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Syllabus

GENERAL EDUCATION

The American University

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND FOREIGN STUDIES

FALL 97 37.210.01 M&Th 11:20-12:35 Ward 108

Latin America: History, Art, Literature/A 3:2

(A General Education course taught in English)

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). Office hours: Mon & Thur 1-2, 4-6.

Or call for an appointment if these are not convenient.

Teaching assistant: Anna Robins.

Course Web Site: /

jchild/LAHAL_home.html. Email: jchild@american.edu.

II. Course statement: This undergraduate General Education course explores the history of Latin America through the words of the writer, the brush of the painter, the pen of the cartoonist, and the lens of the photographer. It will include the Latin (Spanish/Portuguese +Islamic), the African, and the Indigenous cultural heritages in Latin American history, and it will seek to show how these strands have combined to produce a unique Latin American culture. The relationship to Anglo-America, and especially the United States, will also be explored on a cross-cultural basis. The major objective of this course is to study Latin America as a unique culture-area using an interdisciplinary approach (history, art, and literature). History will be the basic discipline used to organize the course; art and literature will be used to illustrate and provide windows of insight into that history with visual and written images. The course relies heavily on educational media (slides, videos, CD-ROMs) and new technologies (daily questions and Exam reviews on Hypercard floppy disks and the Web Site).

III. Relationship to the General Education Program:

Course 37.210, "LATIN AMERICA: HISTORY, ART, LITERATURE" is a second level course in Curricular Area III (the International and Intercultural Experience), in the University's General Education Program. This dimension of the curriculum is designed to develop an informed understanding of the diversity of the world's cultures and the critical issues which challenge policy makers in our increasingly interdependent world. Each second level course builds on and extends concepts and skills introduced in a designated foundation course in the same or a related discipline. In order to complete the International and Intercultural Experience with course 37.210, "LATIN AMERICA: HISTORY, ART, LITERATURE", you must have previously completed one of the following foundation courses in Area III: 23.150: Third World Lit OR 33.140: Cross-cultural Comm OR 03.110: Culture- Human Mirror.

The rationale for the linkages to each foundation course is as follows:

23.150: Third World Lit: the course uses Latin American literature as a key element.

33.140: Cross-cultural Comm: the course emphasizes the unique feaures of various Latin American cultures and how they relate to other cultures.

03.110: Culture- Human Mirror: the course examines the contribution that various Latin American cultures have made to the cultural pluralism of the contemporary world (including the U.S.).

IV. Course requirements and evaluation:

a. Mid-term exam (worth 20%), on Thursday 23 October.

b. Final exam (worth 25%), on Monday 15 December, 11:20-1:50 PM (from mid-term).

c. Report on a Latin American painter (worth 10%, due 10 April). You will prepare a written report on a Latin American painter which I will assign you (unless you have a preference - let me know). The emphasis will be to place the individual in the historical, social, and political context of her/his period. Your report should be about 8 pages, including sources, which must be properly identified. During class sessions I will provide brief mini-lectures on 14 painters, which are also available in the CD-RoM ("Latin American Painters") in the Language Lab. You should make your selection from these 14; they will also appear in the mid-term and final exams, and I encourage you to use the CD-RoM for review and selection.

d. Short reaction paper (approximately 4-5 pages) on your individual visit to the Latin American Museum of Modern Art, 18th St and Constitution, tel 458-6016 (call first to confirm that they are open). Worth 10% and due Monday 13 October. Other museums are available (please consult first).

e. Unannounced quizzes on the assigned daily readings (10%).

f. Computer exercises (10%). This course involves completing several computer exercises (see syllabus for details). We will have a computer orientation session in the Language Lab (basement of Asbury) on Thursday 11 September. Please contact the course teaching assistant (Anna Robins) if you have any problems with the programs.

g. 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 grade, since if you are not present you obviously cannot participate. The participation grade includes brief writen exercises in connection with class simulations.

h. The writing assignments: as I am sure you know, the General Education Program stresses writing skills. You will have several opportunities to use these writing skills in the written assignments described above, which will be graded on the basis of content as well as style, organization, grammar, etc. I expect these assignments to be typed, and in compliance with the standards set out in the College Writing courses you have taken. There will be one grade for content and one for form. You may resubmit your paper if your "form" grade is low. The course's teaching assistant will provide you with guidance and comments on your paper, but does not grade your paper (that is my responsibility as the course's instructor).

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. An unreasonable number of absences (especially if unexplained) will inevitably affect your participation grade (see "g").

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. All exams and quizzes are "closed book".

l. Videos. In the "Study assignments" which follow, you will find a series of video tapes listed. These are optional, and they serve to add a rich visual dimension to the course. You can see these video tapes at your convenience in the Library's Media Services (basement).

m. "Community Service Learning Project". You have the optional opportunity of doing a Project (37.294) in connection with this course. This would earn you one credit, Pass/Fail, for doing a total of 40 hours of approved field work over the semster in the local Hispanic community. Knowledge of the Spanish language is not required. Due last class session (8 December).

n. Extra credit project (6-8 page reaction paper, or completion of additional computer projects, including your own web page): ask me about this possibility after the Mid-term exam, especially if you are weak in other graded portions of the course, such as participation.

o. The course web site. The course has an experimental web site as part of American University's emphasis on educational technology. See the attached sheet for the "Home Page" which shows the items avialable on the site. 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.

V. Required texts:

(Available through publisher) Jack Child, Latin America: History, Art, Literature, Aug 1993, 1997.

(Bookstore) Pat McNees, ed, Contemporary Latin American Short Stories. (Second edition).

VI. Recommended Texts (available in the Bookstore):

E. Bradford Burns, Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History (6th edition, 1994).

Marta Traba, Art of Latin America, 1900-1980.

VII. Other books and bibliographic sources on Library Reserve:

Ades, Dawn, Art in Latin America: The Modern Era.

Castedo, Leopoldo, A History of Latin American Art and Architecture.

Chase, Gilbert, Contemporary Art in Latin America.

Day, Holliday T., Art of the Fantastic: Latin America 1920-1987.

Smith, Bradley, Mexico: A History in Art.

Tenenbaum, Barbara, Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture (AURef F1406.E57)

Assignments:

By clicking on the date, you will go to the review page for that class session.

Child= Jack Child, 1993 (editorial corrections, 1997) "Latin America; History, Art, Literature" (3-ring binder). Note that that you can go directly to these text chapters by clicking in the cells below.

Burns= E. Bradford Burns, "Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History" (6th edition, 1994).

Traba= Marta Traba, "Art of Latin America", 1900-1980.

McNees= Pat McNees, ed, Contemporary Latin American Short Stories (2nd edition, 1996).

Date	Child	Burns	Traba	McNees/Other
Th 4 Sep	-	-	-	Course intro
M 8 Sep	1,2	Ch 1	I
Th 11 Sep	1,2			Computer orientation. Meet in Asbury Language Lab (Language Resource Center). Basement of Asbury building, enter through courtyard. Please bring your 3-ring binder ("Child text") and your floppy disk in its front cover.
M 15 Sep	3	Ch 1	I	Optional video: "Mayas" (VIC 27). Go to the Library's Media Resource Center on your own.
Th 18 Sep	4	Ch 1	I	Optional video: "Incas" (VIC 124). Go to the Library's Media Resource Center on your own.
M 22 Sep	5	Ch 1	II
Th 25 Sept	6	Ch 1	II
M 29 Sep	7	Ch 2	II	Geography computer exercise due. Do't forget to write the paragraph as described on your answer sheet.
Th 2 Oct	8	Ch 2	II
M 6 Oct	9	Ch 2	II
Th 9 Oct	10	Ch 3	III
M 13 Oct	11	Ch 4	III	Museum reaction paper due.
Th 16 Oct	12	Ch 4	III
M 20 Oct	13	Ch 4	III
Th 23 Oct	1 to 13			MID-TERM EXAM; Review all
M 27 Oct	14	Ch 5	IV	Optional video: "The Yankee Years" (VIC 417, part 1). Go to the Library's Media Resource Center on your own.
Th 30 Oct	15	Ch 5	IV
M 3 Nov	16	Ch 6	IV
Th 6 Nov	17, 20	Ch 6	IV
M 10 Nov English M 10 Nov Spanish	18 English   18 Spanish	Ch 7	IV	Optional video: "Art and Revolution in Mexico"(VHS 740). Go to the Library's Media Resource Center on your own.
Th 13 Nov	19	Ch 7	IV	McNees stories: pp. 60-76; 78-87
M 17 Nov	20	Ch 8	V	McNees stories: pp. 164-169; 322-326. Optional video: "Castro" (VIC 417, part 2). Go to the Library's Media Resource Center on your own.
Th 20 Nov	21	Ch 8	V	McNees stories: pp. 164-169; 322-326. PAINTER REPORT DUE
M 24 Nov	22	Ch 9	V	McNees stories: pp. 88-93; 154-158
Tue 25 Nov	23	Ch 9	V	McNees stories: pp. 184-194; 224-232; Falklands/Malvinas computer report due.
M 1 Dec	23	Ch 10	V	McNees stories: pp. 184-194; 224-232
Th 4 Dec	24	Ch 10	I	McNees stories: pp. 270-182; 328-346; Antarctica computer report due.
M 8 Dec	24	355-62	I	McNees stories: pp. 270-182; 328-346. Optional video: "Antarctia: Frozen Ambitions" (VIC 1204). Go to the Library's Media Resource Center on your own.
M 15 Dec	14 to 24			FINAL EXAM, 11:20-1:50
Also: optional Final Exam Part II at "Casa Evita y Perrichola", details TBA.