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Fall 2002
This information effective
for Fall 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Fall 2002
T/Th 4-5:45
Instructor: Susanne Jonas
Office: Merrill 110, x 9-3232 or 9-2855 (message)
Office Hours: Wed. 1-4, Th. 10-11, or by appt.
E-mail: sjonas@cats.ucsc.edu
TA: Ernesto Bustillos, e-mail: enbustil@cats.ucsc.edu
This course focuses on the
politics of power and resistance in relation to major issues facing the Americas
in the 21st century. Since we are studying "the Americas" in a transnational
world, the issues are cross-border in scope, linking Latin Americans to Latino
populations in the U.S. The course highlights cross-border popular and social
movements (resistance) that are emerging and seeking alternatives to neoliberal
"globalization" and "free trade" (power). Although many
of these popular movements are locally-based, increasingly they are adopting
internationalist, cross-border, binational and transnational perspectives in
order be more effective in the 21st century—to revive the activist approach:
"Don’t Mourn, Organize." The course has been updated for Spring
2002 to include the post-9/11 context.
The course will cover the
following issues:
While we will study specific
cases from all areas of the Americas, many cases will highlight binational Central
American (as well as Mexican) experiences, and we will give special emphasis
to California’s connections with Latin America. Gen Ed codes T-3 and E.
Course Readings:
Required readings are (a) Jeremy Brecher, et al., Globalization from Below (available
at Bay Tree and Slug Books) and (b) a Course Reader (to be sold in class). An
optional but highly recommended background book will be Juan González,
Harvest of Empire. Additional resources will include a variety of books (on
Reserve), videos/ films, tapes, and guest speakers.
Requirements and basis
for evaluation of students: a midterm exam and a final exam (both take-home).
There will also be 2 or 3 smaller written assignments. Students are expected
to attend all class sessions, keep up with course readings, and participate
actively in class discussions and in weekly section meetings.
(Dates to
be adjusted for Fall 2002)
Course Introduction (March
26)
I. "Development for
Whom?" Revisited: Globalization and its Discontents
(a) Globalization, Neoliberalism,
and Free Trade in the Americas (March 28, April 2, 4)
Guest Speaker, April 2: Professor Philip McCalman (Economics)
In-class discussion, part of April 4
Readings: (1) Brecher et. al., Globalization from Below—esp. Chapters 1,2,7,8, Glossary
(2) Reader, Sec. I(a) (on reserve till April 4)
Recommended background reading: Juan González, Harvest of Empire (on reserve)
(b) Responses "From
Below: Protest Movements (from Rio to Porto Alegre) and the Search for Alternatives
(April 9)
Readings: Reader, Sec. I(b)
(c) Anti-Sweatshop Campaigns,
Cross-Border Labor Coalitions (April 11, 16)
Guest Speaker, April 11: David Bacon (noted photo-journalist)
Assignment: Cross-Border Labor Assignment due April 16
Readings: Reader, Sec. I(c)
(d) Immigrant Labor Organizing
(April 16, 18)
Video, April 18: "Bread and Roses"
Readings: Reader, Sec. I(d)
II. Immigration, Binational
Migrant Communities, Campaigns for Immigrant Rights, and New Conceptions of
Citizenship
(a) The Immigration Debates
(April 23)
Assignment: Receive Take-Home Midterm, April 23
Reading: (1) Reader, Sec. II(a)
(2) Brecher et al., Chapter 4
(b) Central American and
Mexican Binational Migrant Communities (April 25, 30)
Video, April 25: "Mayan Voices, American Lives"
Assignment: Midterm Due at beginning of class, April 30
Reading: start Reader, Sec. II(b)
(c) Campaigns for Immigrant
Rights and New Conceptions of Citizenship (May 2)
Reading: finish Reader, Sec. II(b) and all of Sec. II(c)
III. ECO-92 and Beyond:
The Politics of Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development (May 7, 9)
Guest Speaker, May 9: Professor Manuel Pastor (LALS)
Video, in class or section: "The Burning Season"
Reading: Reader, Sec. III
IV. Women’s Movements
and Cross-Border Links, International Gay/Lesbian Movements (May 14, 16)
Assignment: Identity Statement, due May 16
Reading: Reader, Sec. IV
V. Indigenous Diasporas
and Movements across Borders (May 21, 23)
Reading: Reader, Sec. V
VI. Struggles for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Justice across Borders, and Movements toward Transnational
Civil Society (May 28, 30)
Reading: Reader, Sec. VI
Assignment: Receive Take-Home
Final Exam, May 30
Take-Home Final Due, June 6, 11:00 a.m.
Instructor: Carolyn Dean
E-mail: csdean@cats.ucsc.edu
This course examines selected visual cultures from the gulf coast, central, western, and southern portions of (what is today) Mexico between c. 1500 BCE and CE 1521, including those of the Aztec, the Mixtec, Teotihuacan, West Mexico, El Tajin, the Zapotec, and the Olmec. In addition, we will critically analyze some of the past and current scholarship in the field of pre-Hispanic Mexican culture studies. Because scholarly efforts to interpret visual culture become increasingly problematic with chronological distance, we will begin with the most recent and best documented pre-Hispanic culture (the Mexica/Aztec) and work our way back to the earliest complex society (the Olmec). Lectures will NOT survey all of pre-Hispanic Mexican art history nor make any attempt to cover all aspects of Mexican cultural production. Rather, we will focus on selected issues and problems facing scholars in their study of over 3,000 years of Mexican visual culture.
Texts: The text for
this course is Mary Ellen Miller's The Art of Mesoamerica from Olmec to Aztec,
rev. ed. (London: Thames & Hudson), 1996. It is on sale at the UCSC book
store and is on reserve at McHenry (call no. F 1219.3.A7 M54 1996).
There is also a required reader available at Bay Tree.
Evaluations will be based on two exams (one midterm and one final) and
two papers. The papers (combined) count as 40% of your course evaluation/grade;
the midterm counts 25% and the final 35%. You must complete both papers and
pass the final to pass the course.
Exams: Both midterm and final exams will consist of slide identification and essays.
Papers: Two 3-5 page critiques of assigned readings are required.
Lecture Topics:
Fall 2002
Instructor: Susanne Jonas
Office: Merrill 110, x9-3232, 9-2855-message
Office Hours: Tuesday, 1-4, Wednesday, 11-12, or by appointment
E-mail: sjonas@cats.ucsc.edu
This course (Gen Ed code
E) aims to give students the broadest possible understanding of the situation
in Central America today, with a particular focus on Nicaragua, El Salvador,
and Guatemala. It also highlights Honduras and Costa Rica as a contrast (in
part, to prepare students planning to go to Costa Rica for EAP). Specifically,
the course is designed to examine the region from the perspectives of the principal
Central American actors and to explain the historical and socio-economic roots
of the popular and revolutionary movements in Central America; to provide a
comprehensive understanding of U.S. policies in the region; to evaluate the
results of the peace processes ending the civil wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador
and Guatemala. In the wake of the Fall, 1998, devastating Hurricane Mitch, the
2001 earthquakes in El Salvador, and other natural disasters, the course will
also focus on strategies for sustainable reconstruction and development in the
region, and the role of new social actors in such development. The course also
includes a section on Central American immigrants living in California and elsewhere
in the US—their situations in the U.S. and their links to their home countries
and communities. Finally, U.S. policy in Central America will be related to
currently unfolding U.S. actions in the world (Fall 2001).
Course Materials and
Resources: The required readings for the course are: (1) a course Reader,
and John Booth & Thomas Walker, Understanding Central America. Additional
optional reading: Susanne Jonas, Of Centaurs and Doves: Guatemala's Peace
Process; and Thomas Walker and Ariel Armony (Eds.), Repression, Resistance
and Democratic Transition in Central America. The Reader will be sold in
class; the books are available for purchase at Bay Tree Bookstore.
In addition, there will
be a list of recommended/optional readings, which will be on reserve at McHenry
Library as available. Additional course materials and resources will include
films, videos, tapes, and guest speakers from varying points of view.
Course Requirements and
Evaluations: Required work includes (1) a take-home midterm examination;
(2) a take-home final exam; (3) class presentations, as they come up, on topics
of study; (4) periodic reports on items in the news; and (5) other classroom
assignments. Students will be evaluated on the basis of written and oral work
in the class. In addition to fulfilling course requirements, students should
keep up with course readings and come well prepared in order to contribute to
lively discussion and debate in the class. Finally, this class places particular
emphasis on following contemporary developments in Central America in the major
news media.
(Dates to
be adjusted for Fall 2002)
NOTE: For readings
included in each section of the Reader, see Reader Table of Contents.
I. Overview of the Region;
Historical Background and Roots of the Crises in Central America (September
24, 26)
Readings: M 9/24 B/W Chapters 1-3
W 9/26 Reader, Sec. I
II. Guatemala: Legacies
of the 1954 U.S. Intervention, the 36-years' Civil War, and the Peace Accords
(October 1, 3, 8)
Readings: M 10/1 Reader, Sec. II, Jonas
B/W Chapters 4 (on Guatemala) and 8
W 10/3 Reader, Sec. II thru Fauriol (Fauriol optional)
M 10/8 finish Reader, Sec. II
III. El Salvador: Origins
of the Civil War, U.S. Involvement, the Peace Accords, and Post-War Situation
(October 10, 15, 17)
W 10/10 Film: Romero
Readings: W 10/10 Reader, Sec. III thru Platform
B/W Chapters 4 (on El Salvador) and 7
M 10/15 Reader, Sec. III thru Arms Control Caucus (Gleijeses optional)
W 10/17 finish Reader, Sec. III (Lungo, Kufeld optional)
Receive Midterm: October 22
Midterm Due: October 29, at beginning of class
IV. Nicaragua: The
Sandinista Revolution, the U.S.-sponsored Counterrevolution, the Post-Sandinista
Era (October 22, 24, 29, 31)
Readings: M 10/22 B/W Chapter 4 (on Nicaragua)
W 10/24 B/W Chapter 6
M 10/29 Reader, Sec. IV - begin readings on Nicaragua
W 10/31 Reader; Sec. IV–finish readings on Nicaragua
W 10/31 Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Simpson
V. Costa Rica and Honduras:
Non-Revolutionary Countries (November 5)
Readings: M 11/5 B/W Chapters 4 (on Costa Rica and Honduras) and 9
VI. United States Policy
and Alternatives: The "New Cold War," the Reagan Doctrine, the
Central American Peace Process, and the Panama Invasion (November 7, 12, 14)
W 11/7 Discussion also on Nicaraguan election results
Readings: W 11/7 Reader, Sec. VI through Sharpe (Sharpe optional)
M 11/12 B/W, Chapter 10
W 11/14 FILM: The Panama Deception
Readings: W 11/14 Finish Reader, Sec. VI
VII. Post-War Central
America in the 1990s and 21st Century, Central Americans in the U.S., and Hurricane
Mitch: Neoliberalism, Cross-Border Organizing, Migration, Mitch, and a Sustainable
Future (November 19, 26, 28)
M 11/19 Guest Speaker: Eric Holt-Giménez
Readings: M 11/19 Reader, Sec. VII, Envio, Lucentini, and articles on Hurricane Mitch
W 11/21 Thanksgiving Eve – no class
Readings: M 11/26 and W 11/28: finish Reader, Sec. VII
Receive Final: November 28
Final Due: December 5