This course studies important twentieth century texts from Spain and Latin America. The readings include short stories, theatre, the novel and poetry. This subject is conducted in Spanish and all reading and writing for the course is also done in Spanish.

Interdisciplinary introduction to contemporary Latin America, drawing on films, literature, popular press accounts, and scholarly research. Topics include economic development, ethnic and racial identity, religion, revolution, democracy, transitional justice, and the rule of law. Examples draw on a range of countries in the region, especially Mexico, Chile, and Brazil. Includes a heavy oral participation component, with regular breakout groups, formal class presentations on pressing social issues (such as criminal justice and land tenure), and a structured class debate.

This course is designed as an introduction to Latin American politics and society for undergraduates at MIT. No background on the region is required. Overall workload (reading, writing, class participation, and examinations) is similar to that of other HASS-D courses. Many of the themes raised here are covered in greater detail in other courses: 21G.020J (New World Literature), 21G.716 (Introduction to Contemporary Hispanic Literature), 21G.730 (Twentieth and Twentyfirst-Century Spanish American Literaturere), 21G.735 (Advanced Topics in Hispanic Literature and Film), 21A.220 (The Conquest of America), 21H.802 (Modern Latin America), 3.982 (The Ancient Andean World), 3.983 (Ancient Mesoamerican Civilization), 17.507 (Democratization and Democratic Collapse), and 17.554 (Political Economy of Latin America).F

This video provides a brief history of Latin American Liberation Theology and explains why the Vatican condemned it.

This collection uses primary sources to explore leaders of Latin American revolutions. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Learning Outcomes:
Analyze and articulate geographic concepts related to the geography of Latin America, its physical environment, peoples, cultures, and history.

Analyze changing political and economic relationships between the United States and countries in Latin America in order to be a more informed and engaged global citizen.

Interpret maps, graphs, and visuals as tools for analyzing the distribution patterns of phenomena and understanding their importance.

Evaluate how changing cultural, social, political, and economic characteristics of Latin American countries influence internal strife and external intervention.

Understand the complexities that contribute to the social inequality, political conflict, and environmental concerns prevalent in some Latin American countries and discuss possible solutions.

Is Mexico the most dynamic economy in Latin America?  After some tough times in the 1980s and 90s, Mexico has emerged as one of the economic leaders of the region.  Where does it stand among other emerging markets and what are its prospects for the future? In this four-week course, we will study the modern Mexican economy, some of the unique elements of development in a one-party, authoritarian regime, and some of the challenges the country faced in getting to this point.

This class is a selective survey of Latin American history from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. Issues studied include Latin America in the global economy, relations between Latin America and the U.S., dictatorships and democracies in the twentieth century, African and Indigenous cultures, feminism and gender, cultural politics, revolution in Mexico, Cuba, and Central America, and Latin American identity.

The goal of this project is to provide high-quality, accessible primary sources to those teaching and studying the histories and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world and the indigenous peoples of Latin America. Our modules cover a wide range of topics, but all consist of the same essential parts:

This is a module framework. It can be viewed online or downloaded as a zip file.

As taught Autumn Semester 2010/2011.

This module explores and analyses democratic politics in Latin America since the third wave of democratization in the 1980s. It is divided into three parts:

1. Conceptualising democracy in the region with a focus on the debate between those who argue that liberal democracy and liberal markets are necessary and desirable and those who argue that only experiments that go beyond both will truly democratise the region.

2. Explaining problems in democratic development such as lack of participation, representation and citizenship with reference to the political economy of neoliberalism, dependent development and political culture, amongst other theories.

3. Asking the question: who are the actors who will democratise democracy in Latin America, with a focus on political parties, social movements, elites/technocrats and NGOs. All discussions will be contextualised with reference to particular case studies.

Module Code: M13098

Credits: 20

Suitable for study at: Undergraduate level 3

Dr Sara Motta, School of Politics and International Relations

Dr Sara Motta obtained her BA in Philosophy and MSc in The Politics of Development (Latin America) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She completed her PhD at the Department of Government, LSE under the supervision of Dr Francisco Panizza and Professor Rodney Barker in 2005. She was appointed as a three year Tutorial Fellow in Comparative and Latin American Politics in the Government Department, LSE before being appointed to lectureship in Politics at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham in 2007.

Dr Motta's teaching interests are in the broad themes of comparative political economy of the Global South, popular politics and social movements in Latin America, comparative political analysis of democracy and development in Latin America and the politics of knowledge.

Dr Motta's research focus is the politics of subaltern resistance, with particular reference to Latin America.

El libro busca crear un espacio informático de interacción formativa y de producción, teórico-práctica, entre docentes y estudiantes de cátedras universitarias de diversas facultades, carreras y disciplinas de estudio de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina. Es de nuestro interés compartirlo con otras Universidades de América Latina, afines en la temática, que tengan disposición a ser parte de esta experiencia democratizadora de producción y enseñanza académica que ingeniosamente ofrece Proyecto Latin. Organizamos una comunidad interdisciplinaria (Derecho, Ciencia Política, Sociología y Trabajo Social) a partir de expectativas comunes en contenidos y abordajes en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje universitario de grado. Las políticas públicas, el género y los Derechos Humanos constituyeron el campo temático de interés común, que forma parte del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje así como también de estudios e investigaciones de los y las participantes de la comunidad

In this webinar, sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation's Militarism Research Project, researchers Lora Lumpe and Adam Isaacson talking about using the Freedom of Information Act to pry loose information on U.S. military aid to foreign countries. Webinar is hosted by John Lindsay Poland, an FOR staff researcher w/ extensive experience in Latin America.

Course Sequences
Spanish IV aims at developing and improving student's oral and written communication through the continued study of the language, literature and culture of Spain, Latin America and Hispanic communities in the United States. It also seeks to improve students' ability to read and appreciate literary and non-literary texts in Spanish, deepening this way students' awareness and understanding of the cultural diversity of the Spanish-speaking world. The course is organized by themes based on contemporary social, political and cultural issues of Spanish-speaking societies such as: cultural identity, the changing roles of women and family, economic development and its effects on cultural heritage and environment, and the individual's rights in the political system.

21G.031 examines the terms "avant garde" and "Kulturindustrie" in French and German culture of the early twentieth century. Considering the origins of these concepts in surrealist and dadaist literature, art, and cinema, the course then expands to engage parallel formations across Europe, particularly in the former Soviet Union. Emphasis on the specific historical conditions that enabled these interventions. Guiding questions are these: What was original about the historical avant-garde? What connections between art and revolution did avant-garde writers and artists imagine? What strategies did they deploy to meet their modernist imperatives? To what extent did their projects maintain a critical stance towards the culture industry?
Surveying key interventions in the fields of poetry, painting, sculpture, photography, film, and music, the readings also include signal moments in critical thought of the last century. Figures to be considered are: Adorno, Aragon, Bataille, Beckett, Brecht, Breton, Bürger, Duchamp, Eisenstein, Ernst, Jünger, Greenberg, Kandinsky, Malevich, Mayakovsky, and Tzara. Taught in English, but students are encouraged to consult original sources when possible.

This course is aimed at the aspiring planning practitioner, policy-maker, or industry decision-maker with an interest in urban transportation and environmental issues in Latin America. The course will focus on current transport-related themes confronting many cities in the region, including: rapid motorization and suburbanization and subsequent impacts on transportation infrastructure and quality of life; public sector management and improvement of privately-owned and operated transit systems; and, transportation air pollution problems and potential solutions.
The course will be geared towards interactive problem-solving, taking advantage of students' skills and experiences in: institutional analysis, policy analysis, and project and program evaluation and implementation. Detailed knowledge of transportation planning is not required; instead, the course will attempt to place the general practitioner into a specific transportation public policy situation and draw from her skills to devise real solutions. To fulfill this problem-solving orientation, the course will be divided into two parts. Part I of the course will consist of a series of lectures on the principal issues surrounding transportation in the developing world (including motorization, fiscal pressures, urban sprawl), concepts of  sustainability as they relate to urban transportation, regional strategic planning approaches, and transportation policy and technology options and examples of successful implementation.  After these lectures, Part II of the course will be dedicated to the two case studies, where students will apply the knowledge gained in Part I to develop strategic solutions to the transport-land use-environment challenges in two different cities.

This is the story of the Virgen de Guadalupe ……… the Queen of the Americas… one of the most important parts of Mexican history in the last 500 years and one of the most important historical events in all of the Americas….
whether you believe or not…. or whether it’s true or not…..
Her importance is undeniable and indisputable…
Her image can be found nearly everywhere… she is essentially a national symbol for Mexico….. Why?
Why is she so important? Who is the Virgin Guadalupe?

Here is her story…

How did the Monroe Doctrine become the justification for American interventions in Latin America? Who is the legitimate president of Venezuela: Maduro or Guaido?

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Investments in renewable energy are a powerful way to fight climate change Except when they come at the cost of human lives That’s the reality currently faced by the indigenous people of Oaxaca, Mexico In arguably the richest land for harvesting wind energy in all of Latin America government and investors foresee a promising solution to climate change and a source of new jobs But their approach is proving problematic to the way of life of the native Zapotecas and Ikoots who have had to sacrifice their land, their livelihood, and even their lives to backers of wind energy projects It’s what researcher Jacobo Ramirez calls a worrying case of social turbulence where Mexico’s unpredictable political and social systems has created a situation in which laws and regulations protecting environmental justice are not observed Until government and business can learn to include collective indigenous interests in their plans environmental injustice will continue to prevail.."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.