ANTHROPOLOGY 314: CULTURES OF LATIN AMERICA
Dr. Peter Cahn
Vose 217
Office hours: M 2:00-3:30, F 9:00-10:30
617-414-1508
Fall 2011
TuTh 3:30-5:00
Building
pcahn@bu.edu
This class takes a problem-based approach to the study of Latin America. Although it will not cover
every country within the region, it will focus on the key debates that have motivated anthropologists
who conduct fieldwork in Latin America. Through readings, discussion, and independent research,
students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
assess and respond to journalistic accounts of Latin America
participate in anthropological debates
analyze the relationship between the United States and its neighbors
identify new areas for scholarly investigation
Course requirements:
Attendance and participation: 100 points (every class)
Students should attend regularly, practice academic honesty, complete readings by the Tuesday
of the week they are assigned, and contribute to classroom discussion.
Discussion board: 150 points (every Tuesday)
Before every Tuesday, students will participate in a forum on the Blackboard discussion board
by providing a tentative answer to a question posed in the syllabus for that week. Each post will
be worth 15 points. Full credit posts will respond to the prompt completely and clearly.
Students will also be expected to leave a comment for at least one other classmate. Students
who participate fully in all 12 weekly discussions qualify for up to 30 extra credit points.
Interview: 100 points (due September 15)
Interview someone who grew up in a Latin American country. Ask about the cultural
similarities and differences between your subject’s home and the United States. Write a 500word guide to the customs of that country for someone from the United States visiting there for
the first time.
Mid-term exam: 100 points (in class October 13)
Exam consisting of map, identifications, short answers, and essay
Scholarship contest: 100 points (due November 10)
Prepare an 800-word essay answering the question, “Why is the study of anthropology
important to today’s world?” Examples of past winners and entry form are here:
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/pdf/2010-Pearson_Anthro_Scholarship_Essays.pdf.
Current event presentation: 100 points (every class until December 8)
Identify a news item during the semester that pertains to Latin America. Present the article to
the class in less than five minutes and submit a 250-word explanation about how it relates to
the course. You may present at any class, but there are only two slots per session.
Learning portfolio: 150 points (list of sources due November 22; final due December 1)
Assemble at least five sources related to one of the bolded questions on the syllabus. Using the
materials, answer the question in a 1000-word essay.
Final exam: 200 points (December
Two-hour cumulative exam with a map, identifications, short answers, and long essays.
Boston University
AN 314
Fall 2011
Evaluation criteria for written assignments:
Central idea
35%
Evidence
35%
Organization
20%
Language
10%




Effective
Advances an
original,
provocative
argument
Cites specific,
persuasive
examples from
course and outside
readings
Follows a logical
order with smooth
transitions
Uses standard
written English
and chooses
precise words with
few errors
Adequate
Offers a central
idea, but more
descriptive than
argumentative
Selects evidence
that relates to
main idea, though
not richly
analyzed
Flows nicely but
paragraphs may
lack topic
sentences
Makes a few
grammatical
errors
Marginal
Offers a simplistic
or confusing
argument
Inadequate
Does not organize
the paper around
any central idea
Chooses irrelevant
examples to
support ideas or
evidence not well
described
Does not integrate
sections of the
paper coherently
Misrepresents
evidence or does
not cite sufficient
sources to support
ideas
Lacks organizing
principle to direct
reader from
thought to thought
Uses nonstandard
English or
frequent
typographical
errors
Compromises
clarity through
unclear sentence
construction
Submit all assignments to the digital dropbox on Blackboard by the beginning of class on the
appropriate day.
Late assignments lose a third of a letter grade for every day they are late.
No makeup exams will be scheduled.
Collaboration is allowed, but all work submitted must represent original effort.
Readings available at the BU bookstore and on reserve at the library (articles available on Blackboard):
Allen, Catherine J. (2002) The Hold Life Has: Coca and Cultural Identity in an Andean Community.
2nd ed. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
Quiñones, Sam (2001) True Tales from Another Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press.
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy (1992) Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Week 1 (Sep. 6-8):
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What popular stereotypes exist about Latin America?
Quiñones: “Telenovela”
Swanson, Philip (2010). “Going Down on Good Neighbours: Imagining
América in Hollywood Movies of the 1930s and 1940s.” Bulletin of Latin
American Research 29(1):71-84.
Week 2 (Sep. 13-15): What was the impact of European conquest on Latin America?
 “The Last Valiente” in Quiñones 249-265
 Foster, George M. (1987). “On the Origin of Humoral Medicine in Latin
America.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 1(4):355-393.
 INTERVIEW PAPER DUE (SEPT. 15)
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Boston University
AN 314
Fall 2011
Week 3 (Sep. 20-22): Who is an Indian?
 Quiñones: “San Quintín”
 Nelson, Diane M. (2001). “Indian Giver or Nobel Savage: Duping, Assumptions
of Identity and Other Double Entendres in Rigoberta Menchu’s Stoll/en Past.”
American Ethnologist 28(2):303-331.
Week 4 (Sep. 27-29): How do rural communities connect with the land?
Allen, 1-126
Week 5 (Oct. 4-6):
Will traditional rituals survive in the modern world?
Allen, 150-247
Week 6 (Oct. 11-13): Reading catch-up
Tues. Oct. 11
Review (last day to drop class with a “W” grade)
Thurs. Oct. 13
MIDTERM—IN CLASS
Week 7 (Oct. 18-20): Why are more Latin Americans moving to cities?
Quiñones: “Tepito”
Caldeira, Teresa P.R. (1996). “Fortified Enclaves: The New Urban
Segregation.” Public Culture 8:303-328.
Week 8 (Oct. 25-27): What is the legacy of slavery in Latin America?
Scheper-Hughes, 1-127
Week 9 (Nov 1-3):
How does living in poverty affect families?
Scheper-Hughes, 268-399, 480-504
Film selection: “Black Orpheus”
Week 10 (Nov. 8-10): What challenges does the Roman Catholic Church face in Latin America?
 Quiñones: “Leaving Nueva Jersualén” and “Jesús Malverde”
 Burdick, John (1999). “What is the Color of the Holy Spirit? Pentecostalism and
Black Identity in Brazil.” Latin American Research Review 34(2):109-131.
 SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY DUE (NOV. 10)
Week 11 (Nov. 15-17): What does it mean to be macho?
Quiñones: “The Jotos of La Fogata;” “The Dead Women of Juárez”
Carrillo, Héctor. (2003). “Neither Machos nor Maricones: Masculinity and
Emerging Male Homosexual Identities in Mexico.” In Changing Men and
Masculinities in Latin America. Edited by Matthew C. Gutmann (Durham, NC:
Duke University Press). Pp. 351-369.
Week 12 (Nov. 22):
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How are Latin Americans organizing for political action?
Quiñones: “The Bronx”
Conklin, Beth (1997). “Body Paint, Feathers and VCRs: Aesthetics and
Authenticity in Amazonian Activism.” American Ethnologist 24 (4):711-737.
LIST OF SOURCES FOR LEARNING PORTFOLIO DUE (NOV. 22)
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Boston University
AN 314
Fall 2011
Week 13 (Nov. 29-Dec. 1): How do Latin Americans cope in a global economy?
 Quiñones: “The Popsicle Kings of Tocumbo” and “Nuevo Chupícuaro”
 Suzana Sawyer (2002). “Bobbittizing Texaco: Dis-Membering Corporate
Capital and Re-Membering the Nation in Ecuador.” Cultural Anthropology
17(2):150-180.
 LEARNING PORTFOLIO DUE (DEC. 1)
Week 14 (Dec. 6-8): Is Latin America reconquering the United States?
Quiñones: “Zeus and the Oaxaca Hoops” and “West Side Kansas St.”
 Chavez, Leo R. (2001). “Immigrants outside the Imagined Community of the
Nation, 1994-99.” In Covering Immigration: Popular Images and the Politics of
the Nation (Berkeley: University of California Press). Pp. 174-214.
 LAST DAY FOR CURRENT EVENTS PRESENTATION (DEC. 8)
Boston University is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with
disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course are requested to
speak with the professor and the Office of Disability Services as early in the semester as possible.
http://www.bu.edu/disability/
All students entering Boston University are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty
and integrity. It is the responsibility of every student in the College of Arts & Sciences to be aware of
the Academic Conduct Code’s contents and to abide by its provisions.
http://www.bu.edu/cas/students/undergrad-resources/code/
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