HIST 269 - Topics in United States, Latin American or Canadian History

FDR: HU
Credits: 3 in fall or winter; 4 in spring
A course offered from time to time, depending on student interest and staff availability, on a selected topic or problem in United States, Latin American or Canadian history. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Winter 2013 topic:

HIST 269: Revolution and Dictatorship in Twentieth-Century Latin America (3), In the collective imagination, two images stand out as representative of Latin America. One is “the revolutionary,” immortalized by “Che” Guevara, whose face is a universal symbol of political struggle and social justice. The second is “the military dictator,” characterized by Augusto Pinochet and Manuel Noriega, who seem to embody for many North Americans the continual backwardness of the region and its need for strong-handed rule in order to achieve modern nationhood. We place these images (and the conceptual weight they bear) within the broader histories of the region with case studies on Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Cuba, and Chile. (HU) Gildner.

Fall 2012 topic:

HIST 269: U.S.-Latin American Relations, 1825-present (3). Examines the historical interaction between Latin America and the United States from Spanish American Independence in 1825 to the present. Explores the political, social, cultural, economic, and ecological dimensions of this relationship, focusing on such key themes as imperialism, development, military-state relations, the environment, the war on drugs, science and technology, and human rights. (HU) Gildner.