An Introduction to Latin American Societies (ILAS)
Core Course
Fall 2012
SC 036
Gustavo Morello
Mon-Wed-Fri
12 – 12:50 pm
Course description
The aim of this course is to introduce students to sociology while exploring Latin
American societies.
The course will start with a general presentation of both sociology and Latin
America. We will discuss what sociology is, and the different ways of studying
societies. We will also focus on Latin American societies and their particularities.
For that, we will take some time to study pre colonial and colonial times,
independence wars, and the birth of modern Latin American nations. Once in the XX
century, we will learn about the main revolutionary movements and the reactions
against them.
Relying on this historical background, we will explore Latin American societies
through sociological concepts such as race, gender, social violence, religion, sports,
and culture. We will also address Latin America economic inequalities and
democratic institutions. While doing that, students will be introduced to different
social methods, qualitative and quantitative. Finally, we will pay attention to US-LA
relations and the fact of Latino people living in the United States.
ILAS as a Core Course
Core courses at Boston College will:
(a) Help students to ask and answer the "perennial questions.” These are
problems and questions that have been disputed through the ages and yet remain
the basis for understanding the human condition and for deciding how one's life
should be lived. This course will interrogate some of the on-going debates within
sociology as well as the scholarship on Latin American societies and culture. ILAS
addresses perennial questions of social justice and fairness, which can be summed
up in “Why Latin America is such an inegalitarian region?”
(b) Present culturally diverse material. Including topics that have not customarily
been incorporated into the traditional debate, topics that gain in importance when
the Western tradition is viewed from the perspectives of non-European people and
of minorities within European and American societies. In this course we will work
on Latin America and its people, and its relation with North America and Europe.
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(c) Present an historical view of the subject. Many students have little sense of the
past and its relationship to the present. Core courses made a historical perspective
on the discipline so students would gradually piece together a coherent historical
framework for their thinking. In order to fulfill this requirement, we will study Latin
America history. We will get an historical perspective of the problem, and a
sociological one: “Why are Latin American societies structured in such way? Who
wins and who loss in this state of things?
(d) Demonstrate the methodology of the discipline. The course will develop an
understanding of the methodologies of the disciplines appropriate to the level at
which the disciplines are being studied. This courses places many questions, in
order to think about them, students must compare and contrast readings from
different approaches, comparative, historical, economical and case studies. They will
read qualitative material and also some quantitative data. Students will learn about
methodology so they have a scholarly basis from which to evaluate concepts, and
they will record their critical thinking in papers and short exercises.
(e) Include a significant writing component. Students are asked to write several
papers during the semester. Writing is an active effort to organize and express
ideas; it requires students to make connections, to focus issues and to take stands.
These writing works will be graduated accordingly with these goals: focus on an
issue, connecting ideas, and taking stands.
(f) And challenge students to create a personal philosophy of life. Core courses
should challenge students to become aware of their own values and to use the
material of the course to develop a reflective view of life. The students will be
challenged to create a personal philosophy of life: How should a society be
structured?” They will develop a perspective on Latin American societies and
Latinos living in the United States.
Course requirements
x A schedule of assignment dates is attached below.
x This is a reading and participation intensive course. Readings are due on the
week they are listed. Come to class ready to discuss them.
x You are required to attend classes, to bring pieces of news about any topic
related to Latin America to each class, and to participate in class discussions
and organized presentations.
x For most of the topics we will complete an activity. In nine classes you will
receive a handout with instructions. We will also use some class time on the
activity. Then, to receive a credit for the activity, you will write a two pages
reflection paper, which is due the first day of the next topic. There are 9
activities, and you are required to complete 6 activity papers. You may decide
to write about every activity, in which case I will drop your lowest three
scores, or you may skip up to three weeks. But if you were planning to
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x
x
complete an activity that was your 6th and you couldn’t do that, you won’t be
able to do an extra one. So plan carefully!
There will be two examinations during the course and a final one. This last
exam will be a written work.
The paper will be written through the ‘Writing Fellows’ program. The BC
Writing Fellows Program is a writing initiative on campus. As part of this
final paper assignment, you will be working with Writing Fellows from the
English department (the Fellows will not take part in the grading process).
This is an exciting opportunity as students rarely have the chance to really
work on their writing as part of their coursework. Since writing is so critical
to anything that you might pursue, this class will place a great deal of
emphasis on it. Thus, the paper is broken down into two sets of tasks, each of
which will be reviewed by a Writing Fellow. Meetings with the Writing
Fellows are required.
Course Grading
A 93-100%
A- 90-92%
B+ 87-89%
B 83-86%
B- 80-82%
C+ 77-79%
C 73-76%
C- 70-72%
D+ 67-69%
D 63-66%
D- 60-62%
F below 60%
Percentage of grade
1. Class attendance and participation (doing the readings, bringing pieces of
news, contribution to debates and the like) 10%.
2. 6 short writings (5% each) 30%. Submitting papers: Bring a hard copy of
your paper to class on the date it is due. No late work will be accepted for
credit.
3. 1st Exam 25%. Friday, October 12th.
4. 2nd Exam 15%. Monday, November 5th.
5. Final Exam 20%. You should submit the hard copy of the paper the day and
hour scheduled for the exam, in my mailbox (McGuinn 426)
Academic Honesty
Your work must be your words and ideas. When writing papers, use quotation
marks around someone else’s exact words and identify whose words they are.
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Academic Integrity is of utmost importance to this and all BC courses and research.
The university’s academic integrity procedures will be enforced. Failure to comply
will result in a report to the Dean and the Committee on Academic Integrity.
For further information, please review the College’s policies on academic integrity
here: http://www.bc.edu/integrity
Blackboard
https://cms.bc.edu/webct/urw/tp0.lc5116011/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Textbooks
Prevost, G and Vanden, H (2011) Latin America. An Introduction, Oxford University
Press, New York. (LA)
Chasteen, J (2011) Born in Blood and Fire. A concise history of Latin America, W. W.
Norton & Company, New York. (BBF). There are older editions that you can use.
Course reserves on line
Weeks
1 (Sep 3)
Introduction:
Sociology,
Latin
America.
2 (Sep 10)
Pre Colonial
and Colonial
times
Readings
Mills, C Wright (2000) The Sociological imagination, Oxford. Ch. 1 p. 3-24
LA: 1(18p)
What is Sociology? http://www.sociology.org/what-is-sociology
Moya, J (2011) ‘Introduction: Latin America – The limitations and meaning
of a Historical Category’, in Moya, J., Ed. The Oxford Handbook of Latin
American History, Oxford University Press, New York. (24p)
BBF: Intro. 1, 2 (84p).
LA: 2 (22p).
Mann, C (2005) 1491 New revelations of the America before Columbus, Ch. 3
(The Land of 4…) and 6 (Cotton or Anchovies…) (64p).
Optional
Kleiber, J (2004) ‘The Jesuits in Latin America: Legacy and Current
Emphases’, in International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol., 28, n2.pp.
63-66. (3p)
BBF: 3-7 (164p)
3 (Sep 17)
From
Independence
to
Nationalism
4 (Sep 24)
BBF: 8-9 (73p)
Revolutions
Anderson, J (1998) ‘The Dictator’ in The New Yorker, October 19. (19p)
and reactions
Optional
4
5 (Oct 1)
Race and
Gender.
7 (Oct 8)
Social
Violence
8 (Oct 15)
Religion
9 (Oct 22)
Culture
10 (Oct 29)
Economy
11 (Nov 7)
Democracy
and
institutions
12 (Nov 14)
LA: 3 (42p)
LA: 4, 5 (52p)
Craske, N (2003) ‘Gender and sexuality in Latin America’, Swanson, P (Ed.)
The Companion to Latin American Studies, London. Pp. 200-221 (20p)
Earle, D (2000) ‘The Metaphor of the Day in Quiche, Guatemala: Notes on
the nature of everyday life’ in Garrard-Burnett, V (Ed) On Earth as it is in
Heaven. Religion in Modern Latin America. Jaguar Books, Delaware, pp. 71106. (31p).
Strocka, C (2006) ‘Youth gangs in Latin America’ in SAIS REVIEW, vol. XXVI,
n 2 (Summer-Fall 2006), pp.133-146 (33p)
Anderson, J (2009) ‘Gangland; a reporter at large’ in The New Yorker, 85,
October 5, 2009. (11p)
LA: 6 (19p)
Berryman, P (1997) ‘Church and Revolution. Reflections on Liberation
theology’ in NACLA. Report on the Americas, vol. XXX, n 5, march/april
1997. Pp. 10-15 (5p).
Berryman, P (1994) ‘The coming of age of Evangelical Protestantism’ in
NACLA. Report on the Americas, vol. XXVII, n 6, may/june 1994. Pp. 6-10
(4p).Hagopian, F (2008) ‘Latin American Catholicism in an age of religious
and political pluralism’ in Comparative Politics, Jan 2008, pp. 149-168
(19p).
Levine, D (2003) ‘Theoretical and Methodological Reflections about the
Study of Religion and Politics in Latin America’, in Margaret E. Crahan,
Religion, culture and society: the case of Cuba. A conference report,
Woodrow Wilson Center Reports on the Americas, # 9, pp. 3-16. (13p)
LA: 7 (25p)
Swanson, P (2003) ‘Civilization and Barbarism’ in Swanson, P (Ed.) The
Companion to Latin American Studies, London. Pp. 69-85 (16p)
Coakley, J (2007) Sports in Society, Mc Graw Hill, Boston. Ch. 1 p. 4-29.
Archetti, E (2004) ‘Male hybrids in the world of Soccer’ in Sarto, A; Rios, A
and Trigo A, (Ed.) The Latin American Cultural Studies Reader, Duke
University Press, pp. 406-426 (20p)
LA: 8 (30p)
BBF: 10 (21p)
Thobecke E and Nissanke, M (2008) ‘The impact of Globalization on the
Poor in Latin America’ in Economia, Fall 2008 p. 153-196 (43p)
Hoffman, K and Centeno, M (2003) ‘The lopsided Continent: Inequality in
Latin America’ in Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2003. 29, p 363-390 (27p)
LA: 9, 10 (69p)
Lemann, N (2011) ‘The anointed: a reporter at large’ in The New Yorker,
Dec. 5, 2001. (13p)
Levine, D and Molina, J (2011) ‘Evaluating the Quality of Democracy in
Latin America’ in Levine, D and Molina, J (Ed) The quality of democracy in
Latin America, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, pp. 1-19 (18p).
LA: 11 (28p)
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Social Change
13 (Nov 28)
US – LA
relations
14 (Dec 3)
US and LA
NACLA (2011) Introduction. Latino Student Movements: defending
education, in NACLA Report on the Americas, p. 12-13 (2p)
McSherry, P and Molina Mejia, R (2011) ‘Chilean Students Challenge
Pinochet’s Legacy’ in NACLA Report on the Americas, Nov/Dec 2001, vol. 44
is 6 p 29-35 (6p)
Franklin, J (2011) ‘Camila Vallejo – Latin America’s 23 years old new
revolutionary folk hero’ in The Guardian, Oct 8, 2011. (4p)
Kronik, J and Verner, D (2010) Indigenous peoples and Climate Change in
Latin America and the Caribbean, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Chapters 1, 4 and 6 (51p)
Keefe, P (2012) ‘Reversal of fortune’ in The New Yorker, Jan 9, 2012. (20p)
LA: 12 (24p)
Crandall, R (2011) ‘The post-American Hemisphere. Power and Politics in
an Autonomous Latin America’ in Foreign Affairs, vol. 90, n. 3, pp. 83-95.
(22p).
Koven and Gotzke (2010) ‘A nation of Immigrants’, in Koven and Gotske
(ED) American immigration Policy, Public Administration, Governance and
Globalization, 1. p1-17 (17p)
Cassidy, J (2006) ‘Alien Nation’ in The New Yorker, April 2006. (5p)
Gold, S (2009) ‘Immigration benefits America’ in Society, 2009, 46. Pp. 408411 (3p).
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