ISS 220 Time Space and Change in Human Society Prof Peter M Beattie Instructors Helen Kaibara David Bennett Lecture Hours T Th 10 20 11 40 Email beattiep msu edu Phone Please do not call my office and leave a message I do not use the voice mail service Instead please contact me with a courteous email Office 401 Morrill Hall Office Hours Th 2 30 4 30 Fall 2012 Class Room McDonel 107 ISS 220 Time Space and Change in Human History in Latin America At first blush the title time space and change in human history seems self explanatory but when one exams it more closely the complexity of defining each term of this phrase reveals conceptual and theoretical questions How have humans conceived of time over time How do societies perceive and describe the physical world that surrounds them and how they use it What constitutes change in human societies and how have historians and social scientists endeavored to describe and to explain it This course seeks to explore aspects of these broad questions from a geographic or spatial perspective that is likely not as familiar to most students by focusing on case studies from a part of the world that came to be known as Latin America The Americas were at the forefront in the formation of new post colonial communities that we now recognize as modern nation states The idea of a national community spawned in the Americas was so successful that it later came to shape the European powers that had colonized so much of the Americas Africa Oceania and Asia in the early modern period and the nineteenth century The advantage of exploring these issues from a less familiar perspective is that it provides a distant mirror to reflect on our own society its history and formation At the same time the formation of our own national community has much more in common with Latin America nations than any other part of the world The nations of the Americas from north to south emerged from struggles for independence from European monarchies and these independence movements found their intellectual inspiration in the rise of scientific thinking during the Enlightenment which also ultimately led to the emergence of the disciplines we have come to know as the social sciences The nations that formed the Americas all struggled to define who would be incorporated and excluded from the rights of citizenship once they established their independence After all the Americas had been inhabited by migrants from across the globe Europe Africa and Asia and included many descendents of indigenous communities the first human inhabitants of the Americas Determining who would enjoy the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship often cleaved along lines of race class or income gender age legal status slave or free and ethnicity In short understanding the rise of nation states and how they evolved over time is a story of changing ideas of community over time Course Requirements Students will be evaluated on the basis of two exams 25 each one short paper 25 and participation and performance in the discussion section 25 The short paper is due on Nov 22 at the beginning of lecture and will be based on one of the monographs we will read in this course Exam questions will be circulated two weeks before they take place to help students to prepare but students will write essays in response to one of the questions in an in class exam without recourse to written materials the internet or notes Students are admonished to attend class regularly and punctually if they are interested in earning a passing grade in this course Unless there is a documented act of God grave illness or family tragedy there will be absolutely no make ups in this course If you are having problems that are making it difficult or impossible to complete your work please see your section instructor well before assignments are due or examinations take place Note that the exam date is Dec 11 Unless you have a viable university recognized conflict you will be expected to be in class that day to sit for the exam A family vacation or desires to end the term early are not viable reasons for missing the exam or requesting a make up examination Required Books for the Course John Chasteen Born in Blood and Fire A Concise History of Latin America 3rd Edition New York Norton 2001 ISBN 9780393911541 William H Beezley Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico Lincoln and London University of Nebraska Press 1987 ISBN 0 8032 6102 0 Hermano Vianna The Mystery of Samba Popular Music and National Identity in Brazil Ed And Trans By John Chasteen Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1999 Manuel Puig Kiss of the Spider Woman New York Vintage International 1991 Class and Reading Schedule Aug 30 Introduction to the course Discussion Section No meeting this week Sept 4 Required Reading Chasteen p 1 46 What does it mean to be Modern Discussion Section Introduction Sept 6 Required Reading Chasteen p 48 84 Sept 11 No Class but keep up with your reading Theories of Change in Human History Latin America and the Struggle for National Independence Argentina s Independence Chaos and Caudillos Camilla Required Reading Chasteen p 86 114 Discussion Section Benedict Anderson Creole Pioneers find on Angel Sept 13 Sept 18 Discussion Section Reading TBA Sept 20 Sept 25 Required Reading Chasteen p 119 148 Discussion Section Reading William Beezley Judas at the Jockey Club p ix 66 Sept 27 Mexican Independence Oct 2 Required Reading Chasteen p 149 178 Camilla Argentina The Rise of Liberal Nation Builders Rise of Liberal Nation Builders in Mexico Brazil A Unique Path Toward Independence Brazil Abolition and the End of Monarchy Discussion Section Reading William Beezley Judas at the Jockey Club p 67 88 Oct 4 Oct 9 Discussion Section Reading William Beezley Judas at the Jockey Club p 88 132 Oct 11 Oct 16 Discussion Section No reading review for midterm examination Oct 18 Oct 23 Required Reading Chasteen p 179 215 Discussion Section Reading Hermano Vianna The Mystery of Samba p xii 52 Mid term Examination The First Great Revolution of the Twentieth Century Cuba Spain s Loyal Colony Review for Mid term Mexico into the Twentieth Century Mexico from Populism to Neoliberalism Brazil From Old Republic to a New State Brazil From Populism to Militarism to Oct 25 Oct 30 Required Reading Chasteen p 216 251 Discussion Section Reading Hermano Vianna The Mystery of Samba p 53 118 Nov 1 Nov 6 Neoliberalism Required Reading Chasteen p 252 283 Discussion