los usos y abusos de la memoria en el cambio de siglo latinoamericano. El curso aborda la temática central de la construcción democrática en AL desde una metodología de estudios de caso en Argentina, Chile, Perú, Colombia, Guatemala y México, incorporando los conceptos más actuales de postmemoria y postverdad en la formulación de la cultura política contemporánea. El curso será dictado en español con un régimen de lecturas bilingües y la entrega de informes en idioma optativo inglés/español.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5102 Memoria y Testimonio en AL 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5131 Resistance/Rebellion in Andes 3 Credits
The course analyzes peasant rebellions and mobilizations in the Andes from the Tupac Amaru/Tupac Katari rebellions in the 1780s to the present. Students will gain an understanding of the literature on peasant rebellions and will apply this knowledge to the Andean region through a combination of lectures and discussion. In addition to papers and exams, all students will do research on a contemporary indigenous movement in the Andes for presentation at the end of the course.
Cross-listed with HIST-359-01
Cross-listed with HIST-359-01
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5201 Documental y Periodismo en AL 3 Credits
La crónica, el testimonio y el documentalismo tienen en América Latina raíces profundas, desde las primeras noticias del padre Las Casas hasta los actuales diarios de secuestrados en la selva colombiana. La vitalidad y recurrencia de estos géneros son, por otra parte, indicios claros de la dimensión identitaria de los problemas que tratan. Este conjunto de materiales de no ficción tienen un denominador común: son entregados a la conciencia del lector para dar noticia de una realidad no revelada o mal conocida, y exigen un juicio de sentido. El curso se propone el ejercicio de este juicio en la forma de un seminario de análisis y discusión de los materiales y las narrativas testimoniales de América Latina, centrando la discusión en algunas de sus manifestaciones contemporáneas más relevantes. El visionado de un número restringido de materiales documentales formará también parte del curso. Asimismo, el seminario incorporará a la discusión crónicas y piezas periodísticias que dan cuenta de determinadas coyunturas traumáticas en la experiencia latinoamericana.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Course attribute: SFS/CULP Humanities
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5202 Cine Politica en AL 3 Credits
Seminario exploratorio, con lectura, visionado y discusión de un número selecto de ficciones hispanoamericanas vinculadas con los dilemas políticos y sociales de la región en los últimos diez años. Desde el auge y caída de las dictaduras al recorrido de las transiciones democráticas, pasando por el caótico crecimiento de las grandes ciudades y la corrupción, el devenir de las sociedades hispanoamericanas ha dejado una impronta imborrable en libros, películas y material crítico capaz de aportar a la comprensión del cambio de siglo hispanoamericano. El seminario trabajará en la identificación de estos elementos basándose en un análisis de discurso para las obras propuestas, desarrollando las relaciones de la ficción y la política como marco interpretativo.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5231 Ethnography:Colombia Conflict 3 Credits
Course Goals & Description
How is the Colombian conflict lived day-by-day by its protagonists—human rights activists, guerrillas, paramilitary, members of the military, poor urban dwellers, peasants? What can the ethnographic study of the everyday realities of this conflict tell us, that we cannot learn from more macro-level sociological and political analysis? Anthropologists, filmmakers, sociologists, and oral historians have endeavored over the past fifty years to document the impact of conflict on Colombian society. This course will explore their work. Reading knowledge of Spanish is required.
Texts & Readings
Readings (on sale at the bookstore):
Molano, Alfredo, The Dispossessed: Chronicles of the Desterrados of Colombia (Haymarket Books, 2005)
Ramírez, María Clemencia, Between the Guerrillas and the State: The Cocalero Movement, Citizenship, and Identity in the Colombian Amazon (Duke University Press, 2011)
Riaño-Alcalá, Pilar, Dwellers of Memory: Youth and Violence in Medellín, Colombia (Transaction Publishers, 2010)
Vásquez, María Eugenia, My Life as a Colombian Revolutionary (Temple University Press, 2004)
Readings available on line:
Fals-Borda, Orlando, Historia doble de la Costa 4: Retorno a la Tierra (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2002) www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/1402/3/01PREL01.pdf
Machado, Absalón and Donny Meertens, La tierra en disputa: Memorias de despojo y resistencia campesina en la costa Caribe (1960-2010) (Grupo de Memoria Histórica, 2010) www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co
Riaño Alcalá, Pilar, Recordar y narrar el conflicto: Herramientas para reconstruir memoria histórica (Grupo de Memoria Histórica, 2009) www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co
Readings available on BlackBoard:
Alape, Arturo, Ciudad Bolívar: La hoguera de las ilusiones (Editorial Planeta, 2003)
Bonilla, Víctor Daniel, Gonzalo Castillo, Orlando Fals Borda, and Augusto Libreros, Causa popular, ciencia popular: Una metodología del conocimiento científico a través de la acción (La Rosca de Investigación y Acción Social, 1972)
Espinosa Menéndez, Nicolás, Política de vida y muerte: Etnografía de la violencia en la Sierra de la Macarena (Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia, 2010)
Tapias Hernández, César Augusto, Fumando mañas: Construcción del sentido de la realidad social en un contexto de ilegalidad (Editorial Universidad del Rosario, 2010)
Film (through BlackBoard):
Gaviria, Victor, La vendedora de rosas (1998) Assignments & Expectations of Students
Class presentations Mid-semester essay Research paper
What Students Should Know
There will be some in-person or Skype meetings with authors.
All students must be able to read Spanish and understand spoken Spanish. Class will be held in a bilingual format and written work can be submitted in either language (although you are encouraged to write in the language in which you have better proficiency).
How is the Colombian conflict lived day-by-day by its protagonists—human rights activists, guerrillas, paramilitary, members of the military, poor urban dwellers, peasants? What can the ethnographic study of the everyday realities of this conflict tell us, that we cannot learn from more macro-level sociological and political analysis? Anthropologists, filmmakers, sociologists, and oral historians have endeavored over the past fifty years to document the impact of conflict on Colombian society. This course will explore their work. Reading knowledge of Spanish is required.
Texts & Readings
Readings (on sale at the bookstore):
Molano, Alfredo, The Dispossessed: Chronicles of the Desterrados of Colombia (Haymarket Books, 2005)
Ramírez, María Clemencia, Between the Guerrillas and the State: The Cocalero Movement, Citizenship, and Identity in the Colombian Amazon (Duke University Press, 2011)
Riaño-Alcalá, Pilar, Dwellers of Memory: Youth and Violence in Medellín, Colombia (Transaction Publishers, 2010)
Vásquez, María Eugenia, My Life as a Colombian Revolutionary (Temple University Press, 2004)
Readings available on line:
Fals-Borda, Orlando, Historia doble de la Costa 4: Retorno a la Tierra (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2002) www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/1402/3/01PREL01.pdf
Machado, Absalón and Donny Meertens, La tierra en disputa: Memorias de despojo y resistencia campesina en la costa Caribe (1960-2010) (Grupo de Memoria Histórica, 2010) www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co
Riaño Alcalá, Pilar, Recordar y narrar el conflicto: Herramientas para reconstruir memoria histórica (Grupo de Memoria Histórica, 2009) www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co
Readings available on BlackBoard:
Alape, Arturo, Ciudad Bolívar: La hoguera de las ilusiones (Editorial Planeta, 2003)
Bonilla, Víctor Daniel, Gonzalo Castillo, Orlando Fals Borda, and Augusto Libreros, Causa popular, ciencia popular: Una metodología del conocimiento científico a través de la acción (La Rosca de Investigación y Acción Social, 1972)
Espinosa Menéndez, Nicolás, Política de vida y muerte: Etnografía de la violencia en la Sierra de la Macarena (Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia, 2010)
Tapias Hernández, César Augusto, Fumando mañas: Construcción del sentido de la realidad social en un contexto de ilegalidad (Editorial Universidad del Rosario, 2010)
Film (through BlackBoard):
Gaviria, Victor, La vendedora de rosas (1998) Assignments & Expectations of Students
Class presentations Mid-semester essay Research paper
What Students Should Know
There will be some in-person or Skype meetings with authors.
All students must be able to read Spanish and understand spoken Spanish. Class will be held in a bilingual format and written work can be submitted in either language (although you are encouraged to write in the language in which you have better proficiency).
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5301 Populism and Democracy in L.A. 3 Credits
No term in Latin American studies is politically more controversial and conceptually more ambiguous than populism. “Populism” is commonly overused in political debates, because it is frequently invoked to disqualify opponents, as much as in political analysis, because it is convenient to quickly capture its multiple legacies. The downside of this is that we have lost conceptual rigor and historical anchorage, to the extent that we keep discussing what populism is and is not. We also face contemporary challenges: to determine whether and how “populism” contributes or impairs the region’s ongoing democratization processes. On the basis of a series of relevant cases, this graduate seminar addresses the study of populism; first, from a historical and conceptual perspective, to then move on to examine the so-called current populist experiences in the region. The study of populism is a window used to look deeper into the multiple challenges faced by democracy in Latin America.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5302 Energy Security:Western Hemis 3 Credits
The seminar is divided into four interrelated building blocks: (i) World Energy Overview, comparing the Energy Balances of United States, China, Europe, Mexico and Brazil; (ii) the dynamics of the world petroleum market, world regional petroleum balances with Scenarios to 2030; (iii) petroleum balances of the western hemisphere with country and trade blocs analysis with Scenarios to 2030 and (iv) the potential for Hemispheric Energy Cooperation as a means of fostering regional energy security.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Arab Studies, Arab Studies, Arab Studies, Arab Studies, Asian Studies, Asian Studies, Asian Studies, Asian Studies, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Foreign Service, Foreign Service, Foreign Service, Foreign Service, German and European Studies, German and European Studies, German and European Studies, German and European Studies, Global Human Development, Global Human Development, Global Human Development, Global Human Development, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Russian East European Stud, Russian East European Stud, Russian East European Stud, Russian East European Stud, Security Studies, Security Studies, Security Studies or Security Studies.
LASP 5303 Artificial IntelligenceHumRts 3 Credits
AI has brought about a fourth industrial revolution, challenging decision-making paradigms and enabling machines to analyze vast amounts of data to provide answers and solve questions when the scenario is uncertain or incomplete. AI is increasingly present in all facets of human life. From the moment we wake up, to the information we consume, to the food we eat, and the products we purchase, it is becoming more embedded in our lives each day. The relationship between this technology and human rights is a double-edged sword. AI technologies might be a relevant instrument for advancing human rights by addressing global challenges, such as improving healthcare and disaster relief. However, they also present significant risks of pushbacks, including gender and racial discrimination. Furthermore, AI programs, which are often data-driven, increasingly shape the digital environment, allowing both governments and private enterprises to monitor, analyze, predict, and worse, manipulate human behavior to an unprecedented extent. In this context, the construction and reproduction of knowledge is likely to be in the hands of a few global northern States. AI systems are shaped and deployed in a largely unregulated environment, and nascent normative frameworks, such as the EU AI Act, come mainly from the global north. Latin America, one of the most unequal and diverse regions of the planet, must take a prominent role to avoid new forms of colonialism and ensure that multiple voices are heard. What are the potential benefits of AI in addressing human rights issues in Latin America? What are the key challenges AI poses to human rights in the region? How do concepts like surveillance neocolonial capitalism and technocolonialism relate to AI and its impact on the Global South, particularly in Latin America? Do AI technologies, predominantly developed by companies in the Global North, take into account the languages, cultures, and specific needs of local populations in the region? Could these technologies perpetuate or even exacerbate stereotypes and inequities in Latin America? Are these technologies reinforcing existing power imbalances, especially if adopted without careful consideration? Is AI contributing to an "abyssal line" that marginalizes non-dominant perspectives of knowledge and intelligence? What actions can Latin America take to ensure AI development and deployment align with human rights principles? What role can Latin America play in shaping the future of digital infrastructures and AI policies to prioritize human rights, equity, and social justice? This course critically examines the intersection of emerging technologies, human rights, and social inequalities, with a focus on Latin America, its unique perspectives, and existing power imbalances. It examines the twofold nature of AI technologies and how the development of AI without adequate decolonial and human rights safeguards can reproduce and deepen disparities. It draws from case studies in the areas of health, work, culture, freedom of expression, and housing with an intersectional approach focused especially on gender and race. Additionally, it emphasizes the need to develop a Latin American perspective in the context of AI. Students will engage in hands-on activities to develop proposals for solutions for a fairer AI future in Latin America.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5441 Politics of Cuba 3 Credits
This course is a mix of Cuban history, politics, economic and social development, and U.S. foreign policy. It examines the historical underpinnings of the Cuban revolution and the evolution of U.S.-Cuban relations since the late 1800s. This course has a particular focus on U.S.-Cuba relations and domestic developments on the island since the end of the Cold War. The course will include guest speakers (from the DC area and from Cuba), case studies, and opportunities to develop and present policy analysis.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5491 China Russia Polit in Americas 3 Credits
This pioneering seminar examines the comprehensive political, economic and security relations of extra-regional powers with Latin America and the Caribbean since 1945, particularly the first two decades of the 21st century. Most Latin American countries have willingly sought to diversify their foreign relations, and therefore, have sought to strengthen relations with several extra-regional powers. Since the Monroe Doctrine, the Western Hemisphere has been a sensitive area for the United States, and Washington has always been concerned with the presence of extra-regional powers in the region. The 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy employs sharp language against China and Russia and calls for regional relations that “will limit opportunities for adversaries to operate from areas of close proximity to us,” and that “limits the malign influences of non-hemispheric forces.” In this course, we will examine thoroughly the immense effects of China’s engagement with the region; we will study the USSR and the Cold War in Latin America, as well as Russia’s recent return to the region under Putin. Additionally, we will analyze some historical and new links, such as the ones with EU countries, the Vatican, Japan, India, Israel and Iran, all the while using the comparative method.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5630 Crime,StateCapture,Devel:LatAm 1.5 Credits
Disorganized Crime, State Capture, and Development in Latin America (1.5 cr. – GHD) Professor Christopher Johnson
During the last decade, homicide rates in El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela place those countries only behind Syria and ahead of Afghanistan and other war-torn countries in terms of the risk of violent death. Moreover, narcotics-related violence in Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, and Brazil have been pervasive threats to the well-being of those populations. In some cases, drug trafficking groups have captured parts of the state and, in more extreme examples, have ascended to the highest political office in the country, as is the case for Honduras. This insecurity has spawned major development challenges, such as mass migration, poverty, institutional decay, underinvestment, and lower life expectancy. In national surveys where homicides are high, violence/security is often cited as the top concern for people migrating out of the country. In Central America, violence costs the GDP on average between 11 and 18 percent, diverting limited resources to security and away from job creation, healthcare, social security, and other social priorities. Yet despite these devastating impacts, criminal violence has traditionally been combated especially be national governments by ‘mano dura’. That is by imprisoning those that are suspected of being perpetrators which often means young poor men. Governments have used the police and also military to suppress violence often through mass imprisonment however this approach has not resulted in dramatic reductions in violence over the long-term.
This course is project based but will provide a broad historical overview of the political, economic, and social forces that have allowed gangs and criminal organizations to become integrated into many parts of Latin American and Caribbean societies. The course will use selected countries to provide greater detail as to how these forces have shaped the current trajectories of each country and the varied responses. The course will focus on additional countries that have had innovative responses to addressing gang violence in their country, including gang-mitigation and reinsertion projects as well as adapting traditional development projects in the context of criminal violence. Through project-based work, students will develop a proposal to address the root causes of gang and criminal violence in a Latin American or Caribbean country. The projects developed will draw upon real world examples from the World Bank and other international institutions. Students will present their proposals to World Bank officials who work in security and development in Latin America and the Caribbean for practical feedback.
During the last decade, homicide rates in El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela place those countries only behind Syria and ahead of Afghanistan and other war-torn countries in terms of the risk of violent death. Moreover, narcotics-related violence in Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, and Brazil have been pervasive threats to the well-being of those populations. In some cases, drug trafficking groups have captured parts of the state and, in more extreme examples, have ascended to the highest political office in the country, as is the case for Honduras. This insecurity has spawned major development challenges, such as mass migration, poverty, institutional decay, underinvestment, and lower life expectancy. In national surveys where homicides are high, violence/security is often cited as the top concern for people migrating out of the country. In Central America, violence costs the GDP on average between 11 and 18 percent, diverting limited resources to security and away from job creation, healthcare, social security, and other social priorities. Yet despite these devastating impacts, criminal violence has traditionally been combated especially be national governments by ‘mano dura’. That is by imprisoning those that are suspected of being perpetrators which often means young poor men. Governments have used the police and also military to suppress violence often through mass imprisonment however this approach has not resulted in dramatic reductions in violence over the long-term.
This course is project based but will provide a broad historical overview of the political, economic, and social forces that have allowed gangs and criminal organizations to become integrated into many parts of Latin American and Caribbean societies. The course will use selected countries to provide greater detail as to how these forces have shaped the current trajectories of each country and the varied responses. The course will focus on additional countries that have had innovative responses to addressing gang violence in their country, including gang-mitigation and reinsertion projects as well as adapting traditional development projects in the context of criminal violence. Through project-based work, students will develop a proposal to address the root causes of gang and criminal violence in a Latin American or Caribbean country. The projects developed will draw upon real world examples from the World Bank and other international institutions. Students will present their proposals to World Bank officials who work in security and development in Latin America and the Caribbean for practical feedback.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5701 Money/Banking:Emerging Mkts 3 Credits
This seminar discusses the building blocks and the implementation of modern monetary policy, the nature and dynamics of financial crises, and the fundamentals of financial stability in emerging market economies. Specifically, the seminar examines the institutional underpinnings as well as the formulation and execution of monetary policy in these economies. It analyzes how monetary policy works under different policy regimes, with an emphasis on inflation targeting, the role of central bank independence, and how cross-border capital flows influence the effectiveness of monetary policy. The seminar also focuses on financial stability, in particular of banks, since they help monetary policy work, but can also become a source of macroeconomic turbulence. The course examines the vulnerabilities to which banks are exposed and studies a variety of financial crises and how they unfolded in emerging market economies. The last part of the seminar focuses on discussing the principles and operational aspects of macroprudential policy, considered the new standard for preventing systemic financial crises.
The seminar is designed for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. At the end of the seminar, students are expected to understand how central banks make monetary policy decisions in emerging market economies and how they affect the real sector of the economy. They will also understand the roots, dynamics, and consequences of financial crises, and the efforts deployed today by countries to avoid a new major crisis.
The seminar will be based on lectures, but will also demand participation from students who will be required to present case studies. Students attending the seminar are expected to be familiar with basic macro-financial concepts.
Classes will be based primarily on papers and book chapters, so no specific textbook is required. However, some books could help in providing background for some of the topics discussed in the seminar. See for example:
- Frederic S. Mishkin: “The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets,” Eleventh edition, Pearson (2016).
The seminar is designed for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. At the end of the seminar, students are expected to understand how central banks make monetary policy decisions in emerging market economies and how they affect the real sector of the economy. They will also understand the roots, dynamics, and consequences of financial crises, and the efforts deployed today by countries to avoid a new major crisis.
The seminar will be based on lectures, but will also demand participation from students who will be required to present case studies. Students attending the seminar are expected to be familiar with basic macro-financial concepts.
Classes will be based primarily on papers and book chapters, so no specific textbook is required. However, some books could help in providing background for some of the topics discussed in the seminar. See for example:
- Frederic S. Mishkin: “The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets,” Eleventh edition, Pearson (2016).
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5702 Topics:Illicit Global Economy 3 Credits
This course surveys the political economy of illicit economic activities in the Americas. Courses in international relations usually ignore the illicit flows of capital and trade of goods, services, and even people, notwithstanding the substantial impact of this activity on the global economy and on state and citizen security. Students will learn the prevailing theoretical approaches to explaining the illicit global economy, with particular focus on the Americas. The materials will cover topics such as the role of organized crime in political campaign finance and in the exploitation of natural resources, corruption and money laundering. Finally, the course also will reflect on the state of intelligence sharing among international actors and its effectiveness in combating crime in the region.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5703 Trade: Americas 3 Credits
This course provides an introduction to basic economic, legal and political concepts related to trade policy. We will examine contemporary issues related to and affecting Latin America’s trade policy such as the rise of China and East Asia as trading partners; the natural resource curse; energy market dynamics; the environmental implications of trade and underlying microeconomic and logistical issues that affect countries’ competitiveness. We will also examine the bifurcated (or trifurcated) trade policy approaches in the region with a view to understanding the bases thereof and assessing future prospects.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 5704 Geopolitics Industrializatn LA 3 Credits
Industrial policy is making a comeback as governments worldwide increasingly adopt policies to favor specific sectors of the economy. Industrial policy aims to achieve goals – such as energy transition and/or rebuilding a particular manufacturing sector – that the private sector alone would likely not achieve. This course covers Latin America's past and present experiences with industrial policy, contrasting them with those of other countries. No prior knowledge of industrial policy and its economic and political components is necessary. The course will take a deeper dive into the cases of Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, addressing their respective histories with industrial policy and current trends. An example of a contemporary issue to be covered is: while Brazil and Argentina have amplified their agribusiness-led development model, creating several internal political tensions, Mexico is gaining ground as the region's industrialized nation, particularly with ongoing US-China tensions. Mexico's industrial gains from the US-China trade war are impacting South America: nearshoring in Mexico's automotive industry has catalyzed the Chinese automaker boom in Brazil and Argentina, with implications for regional supply chains. The course will thereby explore several contemporary issues associated with industrial policy, providing students with the tools to understand the interconnections between development, climate change, geopolitics, and international trade. The course is open to undergraduate students, provided they have permission from their department supervisors.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5791 Pol Econ of Cities:LA Asia 3 Credits
This course will address the political economy of cities with a focus on Latin American and Asian cities. It will begin with general background, move onto issues and sectors, and then address city cases (approximately one-third each). The general background will address history, analytical tools, and cities as actors in the international system; and sectors/issues will address transport, land use, energy, housing, water, and water sectors coping with the challenges of inequality, climate change, and rapid urbanization. The proposed cities for class discussion include Curitiba, Mexico City, Bogota, Santiago, Bangalore, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Singapore. Students will be expected to take one of these cities and select one other city and follow them through the semester, lead the class discussion on “their” city, and produce a series of short papers leading to a final paper comparing the two cities, their challenges, the policy responses, and results.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5801 Poverty,WellBeing,Socl Exclusn 3 Credits
Most countries in Latin America have realized very important progress in terms of economic growth and development in recent years. At the same time the region is confronted with the persistent challenges of poverty, inequality and social exclusion. In particular specific groups, including indigenous peoples, single-parent households or marginalized youth continue to be among the poorest and most excluded throughout the region.
This course analyzes the political economy of persistent poverty, inequality and social exclusion in Latin America as key impediments for human development. A special emphasis will be placed on discussing different approaches to international development and human development, including Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, Human Well-being, the Livelihoods Approach and the Rights-Based Approach. The course aims to provide students with the necessary theoretical and practical background to better understand the underlying causes of persistent poverty and social exclusion throughout Latin America. It will enable the students to study different approaches and concrete cases studies on how to improve the well-being and human development of marginalized groups in an environment of rapid economic and social change within the region.
The course is divided into three parts: Part I: Theories of poverty, human development, well-being and social exclusion Part II: Key Issues of marginalized groups with an emphasis on indigenous peoples development, and III: Practical case studies of international development.
This course analyzes the political economy of persistent poverty, inequality and social exclusion in Latin America as key impediments for human development. A special emphasis will be placed on discussing different approaches to international development and human development, including Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, Human Well-being, the Livelihoods Approach and the Rights-Based Approach. The course aims to provide students with the necessary theoretical and practical background to better understand the underlying causes of persistent poverty and social exclusion throughout Latin America. It will enable the students to study different approaches and concrete cases studies on how to improve the well-being and human development of marginalized groups in an environment of rapid economic and social change within the region.
The course is divided into three parts: Part I: Theories of poverty, human development, well-being and social exclusion Part II: Key Issues of marginalized groups with an emphasis on indigenous peoples development, and III: Practical case studies of international development.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5802 Resource-Based Development: LA 3 Credits
The seminar is divided into four interrelated building blocks: (i) World Energy Overview, comparing the Energy Balances of United States, China, Europe, Mexico and Brazil; (ii) the dynamics of the world petroleum market, world regional petroleum balances with Scenarios to 2030; (iii) petroleum balances of the western hemisphere with country and trade blocs analysis with Scenarios to 2030 and (iv) the potential for Hemispheric Energy Cooperation as a means of fostering regional energy security.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a program in Arab Studies, Arab Studies, Arab Studies, Arab Studies, Asian Studies, Asian Studies, Asian Studies, Asian Studies, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Eurasian, Russian, E Euro Stud, Foreign Service, Foreign Service, Foreign Service, Foreign Service, German and European Studies, German and European Studies, German and European Studies, German and European Studies, Global Human Development, Global Human Development, Global Human Development, Global Human Development, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Russian East European Stud, Russian East European Stud, Russian East European Stud, Russian East European Stud, Security Studies, Security Studies, Security Studies or Security Studies.
LASP 5803 Health Development in LAC 3 Credits
Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have enjoyed a long history of engaging in health-related research and training, with several of the region’s medical schools tracing their origins to the early period of colonization by Spain and Portugal. The Pan American Sanitary Bureau, founded in 1902, was the first institution dedicated to regional cooperation on health in the world, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), as it is now known, predates the World Health Organization (WHO) by half a century.
Yet despite notable achievements in the areas of health research and cooperation, regional disparities in health status, spending on health, and access to care remain. The legacies of European colonialism and African slavery have had profound implications for regional health outcomes, with members of indigenous communities and Afro-descendent populations most marginalized within the health sector. At the same time, economic philosophies such as liberalism and neo-liberalism, on the one hand, and revolutionary political movements focused on social equity, on the other, have influenced the structure of health systems and decision-making. The region’s experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, when mortality rates in several countries were among the highest in the world, makes discussions an exploration of the unique factors shaping health and development in Latin America and the Caribbean especially compelling.
In this interdisciplinary course, students will explore the history, politics, and culture of health in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although topics will expose students to experiences across the region, most readings, assignments, and discussion will focus on Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, and the Andean region.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 5901 Topics: Contemp Latin America 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LASP 5925 Lat Amer Studies Internship 0.25 or 1 Credits
Internship course for academic work associated with internship experience. Students can pursue internship for 0.25 credits or 1 credit, with respective workload.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies or Latin American Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6301 Comparative Democratizatn: LA 3 Credits
The study of democracy and democratization has a long history in the social sciences. Interest in this topic has expanded dramatically in recent years, because of the spread of the so-called "third wave" of democratization extending from Southern Europe and Latin America to Eastern Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. Thus, to the considerable literature on democratization as a historical process of social change has been added a number of new studies of what could be termed "quick democratization." It is primarily this latter research, and its intersection with historical work, that we will be addressing in this course. The course is guided by three goals. First, to introduce students to the major issues, theories, concepts and arguments in the literature on democratization. Second, to give students a comparative perspective on some of the major cases of recent transitions from authoritarian rule. Third, to engage the current literature on the "quality of democracy," and assess the performance of democracy in a comparative way, that is, looking at new and old democracies together.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6302 Peace ProcessPost-Conflict:LA 3 Credits
This course explores one complex element of negotiated settlements of armed conflicts, and post-conflict politics after the signing of peace accords in Latin America: achieving meaningful accountability for the violence that transpired during the war. We will explore social, political and legal dimensions of the attempts by societies to achieve accountability, whilst not ignoring other complex aspects at stake in a peace-building process. This seminar concentrates on the intricacies of one field riddled with difficulties: the promotion of justice and the quest for accountability in relation to human rights and humanitarian law violations that took place during the war. We will explore topics through both theory and practice. To ground the discussions, we will examine how the legacy of violence has been addressed in two country situations that have promoted political solutions to armed conflict: El Salvador and Colombia. (Instead of surveying many situations, a conscious decision to concentrate on only two country situations informs the design of the course.)
Course reading draws on relevant literatures in social sciences and law, including textbooks, academic articles, legal decisions, international treaties, and other legal instruments. Readings also include in-depth reporting on armed conflicts and the events surrounding negotiated settlements. Complementarily, films (fiction and documentary) will be used to offer a human dimension of the problems being analyzed.
The seminar will provide an opportunity to undertake original research and applied research. All participants will be able to discuss, debate, and refine their research through dialogue and debate with other seminar members, over the course of the semester.
Course reading draws on relevant literatures in social sciences and law, including textbooks, academic articles, legal decisions, international treaties, and other legal instruments. Readings also include in-depth reporting on armed conflicts and the events surrounding negotiated settlements. Complementarily, films (fiction and documentary) will be used to offer a human dimension of the problems being analyzed.
The seminar will provide an opportunity to undertake original research and applied research. All participants will be able to discuss, debate, and refine their research through dialogue and debate with other seminar members, over the course of the semester.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6303 Violence(In)Security:LatAmer 3 Credits
Citizen security, taken to mean the protection of individual persons, property, and democratic institutions, from threats posed by crime, corruption, and natural disaster is among the most pressing concerns throughout most of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a leading obstacle to high-quality democracy in the region. Following overview sessions about theory and data, the course focuses mainly on threats posed by various types of crime, common and organized, violent and nonviolent. Our orienting questions are: What explanations are given to account for trends in different types of crime in different national and local settings? What are effects of crime on democratic governance? What types of government and civil society responses appear effective in controlling crime? What responses worsen crime?
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6304 Pol of Hum Rights:LA in Compar 3 Credits
Politics of Human Rights: Latin America in Comparative Perspective. This advanced seminar will focus on the politics of human rights and challenges to effective protection of human rights. In order to gain some depth in relation to the issues that could be addressed, the seminar will delve into only four themes or types of human rights violations: enforced disappearance; deprivation of liberty (and inhuman treatment and torture); executions (right to life); and violence against women. Selected Latin American countries will be used to explore these themes, including Argentina, Colombia and México. The primary regional focus of the course will be on Latin America; however, the seminar will use material arising out of other contexts, such as Indonesia and the United States of America. Cross-regional and comparative analysis is also encouraged in discussions and research.
Course reading draws on relevant literatures in political science, social sciences and law, including textbooks, academic articles, legal decisions, and international treaties and other legal instruments. Legal training is not required. Readings also include in-depth reporting and exposés on major human rights events in Latin American countries. Complementarily, we will view films (fiction and documentary) that offer a vivid perspective of the problems being analyzed. Throughout the course we will consider the practical dimensions of human rights activism, and the legal and policy implications of the subjects studied.
Debates will concentrate on dilemmas that arise out of human rights practice, focusing on the fissure between standard-setting exercises and national implementation, and the growing gap between rhetoric and practice. We will review the role of the state in relation to development of international human rights law and reflect on the way the state has managed to fade as the object of concern of this (once state-centered) branch of international law.
Course reading draws on relevant literatures in political science, social sciences and law, including textbooks, academic articles, legal decisions, and international treaties and other legal instruments. Legal training is not required. Readings also include in-depth reporting and exposés on major human rights events in Latin American countries. Complementarily, we will view films (fiction and documentary) that offer a vivid perspective of the problems being analyzed. Throughout the course we will consider the practical dimensions of human rights activism, and the legal and policy implications of the subjects studied.
Debates will concentrate on dilemmas that arise out of human rights practice, focusing on the fissure between standard-setting exercises and national implementation, and the growing gap between rhetoric and practice. We will review the role of the state in relation to development of international human rights law and reflect on the way the state has managed to fade as the object of concern of this (once state-centered) branch of international law.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6401 Migration in the Americas 3 Credits
The Americas (Latin America and the Caribbean) have a rich migration history, which encompasses both migration within the region and to countries outside the region (especially the United States, Canada, and European countries). This course examines the history of migration within, from, and to the Americas, including the reasons that different migration patterns have developed; how public policies have evolved over time to regulate migration; and the role that migrants play in the life of both their new home countries and their countries of origin.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6402 IR NewRegionalism:LatAmCarib 3 Credits
International Organizations LA
The past two decades have witnessed the evolution of different movements and organizations that are challenging traditional conceptions of relations among nations in the Western Hemisphere as we have known them since 1945. What has brought about the emergence of these movements and organizations? Are we witnessing paradigmatic changes that will redefine hemispheric relations in years to come? What is the importance, if any, of these changes for the future of the Hemisphere?
This seminar examines the changing nature of inter-hemispheric relations in the 21st century. It will combine a variety of theoretical approaches and policy issues to illustrate and analyze the history and nature of these changes. It is designed for upper level undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing further research and/or careers in inter-hemispheric affairs.
Although the seminar does not presume a prior knowledge of International Relations Theory, it does presume knowledge of Latin American political economy and history and a reading knowledge of Spanish.
The past two decades have witnessed the evolution of different movements and organizations that are challenging traditional conceptions of relations among nations in the Western Hemisphere as we have known them since 1945. What has brought about the emergence of these movements and organizations? Are we witnessing paradigmatic changes that will redefine hemispheric relations in years to come? What is the importance, if any, of these changes for the future of the Hemisphere?
This seminar examines the changing nature of inter-hemispheric relations in the 21st century. It will combine a variety of theoretical approaches and policy issues to illustrate and analyze the history and nature of these changes. It is designed for upper level undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing further research and/or careers in inter-hemispheric affairs.
Although the seminar does not presume a prior knowledge of International Relations Theory, it does presume knowledge of Latin American political economy and history and a reading knowledge of Spanish.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Mutual exclusion: LASP 489
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6500 Field Practicum:LatinAmerCarib 3 Credits
El componente profesional del Programa de Verano de CLAS comprende la culminación de una pasantía profesional. Para obtener una calificación por los tres (03) créditos académicos que otorga el Programa, el estudiante debe hacer una entrega al final del mismo, el cual debe ser acordado con CLAS. En ese sentido, CLAS se comunicará con los estudiantes a mediados del mes de junio para entender la naturaleza de la pasantía, y definir la entrega. Adicionalmente, los estudiantes deben contribuir al Blog del Programa de Verano. El blog les permitirá a las/los estudiantes compartir entre sí, y con la comunidad, sus experiencias profesionales, idealmente mezclando el contenido cursado durante el primer año de estudios en CLAS/SFS y el componente profesional otorgado por la pasantía.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6680 NaturalResourcesDevel:LatAm 3 Credits
Natural Resources and Development: Latin America Professor Osmel Manzano
Over the last few years, El Salvador and Honduras banned mining, Venezuela opened for investors in its “Mining Arch”, the president-elect of Colombia has stated that oil production will continue, but that no new licenses will be granted while the president of Ecuador wants to open its oil sector for investment. Why do countries take such different policies? What has been the history of Latin America with natural resources?
The role of natural resources on the development path of Latin America has been widely debated in the academic and policy literature. This issue is becoming more relevant in the context of global warming and the push toward decarbonization. Many countries in the region depend on the production of coal or hydrocarbons while others have the minerals required for the energy transition. What could be the impacts of these trends in the development of the region? This course evaluates the economics and politics of the extractive industries -mining and hydrocarbon extraction, the challenges of resource wealth management, and the relationship with economic development in Latin America. The aim of the course is for students to understand the different issues that surround mining and oil policy, and how they interact in the political context of Latin America. The aim of the course is to highlight the particular context where the region stands today and how the interaction of global trends with local challenges could affect the future development of the region.
Over the last few years, El Salvador and Honduras banned mining, Venezuela opened for investors in its “Mining Arch”, the president-elect of Colombia has stated that oil production will continue, but that no new licenses will be granted while the president of Ecuador wants to open its oil sector for investment. Why do countries take such different policies? What has been the history of Latin America with natural resources?
The role of natural resources on the development path of Latin America has been widely debated in the academic and policy literature. This issue is becoming more relevant in the context of global warming and the push toward decarbonization. Many countries in the region depend on the production of coal or hydrocarbons while others have the minerals required for the energy transition. What could be the impacts of these trends in the development of the region? This course evaluates the economics and politics of the extractive industries -mining and hydrocarbon extraction, the challenges of resource wealth management, and the relationship with economic development in Latin America. The aim of the course is for students to understand the different issues that surround mining and oil policy, and how they interact in the political context of Latin America. The aim of the course is to highlight the particular context where the region stands today and how the interaction of global trends with local challenges could affect the future development of the region.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 6801 PE of Development:LatinAmerica 3 Credits
This seminar aims to deepen understanding and appreciation for the historical complexities and major theoretical debates and substantive issues found in the Political Economy of Development (PED) of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It is based on the recognition that a) developmental challenges in LAC are political and social, as well as economic and b) that there is a dialectic relationship between the global economy and politics at the international, regional, national and local levels.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7481 US - Latin American Relations 3 Credits
This course will focus on U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and the relationship between the U.S. and the other countries in the Hemisphere.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7500 Adv Research: Latin Amer Studs
Both capstone and thesis-track students are required to enroll in a zero-credit, pass/fail Capstone Preparation Seminar in the semester prior to the final project course (Capstone Course or Thesis Seminar). This zero-credit, pass/fail course is intended to ensure students have a solid foundation and clear direction before starting their final semester project. Students will be required to hand in specific capstone- or thesis-preparation deliverables at the end of the zero-credit, pass/fail course.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Pass/Fail Default
LASP 7501 Lat Amer Origins/Transformatio 3 Credits
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of the History in the Latin American Studies Master’s Program and for students in the Ph.D. program in the History Department. It is designed to be interdisciplinary and provide students a good overview of recent production on historical topics on Latin America.
The theme of the course is on the making of the nation-states in Latin America. This topic is especially important not just because this is the theme that has warranted a great deal of attention over the past decade or so. It also incorporates new perspectives such as Gramscian and postmodern analysis, resistance studies, and the old modernization paradigm. Arguably, this topic remains on the cutting edge of the field and is the subject of many of the newest and most innovative works in Latin American History broadly defined. Since it is impossible to cover Latin American History as a whole, students will receive an intensive preparation on a topic that should be of interest to those who will work in other disciplines as well.
The theme of the course is on the making of the nation-states in Latin America. This topic is especially important not just because this is the theme that has warranted a great deal of attention over the past decade or so. It also incorporates new perspectives such as Gramscian and postmodern analysis, resistance studies, and the old modernization paradigm. Arguably, this topic remains on the cutting edge of the field and is the subject of many of the newest and most innovative works in Latin American History broadly defined. Since it is impossible to cover Latin American History as a whole, students will receive an intensive preparation on a topic that should be of interest to those who will work in other disciplines as well.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies or Latin American Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7502 Culture Power in Lat Amer 3 Credits
Culture and Power in Latin America: Explores the changing and contested constructions of identities and belief systems among the diverse peoples of Latin America. Emphasis is on the linked ways that power constitutes culture and that cultures construct powers, drawing on literary and popular texts, oral histories, film, etc.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies or Latin American Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7503 States Societies: Lat Amer 3 Credits
This course will analyze the major political trends and issues that have shaped Latin American governments and politics throughout the course of the twentieth century as well as the key issues confronting the region as it begins the 21st century.
The study of Latin America has been a rich source of theory for political scientists, contributing to a general understanding of development issues, regime change, military rule and democratic transition, among other themes. As such, given the developments of the last decades (the return of military leaders to their barracks which ended in some cases decades of authoritarian rule, the great difficulties that practically all nations in the region have had in consolidating democratic governance, the rise of new social movements, the rise of a new left, exacerbated social and security tensions caused by drug trafficking and organized crime, and finally the persistence in some countries of old forms of armed violence) the theoretical models drawn from Latin America have also been applied to other nations in other regions experiencing comparable changes, in Eastern Europe and in parts of Asia and Africa.
This course will examine several of these broad trends of politics in the region, focusing on the actors and processes which have shaped institutions, policies, parties, movements and political events in contemporary Latin America,
The second half of the course will examine recent changes in politics, principally those relating to new social movements, identity, gender and ethnicity, drug-trafficking, political parties, and newer post-cold war conflicts. We will draw on some of the best social science literature, together with videos and films that elucidate contemporary political themes. The aim of this course is to promote a more comprehensive understanding and familiarity with the social science literature and approaches that have been used to study a key and vital region in international politics and the emerging global economy and polity.
The study of Latin America has been a rich source of theory for political scientists, contributing to a general understanding of development issues, regime change, military rule and democratic transition, among other themes. As such, given the developments of the last decades (the return of military leaders to their barracks which ended in some cases decades of authoritarian rule, the great difficulties that practically all nations in the region have had in consolidating democratic governance, the rise of new social movements, the rise of a new left, exacerbated social and security tensions caused by drug trafficking and organized crime, and finally the persistence in some countries of old forms of armed violence) the theoretical models drawn from Latin America have also been applied to other nations in other regions experiencing comparable changes, in Eastern Europe and in parts of Asia and Africa.
This course will examine several of these broad trends of politics in the region, focusing on the actors and processes which have shaped institutions, policies, parties, movements and political events in contemporary Latin America,
The second half of the course will examine recent changes in politics, principally those relating to new social movements, identity, gender and ethnicity, drug-trafficking, political parties, and newer post-cold war conflicts. We will draw on some of the best social science literature, together with videos and films that elucidate contemporary political themes. The aim of this course is to promote a more comprehensive understanding and familiarity with the social science literature and approaches that have been used to study a key and vital region in international politics and the emerging global economy and polity.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies or Latin American Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7504 Political Econ of Lat Amer 3 Credits
This seminar aims to deepen understanding and appreciation for the historical complexities and major theoretical debates and substantive issues found in the Political Economy of Development (PED) of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It is based on the recognition that a) developmental challenges in LAC are political and social, as well as economic and b) that there is a dialectic relationship between the global economy and politics at the international, regional, national and local levels.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies, Latin American Studies or Latin American Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7505 Capstone: Latin America 3 Credits
The capstone for the M.A. in Latin American Studies is a three-credit course that provides graduate students with an opportunity to demonstrate their comprehensive, integrated and interdisciplinary knowledge about Latin America and the Caribbean applied to a specific analytical question, case study, policy issue, new opportunity, emerging challenge, or project chosen by students in their respective concentrations. The outcome of the capstone course should be a professional deliverable that students can either use as a gateway to their professional careers upon graduation or as a means to advance in their current professions. Students should expect to be spending approximately 10-15 hours per week devoted to the capstone project, executing an applied, professional experience to conclude the Masters program.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7602 Data/Inference for Policymkers 3 Credits
Data and Inference for Policymakers
Policymakers hear and make causal claims all the time: o “Conditional cash transfers reduce short- and long-term poverty” o “Stay-at-home policies prevented the spread of Covid-19” o “Community policing initiatives increase trust in local government”
How do we assess the validity of those claims? In this course, you will learn to “think with data.” The course will provide you with three core skills: basic competency in data manipulation and visualization (using R), intro-level familiarity with probability and statistics, and counterfactual thinking/analysis. The course assumes little or no background in statistics or quantitative analysis, but is aimed at training policymakers who are confident consuming, evaluating, and drawing conclusions from research.
Because these skills are likely new to the students, they require significant practice. The first half of each class (about 1 hour) will provide theoretical background on key concepts, mostly through lecture. The second half of the class will be devoted to developing the inferential toolkit through partnered practice. The problem sets aim to link these two skills by having students work through applied examples from the policy world. Because the course is housed in Latin American Studies, these examples will come primarily from that region, but the lessons and tools are broadly applicable.
PRE-REQUISITES There are no prerequisites for masters students to take this class. If you are an undergraduate interested in taking this class, you must contact the department for approval.
Policymakers hear and make causal claims all the time: o “Conditional cash transfers reduce short- and long-term poverty” o “Stay-at-home policies prevented the spread of Covid-19” o “Community policing initiatives increase trust in local government”
How do we assess the validity of those claims? In this course, you will learn to “think with data.” The course will provide you with three core skills: basic competency in data manipulation and visualization (using R), intro-level familiarity with probability and statistics, and counterfactual thinking/analysis. The course assumes little or no background in statistics or quantitative analysis, but is aimed at training policymakers who are confident consuming, evaluating, and drawing conclusions from research.
Because these skills are likely new to the students, they require significant practice. The first half of each class (about 1 hour) will provide theoretical background on key concepts, mostly through lecture. The second half of the class will be devoted to developing the inferential toolkit through partnered practice. The problem sets aim to link these two skills by having students work through applied examples from the policy world. Because the course is housed in Latin American Studies, these examples will come primarily from that region, but the lessons and tools are broadly applicable.
PRE-REQUISITES There are no prerequisites for masters students to take this class. If you are an undergraduate interested in taking this class, you must contact the department for approval.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7603 Quant Methods in Practice 3 Credits
This course is designed for graduate students interested in acquiring methodological and practical tools to pursue – and “consume" --- quantitative research in the social sciences. The course assumes limited to no exposure to empirical analysis in their undergraduate education and will actively link statistical reasoning to its most common applications in the social sciences and policy settings. The course starts with a discussion of research design, causation, and other methodological issues, such as the type of empirical questions posed in the social sciences and the answers that can be obtained from quantitative approaches. It then moves to more “practical” topics regarding data management and visualization, as well as descriptive inference. The third part of the course introduces inferential statistics, starting with sampling and probability theory and ending with regression analysis and other statistical techniques. The course thus provides a basic “toolbox” to conduct empirical research across different disciplines.
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7604 Action ResCommun Development 3 Credits
The objective of the course is to provide students with an introduction to Qualitative and Participatory data collection and analysis to be able to understand main streams of thought in the qualitative evaluation field. The course will be divided in two parts; first, we will work on case studies, literature reviews, focus groups and interviewing skills to collect meaningful qualitative data and to triangulate the findings in order to determine specific categories or results. The second part of the course will include a module on Participatory Action Research (PAR), in particular Participation in Human Inquiry theory and tools for data collection. Students will be involved in a practical exercise and will be tasked with conducting a qualitative evaluation through interviews, mapping, photography or the interpretation of symbols conducting a real life project of their choice as part of the class work.
Course Goals and Expected Outcomes for students: - To understand and master qualitative and participatory techniques to be used in research projects - To foresee possible pitfalls to be addressed during qualitative data collection. - To be able to establish research related priorities - To better manage their time while focusing on “thick” and “rich” meaningful data.
Course Goals and Expected Outcomes for students: - To understand and master qualitative and participatory techniques to be used in research projects - To foresee possible pitfalls to be addressed during qualitative data collection. - To be able to establish research related priorities - To better manage their time while focusing on “thick” and “rich” meaningful data.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7605 Methods: Qualit ResearchCraft 3 Credits
This seminar is designed to guide students in the process of applied qualitative research for the design, collection, processing and analysis of information. The seminar starts with the design of a research question and a strategy based on a creative process that will allow students to identify challenges in the design of a research project. For the design phase, students will learn different research tools such as ethnographic interviews, participant observation and focus groups. They will also learn how to best identify the most appropriate tools to operationalize their research.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7606 Qualitative Data Lab 1.5 Credits
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7949 Tutorial: Latin Amer Studies 0-3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 7999 Thesis Research
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 9991 Continuous Registration
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 9992 Continuous Registration
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 9993 Continuous Registration
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LASP 9994 Continuous Registration
Level: Graduate, Juris Doctor, Undergraduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.