Undergraduate Course: Development and Decolonization in Latin America (GEGR10114)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This is an Honours course in Geography that studies the continent that we now call Latin America through a decolonial, feminist, and anti-capitalist lens. It enables students to work effectively with decolonial theoretical perspectives and non-Eurocentric knowledges in order to analyse the cultural, political, economic, environmental, and epistemic challenges facing contemporary Latin America and the diverse and creative ways in which Latin Americans mobilize against coloniality and oppression. |
| Course description |
Please be warned that this course contains challenging material, that deals with many human rights abuses in Latin America, including state-led massacres of Indigenous peoples, spectacular forms of misogyny and sexual violence, and the violent pollution of lands and waterways by oil and other multinational companies. This material can be hard to encounter and digest, but it is important to your understanding. At the same time, the course also seeks to be uplifting and provide a sense of hope, by focusing on inspirational collective movements to build a better world. It encourages reflection on how we too might build a sense of solidarity with oppressed peoples and move beyond a world that oppresses, excludes and destroys.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course is open to 3rd and 4th year students. This course is open to all university students, but priority will be given to students on the Geography Degree Programmes. Students from other programmes may be able to join if there is space. Please contact geoset.ug.drummond@ed.ac.uk to check availability. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 29 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 32,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
164 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Reflections on Learning and Student Course Grade (100%):
Use of AI Tools is Not Permitted:
Academic integrity is a core principle of research and academic practice. All submitted work must be your own. AI tools (e.g., ELM) must not be used for this assessment. Unauthorised use of AI may constitute academic misconduct.
Coursework Extensions:
Extensions are permitted for this assessment. Please review the guidance on the Registry Services website and apply via MyEd.
Extra Time Learning Adjustments:
Students with Extra Time Learning Adjustments may request additional time for this assessment. Applications should be made using the Extra Time Learning Adjustment (ETA) tool, available via the Disability Support page in MyEd.
Course Pass Requirements:
Students must attain an overall mark of 40% (or above) in order to pass the course.
Formative Assessments:
Book Critique and Review (0%):
- This is a non-graded assessment. Students are required to complete this assessment in order to progress to the summative (graded) component of the course. If students require an extension for this formative assessment, please contact the Course Organiser, Prof Julie Cupples, directly via email.
Decolonial Option Essay (0%):
- This is a non-graded assessment. Students are required to complete this assessment in order to progress to the summative (graded) component of the course. If students require an extension for this formative assessment, please contact the Course Organiser, Prof Julie Cupples, directly via email.
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| Feedback |
Written feedback on written work, verbal feedback in class and during office hours. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Have a knowledge of key theoretical perspectives in Latin American development and be able to critically evaluate their significance.
- Be able to recognise, analyse, interpret, and critique development discourses related to Latin American development.
- Have an advanced understanding of the ways in which the cultural, the economic, the political, the social, the environmental and the epistemic are entangled in Latin American development practice and theory.
- Understand the importance of cultural politics and political activism and struggle in Latin America in representing, making, and contesting development.
- Have an in-depth understanding of the modernity/coloniality/decoloniality research paradigm and be able to apply it to specific development issues, social movements, or political processes.
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Reading List
There are two key supporting texts for this course, a textbook and a handbook. They are both available in the library, so there is no need to purchase unless you wish to. A detailed reading list will be provided to enrolled students.
- Cupples, J (2022) Development and Decolonization in Latin America, 2nd ed. London: Routledge
- Cupples J, Palomino-Schalscha M and Prieto M (2019) The Routledge Handbook of Latin American Development. London: Routledge.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Reading, writing, analysing, communicating, group work. |
| Special Arrangements |
This course is open to 3rd and 4th year students. This course is open to all university students, but priority will be given to students on the Geography Degree Programmes. Students from other programmes may be able to join if there is space. Please contact geoset.ug.drummond@ed.ac.uk to check availability. |
| Keywords | Latin America,Gender,Media,Environment,Neo-liberalism,Indigeneity,Development Decolonization |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Julie Cupples
Tel: (0131 6)51 4315
Email: Julie.Cupples@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Leigh Corstorphine
Tel: (0131 6)50 9847
Email: lcorstor@ed.ac.uk |
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