SPAN 151
Civilization and Culture of Latin America
Professor Euisuk Kim
Email: euisuk.kim@csus.edu
Office: Mariposa Hall 2033
Phone: 916-278-6652
Office Hours: MWTh: 10 AM-12 PM and by appointment
Textbook: Tradición y cambio: Lecturas sobre la cultura latinoamericana contemporánea
McGraw Hill, 2005, 3rd edition
Course Description: This course studies some of the most important aspects of the cultures of
contemporary Spanish-speaking America. It has an interdisciplinary component that seeks to integrate
the study of culture with the social and political history of Latin America.
This course will prepare the student to engage with important political, social, and cultural
topics in Latin American literature as well as to help develop critical analytical skills to be used in
evaluating them. The course will survey Latin American culture through the readings of some of the
most relevant poetry, short stories, essays, and interviews from the area and throughout history. Some
of the topics to be discussed in the course include the social classes, the ethnicity, the urbanization, the
family, the urbanization, the family, the education, the religion, and the cultural critics.
Course Expectations:
Your grade will depend on how well you read and write and incorporate all materials for the course into
cohesive analytical arguments. By the end of the course, the student should be able to understand more
about the histories and cultures of Latin America in general, as well as to be able to produce a critical
comparative analysis of more than one text assigned for the course. Every student is expected to be able
to read, write, understand and communicate in Spanish.
Course requirements:
1. Exams: There will be 2 exams for this course. Exams will cover information from the textbook as
well as from student presentations and discussions of current events in class.
2. Presentation: Each student will be expected to work with a partner to give one 20-minute
presentation on a topic chosen from the list provided by the professor. Your presentation
should include an informational component, at least one activity for the class to do related to
your topic, discussion questions for the class, and a study guide based on your presentation for
your classmates to use when studying for exams.
Note: Do not read your presentation to the class (this includes reading straight from Power
Points.) Those who simply read will automatically lose ten points from their grade. You may use
brief notes to keep you on track, but the notes should be minimal so that you do not fall into the
trap of reading. Also, do not cite sources word for word without crediting. Doing so constitutes
plagiarism and will result in an automatic zero on the presentation and be reported to the
VPAA’s office.
The presentation grade will be determined as follows:
Content: 60%
Class activity/activities (creativity, organization of activity, appropriateness of discussion
questions): 10%
Language skills: 30%
3.
Essays: Each student will be expected to write 2 essays. First essay should be at least 2 pages
long and the second one 3 pages. In it, you should explain briefly in your own words what your
topic is about, and then offer your commentary or opinion on the situation presented. You
might discuss why you found the topic interesting, analyze it in relation to the themes that we
have been talking about in class, explain whether you think the situation would have been
viewed (or occurred) differently in the United States, etc. You are free to comment as you wish.
You will be graded on the extent of your analysis, the originality of the ideas, and the linguistic
accuracy of your papers.
4. 6 ON LINE QUIZZES: You will have 6 online quizzes in total but the lowest grade will be dropped.
The deadline to take the quiz is NOT by 11 am on Thursday but by 11 am on Tuesday. This is to
help student to prepare the class with time. NO MAKE UP EXAM WILL BE PROVIEDED.
5. Attendance: Only ONE absence is permitted. After two absences the student will receive a grade
of WF. In addition, late arrivals will not be permitted to make up the reading quiz. Be on time!
Grade distribution:
Midterm: 15%
Presentation: 10%
6 ON LINE quizzes: 20% (4 X 5= 20)
Essays: 30% (FIRST 10% and SECOND 20%)
Final exam: 15%
Participation: 10%
January 27
Introducción al curso
February 3
Capítulo 2- Las clases sociales
1. Introducción
28-33
2. César Vallejo
Un hombre pasa con un pan al hombro
34
3. Victoria Ocampo
Palabras francesas
43-49
4. Miriam Lazo Laguna, entrevista (I)
Las clases sociales y la revolución nicaragüense
50
______________________________
February 10
Capítulo 2- Las clases sociales
1. Miriam Lazo Laguna, entrevista (II)
El aborto de la revolución nicaragüense
57-69
__________________________________
2. Miriam Lazo Laguna, entrevista (III)
Epílogo
70-75
___________________________________
3. Javier Díaz-Albertini
Hacia la cultura del logro
75-82
_____________________________________
February 17
Capítulo 3-La etnicidad
1. Introducción
86-91 -------ON LINE QUIZ 1
2. Nicolás Guillén
Balada de los dos abuelos
3. Carolina María de Jesús
La favela
_______________________________
4. Rosario Castellanos
Balún Canán
________________________________
94
97-106
112-118
February 24
Capítulo 4-La urbanización
1. Entrega del ensayo # 1
2. Introducción 130-138---------ONLINE QUIZ 2
3. Homero Aridjis
Poema de amor en la Ciudad de México
138
4. Gustavo Slau G., Andrés Yurjevic M.,
La agricultura urbana, una alternativa productiva para combatir la pobreza.. 140-148
_________________________________
March 2
Capítulo 4-La urbanización
1. Larissa Adeler de Lomnitz,
Asociaciones formales e informales
149-155
________________________________
2. Lourdes Arizpe S.,
El migrante indígena en la Ciudad de México
________________________________
3. Repaso para el examen 1
March 9
Examen 1
(75 minutos)
March 16
Capítuo 5-La familia
1. Introducción
166-172--------ONLINE QUIZ 3
2. Gabriela Mistral
Recuerdo de la madre ausente 173-177
______________________________________
155-162
March 23
Spring Break
March 30
1. Domitila Barrios de Chungara
Si me permiten hablar
___________________________________
2. Mario Benedetti
La guerra y la paz
178-182
183-185
___________________________________
April 6
1. Judith Ortiz Cofer
Quinceañera
___________________________________
188-194
2. Capítulo 6: La educación
Introducción 198-203------------ONLINE QUIZ 4
April 13
1. Entrega del ensayo # 2
2. Sonya Rendón, entrevista (I)
Nuevo Mundo: un experimento educativo modelo
204-211
__________________________________________
3. Sonya Rendón, entrevista (II)
212-218
_______________________________________
April 20
1. Sonya Rendón, entrevista (III)
__________________________________________
2. Paulo Freire
219-223
Pedagogía del oprimido
226-232
___________________________________________
April 27
Capítulo 7: La religión
4. Introducción 270-275------------------ONLINE QUIZ 5
5. Camilo Torres Restrespo, entrevista
¿Comunismo en la Iglesia?/ Mensaje a los cristianos
_____________________________________________
276-279
6. Victoriano Araya Guillén, entrevista: El protestantismo en América Latina I, II
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
May 4
Capítulo 8: La crítica cultural
1. Introducción 316-319 -----------------------ONLINE QUIZ 6
2. Marina Silva, entrevista
El desarrollo económico y la justicia social en el Amazonas 336-343
_______________________________________________________
3. Octavio Paz
Los hijos de la Malinche
348-353
_______________________________________________________
4. Ibsen Martínez
El petróleo está donde él te encuentre
364-369
_______________________________________________________
May 11
Repaso para el examen #2
290-301