HIST H421/H521 Prof. Michael Snodgrass
Fall 2001 Office: Ca 503S 278-7761
Cavanaugh 219 Hours: Tues 2-3, Thur 11-12
Tuesday 5:45-8:25 E-mail: misnodgr@iupui.edu
United States-Latin American Relations: Historical Perspectives
Since they achieved independence in the early 1800s, Latin Americans have looked towards the United States with a mixed sense of admiration, curiosity, respect and mistrust. Our Latin American neighbors may emulate our political institutions, welcome capital investments, and consume our products. But they remain determined to uphold their political autonomy, economic independence, and cultural traditions. This course examines the historical development of this ambivalent relation between Latin America and the United States.
We explore the historical development of a broad range of themes and trends: U.S. foreign policy and policymakers, and the political, economic, and ideological factors that shape policies toward Latin America; patterns of diplomatic and military intervention in the region; anti-imperialist resistance at home and abroad; the social and economic consequences of foreign capital investment in Latin America; and, patterns of cultural exchange, including Latin American immigration to the U.S. Particular attention will be paid to the changing images and perceptions of Latin America in the United States as well as how Latin Americans view their powerful northern neighbor.
Required Readings:
Don Coerver and Linda Hall, Tangled Destinies: Latin America and the United States (1999)
Thomas O’Brien, The Century of U.S. Capitalism in Latin America (1999)
Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer, Bitter Fruit: The Story of an American Coup in Guatemala (1999, original edition 1982)
Mark Danner, The Massacre at El Mozote (l994)
Articles and documents printed from the Electronic Reserve System (http://errol.iupui.edu).
This syllabus, course schedule, class announcements, lecture outlines, study questions, assignments, and grades will be posted to Oncourse (https://oncourse.iupui.edu/). Students unfamiliar with Oncourse may find a “Getting Help” guide at the website or come to the professor for assistance.
Course requirements and grading (based upon 1,000 total points):
Final grades will be determined by student performance on two exams (250H2, or 50%), two essays (150H2, or 30%), quizzes on reading assignments (100, or l0%), and class participation (100, or l0%). Graduate students enrolled in H521 will write an 8-10 page historiography essay in lieu of the second examination.
Final grade scores: A (1,000-930), A- (929-900), B+ (899-880), B (879-830), B- (829-800), C+ (799-780), C (779-730), C- (729-700), D (699-600), F (599 or less).
Remember...
* There is no mandatory attendance requirement. But attendance will be recorded and persistent absenteeism results in lower class participation grades, inferior quiz results, and poor test preparation. Students must make prior arrangements with the professor if extraordinary circumstances cause them to miss one of the two exams. In-class quizzes may not be made up under any circumstances.
* It is expected that all students will 1) read, 2) think critically about, and 3) arrive to class prepared to discuss and be quizzed upon assigned readings. Preparation is the key to effective participation. Students must not only read the assigned material. They must do so actively by a) taking notes and b) preparing comments, critiques, or questions that the readings provoke. Passively outlining the text is not an effective means of critical reading and thought.
* All late assignments will be penalized as follows: 1/3 grade for assignments not turned in on due date (B to B-), one full grade for first week late (B to C), two full grades thereafter (B to D).
* Students who do not complete all written assignments and exams will not pass the course.
* No incomplete grade may be taken by any student except under the most extraordinary of circumstances. University policy states that incomplete grades may be taken only by students who have completed 75% of course requirements.
* Plagiarism and cheating will be punished in accordance with university policy, as outlined in the Indiana University Academic Handbook (p.123) and the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2000-2002 (p.36). Following is the School of Liberal Arts official statement on plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the use of the work of others without properly crediting the actual source of the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, entire articles, music or pictures. Using other students’ work (with or without their permission) is still plagiarism if you don’t indicate who initially did the work. Plagiarism, a form of cheating, is a serious offense and will be severely punished. When an instructor suspects plagiarism, he/she will inform the student of the charge; the student has the right to respond to the allegations. Students whose work appears to be plagiarized may be asked to produce earlier drafts of work or all the books/articles used in a paper or speech. Students should, for this reason and as a protection in cases of lost papers, retain rough drafts, notes, computer files and other work products for three weeks after the end of each semester. The penalties for plagiarism include reprimands, being failed for a particular take-home exam, paper, project or the entire course, disciplinary probation, or dismissal. Faculty, after consulting with their chair and/or the School of Liberal Arts Dean of Students must notify students in writing of their decision. Students have the right to appeal such decisions by submitting petitions to the Academic Affairs Committee. Petitions can be obtained in CA 401. For further information, see “Code of Student Ethics, available in CA 401.
COURSE SCHEDULE
(Subject to revision)
Week 1: Introduction: Contemporary Images of Latin America in the U.S.
(Aug. 28) Independence in the Americas and Early U.S.-Latin American Relations
Week 2: Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War, and Life on the New Frontier
(Sep. 4) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Ch.1; 2) ERROL - Robert May, “Young American Males and Filibustering in the Age of Manifest Destiny” - The View from Chapultepec
Week 3: The War of l898 and the Peculiarities of American Imperialism
(Sep. 11) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Ch. 2; ERROL - 2) Jose Martí selected writings (‘Cuba and the US,’ ‘The Truth About the US,’ ‘Our America’);
3) Louis Perez, The War of 1898, pp. l08-33
Week 4: Railroads, Bananas, and Black Gold: economic integration in the Americas
(Sep. 18) Readings: 1) O’Brien, The Century of US Capitalism, pp.vii-72; 2) ERROL, Jonathan Brown, “Foreign and Native Born Workers in Porfirian Mexico”
Week 5: Benevolent Bullies: military intervention and the anti-imperialist backlash
(Sep. 25) Readings:1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Ch.3; 2) O’Brien, The Century of US Capitalism, Ch. 3; 3) ERROL - “An Argentine Denunciation of Imperialism,” “A Latin American Doctrine of Imperialism,” “A Defense of Intervention”; 4) Oncourse links to Coolidge, All-American Anti-Imperialist League, Lovestone, American Imperialism
Week 6: Learning to be Good Neighbors
(Oct. 2) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Ch.4; 2) O’Brien, The Century of US Capitalism, Ch. 4; 3) ERROL - Seth Fein, “Everyday Forms of Transnational Collaboration: U.S. Film Propaganda in Cold War Mexico”
Week 7: Examination #1
(Oct. 9)
Week 8: The Origins of the Cold War in Latin America
(Oct. 16) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Ch.5; 2) Schlesinger/Kinzer, Bitter Fruit: The Story of an American Coup in Guatemala
* Essay #1 due today *
Week 9: Yankee Go Home: Revolution and Nationalism in South America
(Oct. 23) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, pp.135-49; 2) O’Brien, The Century of US Capitalism, pp.137-69; 3) ERROL - Kennedy, “The Alliance for Progress”, Castro, “The Duty of a Revolutionary”; Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America, pp.224-58
Week 10: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Nicaragua
(Oct. 30) Readings: ERROL - 1) Noam Chomsky, Turning the Tide, 1-42; 2) Latin America and US Foreign Policy: Opposing Viewpoints, pp.24-29, 39-45, 174-85; 3) Oncourse links to Iran-Contra website
Week 11: The End of the Cold War and Peace in Central America
(Nov. 6) Readings: 1) Danner, The Massacre at El Mozote
* Essay #2 due today *
Week 12: The Politics of Cocaine: narco-trafficking and the war on drugs
(Nov. 13) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Ch. 9
Documentary: “Drug Wars”
Week 13: The Globalization Debates: free trade and cultural imperialism since l980
(Nov. 20) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Ch. 7; 2) ERROL - Nevaer, Strategies for Business in Mexico, pp.45-70; Dillon, “Profits Raise Pressures on US-Owned Factories”; Wypijewski, “GE Brings Bad Things to Life”; Bacon, “Laboring to Cross the NAFTA Divide”; “Silverstein, “Busted Coverage”
Week 14: Latinos in the U.S.: immigration history and current perspectives
(Nov. 27) Readings: 1) Hall, Tangled Destinies, Chs. 8 & 10; 2) ERROL - Michael Kamber, “Crossing to the Other Side” (Village Voice series in 3 parts)
Week 15: Examination #2
(Dec. 4)