HIST 453
History of Brazil since 1822
Jessica Stites Mor
Office Hours: Wednesday 1-2, office ART 242 (new)
Classroom: ART 204, times MW 2-3:30
email: jessica.stites-mor@ubc.ca
http://elearning.ubc.ca/connect/
Rio de Janeiro: where sparkling waters, beautiful people, and historic neighborhoods and museums combine with the rich sounds of Samba and a
thriving nightlife to give this Brazilian city its reputation as one of the most striking in the world. The Cidade Maravihosa (Marvelous City), as
Brazilians call it, displays a unique blend of contrasts: a bustling metropolis amidst beautiful mountain ranges, rain forests and wetlands,
tremendous wealth amidst crushing poverty, old traditions juxtaposed with desires for modernity. All of the thriving life and diversity of Rio de
Janeiro is showcased between the outstretched arms of Cristo Redentor, the statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado Mountain overlooking
the city. – Brazil Travel Guide, 2008
Calendar description:
Post-colonial history of Brazil with special attention to the politics of culture in state-building. OUC equivalent: HIST
453. [3-0-0]
Prerequisite: 6 credits of HIST; or one of HIST 151, HIST 240 and third-year standing.
Detail: Brazil is a place often marked by its stark contrasts and its multi-cultural diversity. Its history, deriving from
indigenous groups, Portuguese empire building, the slave trade, and European and Asian migration, provides at once
a microcosm of encounter and exchange between civilizations in the Americas and a case study of an exceptional Latin
American experience, from its unique linguistic culture to its rapid economic success, breaking practically every
common assumption about the region. This course will cover the history of Brazil, principally from the perspective of
its social and cultural history, though with significant forays into political and economic history, from its 1822
independence to the present. It will concentrate on making intelligible the vast geographical expanse of the modern
nation state and the tremendous diversity of Brazilian society and historical reality.
Course objectives: Students will become familiar with the history of Brazil from 1822 to the present, postcolonial
problems in the Latin American context, and cultural and social history as genres of historical inquiry. Students will
demonstrate this understanding by completing assignments on primary documents, writing in-class assignments on
four required texts, and participating in a final group project that asks of them to produce an historical documentary
film on Brazil.
Required texts:
Dunn, Christopher. Brutality Garden: Tropicalia and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0807849767
Grandin, Greg. Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Jungle City. New York: Picador, 2010. ISBN 9780312429621.
Levine, Robert, et al. The Brazil Reader: History, Culture and Politics. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999. ISBN 9780822322900.
Moritz Schwarcz, Lilia. “A Mestizo and a Tropical Country: The Creation of the Official Image of Brazil” European
Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe, 80
(2006): 25-42.
Raffles, Hugh. In Amazonia: A Natural History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0691048857
Viotti da Costa, Emilia. Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories. 2nd ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
2000. ISBN 978-0807848401
Warren, Jonathan, “The State of Indian Exorcism: Violence and Racial Formation in Eastern Brazil” Journal of
Historical Sociology, 11.4 (1998): 492-518.
Reference texts, supplemental:
Robert Rosenstone article “History in Images/History in Words” in The American Historical Review, 93.5 (1988):
1173-1185.
Skidmore, Thomas E, ed. Brazil: Five Centuries of Change. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 9780195374551
Stoddard, Jeremy, and Alan Marcus, “Burden of Historical Representation,” Film and History, 36.1 (2004): 26-35.
Assignments and evaluation:
Document Analysis (3) 10% each = 30% - maximum 3 pages each
In-class written assignments (4) 10% each = 40%
Final Project 30%
Breakdown:
10% attendance and participation
10% individual contribution
10% final report with bibliography ~ 3 pages + bibliography (must be in Word format)
(Extra credit option, see below, up to 5% towards final course mark)
Total: 100%
Final project description: The final project for the course will be for three groups in the class to produce a 1520 minute documentary that would be appropriate as a teaching tool for the high school classroom on Brazil's cultural
and social diversity (students can tinker with the theme and title to make it their own). We will work together for
half an hour every Friday, during the second part of class, and each student will be assigned a specific role. The
professor will serve as the film’s executive producer, signing off on major decisions and assuming responsible for
matters of legality. Each group will have a chief editor, a director, segment editors, writers, technical staff, directors
and producer’s assistants, a narrator, a music editor, sound and image editors, website designers, and a film archivist,
who will write up the "press releases" on the project. The film is a "2 million reis" project, and everybody has a
starting "salary" of 30,000 reis, which is a baseline for their participation mark (3/10). When a member of the film
crew completes tasks for their part, or contributes over and above their assigned duty to the project, they get
incremental "raises". The goal is for them to earn the mark they want for participation (80,000 reis or 8/10 begins
the A range). Students can earn over 100,000 reis, and once they do, every 30,000 over their 100,000 can either be
kept for extra credit in the course or can be "spent" or negotiated for "contracting" out extra help, which can involve
consultants such as experts in the field, their colleagues, and their professor. Students will each keep brief notes on
their findings in a journal that will include a bibliography of sources and write up a final three-page report, which the
archivist will assemble into a database. The course will end with a final screening of the films, the goal being that a
successful group project would turn all of the students into real live filmmakers. HINT: final projects making use of
supplemental readings will be at an advantage.
Weekly schedule:
Week 1
Wednesday, Jan 2: Introduction – Background, Geography, Contact
Jan 4 NO CLASS
Week 2:
Wednesday, Jan 9: Portuguese Colonization
Documents: Brazil Reader, 1-57.
Friday, Jan 11: Imperial Brazil
Documents: Brazil Reader, 59-119.
Readings: Viotti da Costa
Week 3
Wednesday, Jan 16: Dom Pedro and the Portuguese Court in Brazil
In-class work: Start group project, assign roles, and introduce objectives
Readings: Viotti da Costa
Friday, Jan 18: Plantation Society
In-class work: Film project planning, intro to editing and documentary film
Documents: Brazil Reader, 121-147
Week 4
Wednesday, Jan 23: Republicanism and Positivism “Ordem e Progresso”
In-class work: Music clips, oral testimony, and audiovisual history
Reading: Lilia Moritz Schwarcz, “A Mestizo and a Tropical Country” article on JSTOR
SUBMIT FILM PROPOSAL (1-2 pages, by group)
Friday, Jan 25: Abolition and Immigration
In-class work: Writing exercise Viotti da Costa book
Documents: Brazil Reader, 351-394 (Race and Ethnic Relations)
Week 5
Wednesday, Jan 30: Library Meeting with Jan Gattrell (meet in LIB 111)
In-class activity: Finding and using audiovisual materials in history
Reading: Jonathan Warren, “The State of Indian Exorcism” article on Wiley Online
Friday, Feb 1: Racial Identity Formation
In-class exercise: Individual group meetings
Reading: Raffles
Week 6
Wednesday, Feb 6: Afro-Brazilian Culture
Reading: Raffles
*** First Document Analysis Paper Due***
Friday, Feb 8: Candomblé and Capoeira
Reading: Raffles
In-class work: Video clips, legal questions related to film production
Week 7
Wednesday, Feb 13: O Sertão and the Canudos Rebellion
Article: Jeremy Stoddard and Alan Marcus, “Burden of Historical Representation,” JSTOR
Friday, Feb 15: Amazonas, Utopia and dystopia
Reading: Specific to project, bring to class
In-class work: Journal articles and pedagogy in documentary film for classroom
SUBMIT STORYBOARD (8-10 segments, by group)
READING WEEK – No Class Feb 18-22
Week 8
Wednesday, Feb 27: Getúlio Vargas and the Estado Novo
In-class work: Writing exercise Raffles book
Friday, March 1: Samba and Popular Music
Reading: Grandin
Documents: Brazil Reader, 149-224
Week 9
Wednesday, March 6: Living in a Favela
In-class work: Film project segment planning, writing history for the screen
Reading: Grandin
SUBMIT SCREENPLAY/SCRIPT (8-10 pages, by Writers)
Friday, March 8: Trabalhismo and the Industrial Working Classes
In-class work: Photographs and montage
Reading: Grandin
*** Second Document Analysis Paper Due***
Week 10
Wednesday, March 13: Juscelino Kubitschek, High Modernism, and Brasilia
In-class work: Writing exercise Grandin book
Friday, March 15: Movimento Negro and Radicalism in the 1960s
Documents: Brazil Reader, 225-349
In-class work: Newspaper articles and sound bites, managing a web-based history resource
SUBMIT BIBILIOGRAPHY (Historian/Archivist, Music/Sound and Image Editors)
Week 11
Wednesday, March 20: Arabs, Jews, and Japanese – Diasporas of Undesirables
Reading: Dunn
Friday, March 22: Revolution of 1964 and Cinema Nova
Readings: Dunn
JSTOR Robert Rosenstone article “History in Images/History in Words” in
The American Historical Review, 93.5 (1988): 1173-1185.
Week 12
Wednesday, March 27: Democracy, Social Movements, and Luis Inácio Lula da Silva
In-class work: Final planning, website launch, course evaluations
Reading: Dunn
*** Third Document Analysis Paper Due***
Friday, March 29: Drugs, Crime and Tourism
In-class work: Writing exercise on Dunn book
Week 13
Wednesday, April 3: Favelização
Documents: Brazil Reader, 395-504
Friday, April 5: Wrap up
***Final reports due***
FINAL PROJECT DUE/SCREENING TBA
Course Policies:
Attendance at lectures, discussions, and film screenings is mandatory. All deadlines, either on the syllabus or
announced in class, should be considered inflexible. Any assignments turned in after the due date will be marked
down accordingly. In general, papers are deducted one letter grade for each day the assignment is late. Extensions
will be granted only in the case of unforeseen emergency. If legitimate problems arise during the course of the
semester that might delay finishing written work or hinder attendance, students should communicate with the
professor prior to the scheduled events. In the event of serious illness, death in the family, or other legitimate
concern, formal documentation may be required. Any work delivered to the department instead of in class will be
time-certified by the secretary.
Equity, Human Rights, Discrimination and Harassment
UBC Okanagan is a place where every student, staff and faculty member should be able to study and work in an
environment that is free from human rights based discrimination and harassment. If you require assistance related to
an issue of equity, discrimination or harassment, please contact the Equity Office, your administrative head of unit,
and/or your unit’s equity representative.
Equity Advisor: ph. 250-807-9291; email equity.ubco@ubc.ca
Web: www.ubc.ca/okanagan/equity
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this enterprise, all students are
expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct regarding academic integrity. At the most basic
level, this means submitting only original work done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas
and attributing them to others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what
is your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the academic enterprise,
and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences of plagiarism or
cheating may result in a mark of zero on the assignment or exam and more serious consequences may apply if the
matter is referred to the President's Advisory Committee on Student Discipline. Careful records are kept in order to
monitor and prevent recurrences.
A more detailed description of academic integrity, including the policies and procedures, may be found at:
http://okanagan.students.ubc.ca/calendar/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,0
If you have any questions about how academic integrity applies to this course, please consult with your professor.
DISABILITY SERVICES
If you require disability-related accommodations to meet the course objectives, please contact the Coordinator of
Disability Resources located in the Student Development and Advising area of the student services building. For more
information about Disability Resources or academic accommodations, please visit the website at:
http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/students/disres/welcome.html
If you have any questions about how academic integrity applies to this course, please consult with your professor.
Style Guide for Citation of References in Writing:
The History faculty has adopted a guide to follow for the submission of all History papers. Students are expected to
submit all papers in lower level history courses in the format as defined in the style guide. This guide is available for
purchase in the bookstore. Copies are also on reserve in the library. This text is: Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket
Guide to Writing History (Bedford Books).
MARKS:
A range (80% to 100%)
A+ (90% +)
A (85-89%)
A- (80-84%)
Exceptional performance.
Superior grasp of subject matter with sound critical evaluations.
Evidence of extensive knowledge of the literature.
Superior organization and use of evidence.
Persuasive composition. Reflects having benefited from revision.
B range (68% to 79%)
B+ (76-79%)
B (72-75%)
B- (68-71%)
Competent performance.
Clear grasp of the subject matter and appropriate use of evidence.
Some evidence of critical and analytical ability.
Demonstrated familiarity with the literature.
Clear composition.
C range (60 to 67%)
C+ (64-67%)
C (60-63%)
Satisfactory performance.
Basic understanding of the subject matter.
Demonstrated ability to develop solutions to basic problems with the issues and material.
Acceptable but uninspired presentation that is not generally faulty but lacks style and depth.
Generally flawed composition.
D to C- range (50-59%)
C- (55-59%)
D (50-54)
Minimal acceptable performance.
Familiarity with material and themes but no consistent analytical or expository qualities.
Usually awkward, difficult composition and/or organization.
F range (0 to 49%)
Inadequate performance.
Little or no evidence of understanding of the subject matter or use of materials.
Weak critical and analytical quality.
Substandard composition and/or failure to meet the technical requirements for the assignment.
Grammatical mistakes which exceed the accidental.
Participation marks:
$2,000,000 Project
Starting salaries $30,000-100,000 (150,000 = Associate Producer credit)
$50,000 = assignment buy-out or subcontracting rights (split between Executive Producer and
subcontractor)
Executive Producer - Dra. Jessica Stites Mor
Producer’s Assistant – Responsible for coordinating between groups (only one)
Director – Responsible for coordinating activities of group, directing meetings, submits storyboard, should attend
workshops
Chief Editor – Responsible for the final cut, shares editing responsibilities as group determines, attends workshops
Co-Editor or Editor’s Assistant – Shares editing responsibilities as group determines, attends workshops
Writer/Narrator – Uses storyboard to create screenplay/script, submits 8-10 page double-spaced script with
bibliography, also creates voice-over from the script
Music and Sound Editor – Provides soundtrack to film, works with editors to lay down sound bites, sound, and
music, manages sound files, provides final bibliographic info to Archivist for all sound/music files used
Image and Video Editor/Aesthetician – Searches for images and coordinate’s groups to flesh out segments, works
with editors to lay down image/video files, manages image and video files, provides final bibliographic info
to Archivist for all images/video files used
Formal workshops will be held for specific tasks, they will generally take place in the Media Center, on the first floor
of the ADM building. All students are welcome to attend as many as they like, but these are not mandatory. The
Media Center will hold open lab times with staff support for students working on projects, open lab hours can be
found at this website: https://labsupport.ok.ubc.ca.
Workshop dates: (all hosted in ADM building, first floor, Media Centre Lab)
Jan 21 -12:30 and again at 4:30 – File management, capture, etc.
Feb. 4 - 12:30 and 4:30 – Editing 1
Feb. 25 - 12:30 and 4:30 – Editing 2
March 4 - Finishing Touches/Creative