Urban Histories of Latin America
HIST 348
Fall 2021 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
LAST 348 |
Cities have occupied Latin American writers, artists, and scholars since the early decades of the sixteenth century. Mapped on to preexisting settlements of indigenous importance, colonial cities became the center of Iberian administration in the New World. They imparted justice, granted citizenship rights, set the standard of civility and religious orthodoxy, and held the promise of economic improvement. The preeminence of cities in Latin America continued into the modern period. Mexico, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro became opulent and unequal metropolitan centers in the nineteenth century. Unconstrained growth brought about the megalopolises of our current day.
This seminar will explore Latin America's major urban centers in significant moments from the pre-Hispanic period until the present day. Through chronicles, travel narratives, photography, legal writings, newspaper archives, maps, and film we will reconstruct the many dimensions of urban culture in the region. The course will be organized thematically and geographically. We will begin by studying the ways in which Latin American writers have understood the role of the city, and its dwellers, in shaping the trajectory of their various nations. We will pay particular attention to themes like the city and modernity, the every-day experiences of urban residents, racial, gender, and social inequality, the city as a site of historical memory and violent contestation, the environmental challenges of urban growth, and the rise and fall of counter-cultural and protest movements. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (HIST-MN)(HIST)(LAST) |
Major Readings:
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Hernán Cortés, LETTERS FROM MEXICO
Brodwyn Fischer, Bryan McCann and Javier Auyero, CITIES FROM SCRATCH: POVERTY AND INFORMALITY IN URBAN LATIN AMERICA
Gilbert Joseph and Mark D. Szuchman, I SAW A CITY INVINCIBLE: URBAN PORTRAITS OF LATIN AMERICA
Ronn F. Pineo and James A. Baer, CITIES OF HOPE: PEOPLE, PROTESTS, AND PROGRESS IN URBANIZING LATIN AMERICA, 1870-1930
Bryan McCann, HARD TIMES IN THE MARVELOUS CITY: FROM DICTATORSHIP TO DEMOCRACY IN THE FAVELAS OF RIO DE JANEIRO
Barbara Mundy, THE DEATH OF AZTEC TENOCHTITLAN, THE LIFE OF MEXICO CITY
Elias al Mûsili, AN ARAB'S JOURNEY TO COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA
Mauricio Tenorio Trillo, I SPEAK OF THE CITY: MEXICO CITY AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Film, HAVANA: THE NEW ART OF MAKING RUINS
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Examinations and Assignments:
Examination and Assignments: Three one-page response papers will be due throughout the course of the semester. Assignments include: two short paper (4-5 pages) and a final paper (10-12 pages) that will require some independent research. Students will share their paper research with the class in a final presentation. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
All readings will be available on the course site. |
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