Undergraduate Course: Introduction to Latin American and Caribbean History (HIST08046)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course offers students an introduction to Latin American and Caribbean history. Ranging from the pre-1500 period prior to European colonisation all the way through the twenty-first century, the course explores the histories of one of the world's largest and most culturally and geographically diverse regions. |
| Course description |
Currently, almost 700 million people live in the thirty-three countries that comprise Latin America and the Caribbean -- representing nearly ten percent of the entire globe. The region is as diverse, culturally and geographically, as it is large: landscapes range from beaches to snow-capped mountains, and from deserts to rainforest, sometimes all within the borders of a single country. And the social landscape is equally pronounced, with dense urban cities like São Paulo, Mexico City, and Port-au-Prince complementing a vast array of smaller towns and rural settings.
As an introduction to the kaleidoscope of histories, cultures, and communities within Latin America and the Caribbean, this course will highlight some of the key developments of the region from the pre-1500 period (prior to European colonisation) all the way through the modern day. Themes of study will include indigenous history and systems of knowledge, the histories of enslavement and resistance, borders and the development of nation-states, geopolitics, and human rights. Throughout the course, an emphasis will be placed on analysing translations of primary and secondary sources to enable students to better understand the contributions made by writers and artists within the region to world history, politics, and culture.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
The Historian's Toolkit (HIST08032)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 1 introductory level History course at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- command a substantial body of historical knowledge
- develop and sustain historical arguments in a variety of literary forms, formulating appropriate questions and utilizing evidence
- understand a variety of approaches to discussing, constructing, and interpreting the past; understand relevant concepts and theories derived from the humanities and social sciences
- address historical problems in depth, involving the use of contemporary sources and advanced secondary literature
- express themselves, orally and in writing, with clarity, fluency, and coherence
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Reading List
Townsend, Camilla. Malintzin's choices: an Indian woman in the conquest of Mexico. UNM Press, 2006.
Brathwaite, Edward. The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica, 1770-1820. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971
Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. Silencing the past: Power and the production of history. Beacon Press, 2015.
Césaire, Aimé. Notebook of a Return to the Native Land. Wesleyan University Press, 2001.
Partnoy, Alicia. The little School: tales of disappearance and survival. Cleis Press, 1998.
Menchú, Rigoberta. I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala. Verso Books, 2010.
De Jesus, Carolina Maria. Child of the dark: The diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2003. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills and abilities in research and inquiry:
- ability to draw valid conclusions about the past
- ability to identify, define and analyse historical problems
- ability to select and apply a variety of critical approaches to problems informed by uneven evidence
- ability to exercise critical judgement in creating new understanding
- ability to extract key elements from complex information
- readiness and capacity to ask key questions and exercise rational inquiry
- ability critically to assess existing understanding and the limitations of knowledge and recognition of the need regularly to challenge/test knowledge
- ability to search for, evaluate and use information to develop knowledge and understanding
Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy:
- openness to new ideas, methods and ways of thinking
- ability to identify processes and strategies for learning
- independence as a learner, with readiness to take responsibility for one's own learning, and commitment to continuous reflection, self-evaluation and self-improvement
- ability to make decisions on the basis of rigorous and independent thought
- ability to test, modify and strengthen one's own views through collaboration and debate
- intellectual curiosity
- ability to sustain intellectual interest
Skills and abilities in communication:
- ability to make effective use of oral and written means to convey understanding of historical issues and one's interpretation of them.
- ability to marshal argument lucidly and coherently
- ability to collaborate and to relate to others
- readiness to seek and value open feedback to inform genuine self-awareness
Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness:
- ability to approach historical problems with academic rigour
- ability to manage and meet firm deadlines
- possession of the confidence to make decisions based on one's understanding and personal/intellectual autonomy
- ability to work effectively with others, capitalising on diversities of thinking, experience and skills |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jacob Blanc
Tel: (01316) 509110
Email: Jacob.Blanc@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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