WINTHROP UNIVERSITY
Department of History
Spring 2015
Bancroft 381
803-323-4816
Gregory S. Crider, PhD criderg@winthrop.edu
History 352: History of United States-Latin American Relations
Section 001/CRN 23053: Tuesday-Thursday 3:30-4:45pm, Kinard 204
3 credit hours
Office Hours:
Monday, 3:00-5:00 pm;
Tues, 1:00-2:00, 4:45-5:45 pm;
Thursday, 4:45-5:45 pm; and by appointment
History 352
LATIN AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES
Combining lectures, discussions, videos, and primary and secondary written sources, we will seek to understand the history of inter-American relations from U.S. and Latin American perspectives. The course studies U.S. political, economic, social, and cultural influences in Latin
America, as well as the diversity of Latin American responses to those influences. The course is organized around three broadly defined systems and time periods: Imperialism (1790s-1930s), Cold
War (1940s-1980s), Neoliberalism and its Latin American Discontents (1990s-present).
Expected learning outcomes for this course include an advanced ability to process and express complex historical ideas, an expanded and deepened understanding of US and Latin
American history in an international context, a broadened familiarity with different approaches to and concepts of Latin American and US history, and a stronger critical analysis of relevant political, economic, and cultural issues.
These outcomes connect directly to the mission of the History BA program, to University
Level Competencies (ULCs), and to Touchstone curriculum goals. In particular, the course contributes most directly to History BA student learning outcomes of understanding historiography (SLO 1), effective written and oral communication (SLO 4), critical understanding global history themes (SLO
5), and critical understanding of US history themes (SLO 6). Course outcomes connect directly to ULC
1 (demonstration of critical thinking) and ULC 4 (demonstration of effective communication skills).
The course also satisfies the Touchstone general education requirement of Historical Perspectives and responds to Touchstone Goals One (effective communication), Three (critical thinking), and Four
(appreciation of human diversity). This course also participates in the Global Learning Initiative (GLI).
All assignments and activities involve global learning.
Course assignments, policies, notes
All course assignments are developed to promote and measure the specific goals and outcomes discussed above. There are three course requirements: class participation, examinations, and papers.
Class participation means contributing your presence, thoughts, and voice to weekly discussions. To participate effectively requires that you keep up with readings and lectures, think about the issues posed by the materials of each week, and volunteer for occasional assignments announced in section. Each student will be asked to lead or co-lead discussions of the readings. You also will be required to turn in occasional short written assignments in preparation for particular discussions. Quizzes on assigned reading materials, if necessary, also may be included in this category. Perfect attendance is expected. All absences will be noted. Missing discussions of readings is especially harmful to one’s mark.

The two examinations (a midterm covering the first part of the term and a final covering the entire semester) will emphasize analysis and interpretation rather than memory of isolated facts and detail. A solid grounding in the evidence, however, is a necessary condition for writing a compelling analysis or interpretation.
Students also must write two essays. The first thought paper, about 5-6 pages (ca. 1300-1500 words, typed, double-spaced), does not necessarily entail extra reading or research, but rather a careful and critical analysis of assigned material. Your task is to use assigned readings as a starting point for a thought paper in which you explore an issue or issues suggested to you in the combination of that reading and related discussions and lectures. The second essay assignment is an expanded thought paper, about 9-11 pages (ca. 2300-2800 words), that again allows you to define your own focus, but this time by drawing from at least one assigned reading as well as at least one book-length source not assigned to the whole class. Both assignments require some independent secondary research. Further details about these assignments will be distributed in class.
Please note that both the Smith and Grandin books offer excellent suggestions for further reading. I will refer to additional readings in class and am pleased to discuss particular interests and readings with you individually.
If the instructor determines a need to modify any of the policies, events, or other items on this syllabus, all changes will be discussed and announced during class. All students are responsible for knowing these changes, regardless of attendance. The online version of the syllabus will be updated.
Honesty and original thought are essential to your education and to our learning community at
Winthrop University. As noted in the Student Conduct Code: “Responsibility for good conduct rests with students as adult individuals.” The policy on student academic misconduct is outlined in the “Student
Conduct Code Academic Misconduct Policy” in the online Student Handbook , esp. pages 32-37
( http://www2.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/handbook/StudentHandbook.pdf
). In sum, plagiarism or any form of cheating or dishonesty are contrary to our collective goals and will be reported and not tolerated in this course.
Winthrop University is dedicated to providing access to education. If you have a disability and require specific accommodations to complete this course, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 323-3290. Once you have your official notice of accommodations from Services for Students with
Disabilities, please inform Gena Smith ( smithg@winthrop.edu
) as early as possible in the semester.
Grading: First thought paper: 10%; second (expanded) thought paper: 25%; midterm: 20%; final exam:
30%; discussion: 15%. All assignments must be completed to receive credit for the course. Plusses and minuses will be used in assessing letter grades.
Assigned books
Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov, Eds. Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History.
Second Ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0195385687
J. Patrice McSherry. Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America . Lanham,
MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. ISBN: 978-0742536876
Peter H. Smith. Talons of the Eagle: Latin America, the United States, and the World. Fourth Ed. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0199856954
Additional articles and documents will be assigned and made available.

Schedule of classes
UNIT ONE: IMPERIALISM
Week 1: Empire in Theory and Practice
13 January
15 January
Starting points: Systems, theories, periods
United States as Empire
Reading: Smith, 1-42; and
Holden and Zolov, Documents #1-10
Week 2: Empire in Theory and Practice
20 January Justifications for Empire
Reading: Smith, Ch. 2; and
Holden and Zolov, Docs. #11-19
22 January 1898: The Spanish-American-Cuban (Puerto Rican-Guamanian-Filipino) War
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. #20-30
Week 3: Empires and Democracy?
27 January Good Neighbors?
Reading: Smith, Ch. 3
29 January Whose Neighborhood?
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. #31-39
Week 4: Empire and Democracy?
3 February Foreign Capital and the Mexican Revolution
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. #40-50
5 February Images and Stereotypes: Latin America and the United States
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. #51-59
UNIT TWO: THE “COLD” WAR
Week 5: How Cold was the Cold War?
10 February Global Dimensions of the “Cold” War
Reading: Smith, Ch. 4
12 February Gender and Bananas
Reading : Holden and Zolov, Docs. #60-74
13 February (no later than 5 pm): Thought Paper due to turnitin.com
Week 6: Turning Points in the Cold War
17 February The Cold War in Central America: Cases
Reading: Smith, Ch. 5; and
Holden and Zolov, Docs. #75-84
19 February “Alliance for Progress” and the Cuban Revolution
Reading: Smith, Ch. 6; and

Holden and Zolov, Docs. #85-93
Week 7: The Cold War and State Terror
24 February MIDTERM EXAMINATION
26 February Collaborative State Terror in South America
Reading: McSherry, Part I
Week 8: Re-examining the Cold War
3 March US Role in South American Dictatorships
Reading: McSherry, Part II
5 March Ending the Cold War
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. #94-103
Week 9: The Carrot and the Stick of US Foreign Policy
10 March A New Empire?
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. #104-120
12 March Conflicting Perspectives of the Cold War
Reading:
Week 10: Spring recess
17 & 19 March No class tba
UNIT THREE: THE NEOLIBERAL PARADIGM
Week 11: The New Economic Consensus?
24 March Superpower Economics
Reading: Smith, Ch. 7; and
26 March A Third Conquest? Oil and Debt in Mexico
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. #121-130
Week 12: The “New Imperialism”?
31 March
2 April
Money, Guns, Drugs, Religion: A New Empire?
Reading: Smith, Ch. 8
The Bush Doctrine
Reading: Smith, Ch. 9
UNIT FOUR: RUPTURES AND DISCONTENT WITH THE PARADIGM
Week 13: Global Economies and Labor Migrations
7 April Success or Failure of Globalization?
Reading: Smith, Ch. 10
9 April Continent on the Move
10 April (no later than 5 pm): Expanded Thought Paper due to turnitin.com

Week 14: Social Costs, Alternatives
14 April Unexpected Opportunities
Reading: Smith, Ch. 11
16 April
23 April
Alternatives to the Consensus
Reading: Smith, Ch. 12
Week 15: Looking Forward
21 April Neoliberalism and South Carolina
Reading: Holden and Zolov, Docs. # 130-138
Conclusions and final preparations
Reading: Smith, “Conclusion”
FINAL EXAM Friday, 1 May, 3:00 pm