I. Instructor: Dr Jack Child, Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies, Department of Language and Foreign Studies. Office: 342 Asbury; telephone: 885-2385. Call at home if urgent (202-363-1111) and leave a message on the recorder or with Evita Canal de Beagle or La Perrichola.
Office hours: Mon & Thurs 1-2, 4-6. Or call for an appointment. Email: jchild@american.edu.
Web site: / Then click on "Academics", scroll down and click on "Faculty and Class Web Projects", then scroll down and click on "Classes and Projects", then scroll down to Fall 1997, click on 37.356/656 Antarctica and Falklands/Malvinas (Dr. Jack Child).
II. Course statement:
This is an interdisciplinary approach to the geography, ecology, history, literature and politics of the Frozen Continent and nearby islands, with emphasis on the Malvinas/Falklands, which were the object of the 1982 War between Argentina and Great Britain. Readings and discussion focusing on the unique environment of this region, and on how humankind has related to it through exploration, science, the arts, and the international relations of this last place on earth not divided up into sovereign states. The course is taught in Spanish. Pre-requisite: three years of college Spanish or equivalent.
Program fit: (Please consult your advisor)
- Because of its focus on the Falklands/Malvinas Islands and the "South American Quadrant of Antarctica", the course can be used in the "Latin American Area Studies" portion of the Spanish and Latin American Studies Major (or Minor) in SIS or LFS/CAS.
- Because it is taught in Spanish at the .300+ level, it can be used in the language component of the "Spanish and Latin American Studies" or "Spanish" majors or minors. The course counts toward the Translation Certificate in the Department of Language and Foreign Studies.
- The course can also be used to meet the "International Politics" Functional Field of Concentration of the SIS International Studies major. - At the graduate level, this is a .600+ course.
III. Course requirements and evaluation.
a. Mid-term exam (worth 15%); on Monday 20 October.
b. Final exam (worth 20%); on Monday 15 December, 2:10-4:50.
c. Antarctic simulation paper. For the country or organization you are assigned, you will prepare a paper and a one-page press release (in Spanish) in response to a series of questions which will be raised (details later). The press release should be in 20 copies in order to provide one copy to each fellow student. Worth 10%, and due Thursday 25 September.
d. Falklands/Malvinas simulation paper. For the country you are assigned, you will prepare a paper and a one-page press release (in Spanish) in response to a series of questions which will be raised (details later). The press release should be in 20 copies in order to provide one copy to each fellow student. Worth 10%, and due Thursday 13 November.
e. Antarctic explorer or Falklands/Malvinas crisis personality biography (1-page summary and oral presentation). For the explorer or individual decision-maker you are assigned, you will make a five to ten minute oral presentation (in Spanish) on a specified day, using 35mm slides I will provide you. The 1-page summary (in Spanish) should list key names, places, dates and events. It should be reproduced in 20 copies and distributed to the class the day of your oral presentation. Worth 10%. Graduate students are expected to do a substantive research paper on their individual (or other relevant subject selected in consultation with the instructor), and may elect to not do the computer exercises and have the substantive research paper be worth 20% of the course grade.
f. Computer exercises. There will be one Macintosh computer exercise on Antarctica and one on the Malvinas/Falklands. Due Thursday 16 October and Monday 8 December, respectively; worth a total of 10%. More details later. Note that we will meet in the Language Lab (Asbury basement) during class time on Monday 8 September for an orientation session on the Macintosh computer exercises.
g. Unannounced quizzes on the assigned daily readings (10%).
h. Participation grade (15%). This grade will be based on how much and how well you participate in class by making comments, asking and answering questions, and joining in the class dialogue. Attendance will affect this portion of your grade, since if you are not present you obviously cannot participate. The participation grade includes the class simulations and debate.
i. Attendance policy: I expect regular attendance, but I understand that you may be absent from time to time for various reasons (please keep me informed). You are responsible for making up all the work you miss, including the student talks. An unreasonable number of absences will inevitably affect your participation grade (see "h" above).
j. Late work will be penalized unless you obtain my permission in advance. I will approve Incomplete contracts only in exceptional cases.
k. Academic integrity. As scholars, we are all held to the University's Academic Code of Ethics. Academic dishonesty in exams and quizzes, and plagiarism (presenting the words or ideas of others as your own) will not be tolerated.
l. Extra credit project (8-10 page paper): ask me about this possibility after the Mid-term exam, especially if you feel you are weak in other graded portions of the course, such as participation.
m. "Community Service Learning Project". You have the optional opportunity of doing a Project (37.394) in connection with this course. This would earn you one credit, Pass/Fail, for doing 40 hours of approved field work (over the semester).
o. The course web site. The course has an experimental web site as part of American University's emphasis on educational technology. Of special interest is the "Daily Review" and "Mid-term Review" which contain questions very similar to those which might be encountered on the quizzes and exams. See the first paragraph of this syllabus for instructions on how to find the web site.
V. Required texts:
Antarctica. Reader's Digest. Out of print, but available on Library Reserve.
Antarctica and South American Geopolitics, by Jack Child. Praeger, 1988 (Loaned by author).
Señales de guerra, by Laurence Freedman and Virginia Gamba-Stonehouse. The Spanish version (which we will be using) will be loaned by the instructor. The Bookstore has the English (not required).
VI. Other books and bibliographic sources on Library Reserve:
Readings in a three-ring binder (Call #4215).
Stewart, John, Antarctica: an Encyclopedia
May, John, Greenpeace Book on Antarctica
Naveen, Ron, Wild Ice
Orrego Vicuña, Francisco, Antarctic Mineral Exploitation
Porter, Eliot, Antarctica
Kinney, Douglas, National Interest/National Honor: the Diplomacy of the Falklands Crisis
Kon, Daniel, Los chicos de la guerra.
Coll, Alberto, The Falklands War
Smith, Wayne, Toward Resolution? The Falklands/Malvinas Dispute
Gustafson, Lowell, The Sovereignty Dispute over the Falkland(Malvinas) Islands
Perkins, Roger, Operation Paraquat: the Battle for South Georgia
Moro, Rubén, Historia del conflicto del Atlántico Sur
VII. Web sites of interest:
http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/BPRC.html (Ohio State Univ Byrd Polar Research Ctr)
http://www.icair.iac.org.nz (New Zealand Center for Antarctic Info and Research)
http://www.nsf.gov (National Science Foundation)
http://www.scholastic.com/public/Network/Antarctica (visit to the South Pole).
VIII. Assigned readings and due dates.
Readings code: RD: Reader's Digest, Antarctica (pages)
FL: Child, Antarctica and South American Geopolitics: Frozen Lebensraum (chapter)
SG: Freedman/Gamba, Señales de guerra (chapter)
H- : Handout (loose article or paper)
C: Computer program section (Ant=Antarctica; F/M= Falklands/Malvinas)
Date Readings
Th 4 Sept No assignments: course introduction and administration
M 8 Sep RD: 10-17 C: Ant-1 FL: Ch 1 Note: meet in Lang Lab, Asbury Basement
Th 11 Sep RD: 10-17 C: Ant-1 FL: 1 H-1: Palazzi, "Antártida: Extensión"
M 15 Sep RD: 18-25 C: Ant-2 FL: 2 H-2: Palazzi, "Antártida: Valor estrátegico"
Th 18 Sep RD: 26-31 C: Ant-3 FL: 2 H-3: "Tratado Antártico"
M 22 Sep RD: 32-39 C: Ant-4 FL: 3 H-4: Child, "An Intro to negotiation"
Th 25 Sep RD: 40-3, 52-5 FL: 3 Antarctic Simulation paper and press release due
M 19 Sep RD: 44-51, 198-9 C: Ant-5 FL: 4 H-5: Camillión, "Reglas empíricas"
Th 2 Oct RD: 116-9, 280-3 C: Ant-5 FL: 4 H-6: Child, "ATS Signatories and Resources"
M 6 Oct RD:138-9, 150-1 C: Ant-6 FL: 5 H-7: Child, "Pensamiento Geopolítico"
Th 9 Oct RD:164-5, 182-3 C: Ant-6 FL: 6 H-8: Child, "Cronología Antártica"
M 13 Oct RD:200-1, 208-9, 218-225 C: Ant-7 FL: 7 H-9: España, "Futuro blanco"
Th 16 Oct RD:236-7, 252-3 C: Ant-7 FL: 8 Antarctic computer exercise due.
M 20 Oct MID-TERM EXAM; REVIEW ALL PREVIOUS MATERIAL
Th 23 Oct SG: Intro, Ch 1 C: F/M-1 RD 56-7, 62-5 H-10: Cura, "Malvinas"
M 27 Oct SG: 2-3 C: F/M-2 H-10: Cura, "Malvinas"
Th 30 Oct SG: 4-5 C: F/M-3 H-11: Her Majesty's Government, "Falkland Islands"
M 3 Nov SG: 6-7 C: F/M-4 H-11: Her Majesty's Government, "Falkland Islands"
Th 6 Nov SG: 8-9 C: F/M-5 H-12: Child, "Cronología Malvinas/Falklands"
M 10 Nov SG: 10-2 C: F/M-5 H-12: Child, "Cronología Malvinas/Falklands"
Th 13 Nov SG: 13 C: F/M-6 Falklands/Malvinas Simulation paper and press release due
M 17 Nov SG: 14 C: F/M-7 H-13: Kon, "Chicos de la guerra"
Th 20 Nov SG: 15 C: F/M-8 H-13: Kon, "Chicos de la guerra"
M 24 Nov SG: 16-17 C: F/M-9 H-14: Tinker, "Cartas"
TUE 25 NOV SG: 18 C: F/M-10 H-15: Child, "Paz internacional"
M 1 Dec SG: 19-20 C: F/M-10 H-16: Qué Pasa, "Diez Razones"
Th 4 Dec SG: 21-22 C: F/M-11 H-16: Qué Pasa, "Diez Razones"
M 8 Dec SG: 23, Conclusion C: F/M-12 Malvinas/Falklands computer exercise due
M 15 Dec FINAL EXAM, 2:10-4:40 PM
Also: optional Part II of the Final Exam at "Casa Evita y Perrichola", TBA