Course Description

Latin America is a distinctive and important world region in many ways.  This course is designed to enhance students’ understanding of the modern countries of Latin America by focusing on a range of environmental, economic, social and other factors that shape the region.  In the first part of the course, a thematic approach is adopted and a number of topics are explored including geo-physical systems, human modification of the landscape, and cultural geography of Latin America. During the latter half of the course patterns associated with different regions within Latin America will be examined, i.e., the Andean Countries and Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and Brazil and Southern South America.

Expectations: Classes will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Everyone is required to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. We will watch a few videos that complement the readings. Participation is expected and encouraged.

Exams: There will be one in-class exam. The exam will use short answers format and will concentrate on the material covered to that point in the class. The date will be announced at least two weeks in advance.

Writing assignments:  Students will be required to complete two writing assignments of approximately 5 pages each. The first paper will be due during the sixth week of classes (approximately) and the last paper will be due no later than November 15. Students must meet with me to discuss a topic for their papers. Other requirements will be announced in class and posted on the course webpage.

Required Textbook:  Brian W. Blouet and Olwyn M. Blouet, Latin America and the Caribbean, 4th. ed.  (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001) ISBN 0-471-39016-X.  

Syllabus

Week 1. Introduction

    What is Latin America? 

    Latin America as a distinctive world region 

    Physical Geography of Latin America:  Tectonic activity, Geological Regions

    Readings: Blouet, Chapters 1,2

 Week 2.  Physical Geography of Latin America (cont’d)

    Climate, Vegetation and Drainage Systems

    Readings: Blouet, Chapters 2

 Week 3.    Pre-Columbian Civilizations and Conquest; Columbian Exchange

   Readings: Blouet: Chapter 3.

    Denevan, William 1992 “The Pristine Myth: The Landscape of the Americas in 1492” Annals of   the Association of American     Geographers 82 (3): 369-385.

    Cohen, Bernard I. 1992 “What Columbus ‘Saw’ in 1492” Scientific American, December 56-62.

Week 4.   Population Patterns

Readings: Blouet: Chapter  5

Preston, David 1996 “People on the move: migrations past and present”, pp. 165-187 in Latin American  Development: Geographical Perspectives, David A. Preston (ed.), Longman Pub. London.

Durand, Jorge et al. 1996 “Migradollars and Development: A Reconsideration of the Mexican Case”  International Migration Review, 30 (2): 423-444.

Orlove, Benjamin 1993 “Putting Race in Its Place: Order in Colonial and Postcolonial Peruvian Geography”.  Social Research, 60 (2, Summer): 301-336.

Weeks 5  Agriculture and Rural Development
Readings: Blouet: Chp. 7.

Brohman, John “The Agroexport Model and Nontraditional Exports in Central America: Déja Vu or  Something New?” Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers, University of Texas Press, 1996  Vol. 22 pp. 1-16.

Kay, Cristóbal 1995 “Rural Development and Agrarian Issues in Contemporary Latin America”, pp. 9-44  from Capital, Power and Inequality in Latin America, Westview Press, Boulder, Co.

Bebbington, Anthony J. 1996 “Rural development: policies, programmes and actors”, pp. 116-145 in Latin  American Development: Geographical Perspectives, David Preston (ed.), Longman Pub. London.

Week 6.    Industrial Development and Urban Growth

Blouet: Chp  6.

Gilbert, Alan 1995 “Debt, Poverty and the Latin American City” Geography, 80 (4): 323-333.

Klak, Thomas 1996 “Distributional Impacts of the Free Zone component of Structural Adjustment: The  Jamaican Experience”, Growth and Change, 27 (Summer): 352-387.

Gwynne, Robert N., Kay, Cristobal 1999 "Latin America transformed: changing paradigms, debates and alternatives", pp. 22-29 in Latin America Transformed: Globalization and Modernity, Gwynne and Kay eds. Arnold

Week 7.  Environment and Development

Readings

Kane, Joe 1993 “With Spears from all Sides” The New Yorker, September 27, pp. 54-79.

Tibbetts, John 1996 “Farming and Fishing in the wake of El Niño” Bioscience, Sept. 1 Vol. 46 (8): 566-569.

Gould, Kenneth A. 1999 “Tactical Tourism: A Comparative Analysis of Rainforest Development in Ecuador  and Belize”, Organization and Environment 12 (3): 245-262.

Roberts, J. Timmons 1996 “Global Restructuring and the Environment in Latin America”, pp. 187-210 in  Latin America in The World-Economy, Roberto P. Korzeniewicz

Week 8.  Review Test

Week 9 & 10. Mexico and the Andean Countries

Included in these countries are the areas in which advanced Amerindian civilizations flourished at the time of initial European contact. We will examine Amerindian influences, the significance of elevation in the tropics, the economic role of primary activities, and the subregions into which each country may be divided. 

Blouet. Chp 8 & 11

Weeks 10  and 11.   Central America and the Caribbean 

Plantation agriculture and imported labor were important in many of the areas included in this part of the course. We will be especially concerned with cultural diversity, economic development, and geopolitics. Larger countries have been selected for individual attention. 

Week 13 & 14. Brazil and Southern South America. 

We will see why parts of Brazil and southern South America are similar to parts of Europe.  Additionally, we will divide each country into distinctive subregions, examine spatial inequalities within countries, and trace recent political changes. 

Grading Scheme

A     93 -   100%            B      83 – 86%        C     73 – 76%             D    63 – 66%

A -   90 -    92%             B -    80 – 82%        C-    70 – 72                D-   60 -62

B+   87 -   89%              C+    77 – 79%        D+   67 – 69%             E    59  & less

Last modified: 10/21/02