CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY
Prof. Abigail E. Adams, 832-2616  
Fall 1996 VAXUsername: Adamsa

Anthropology 428: CULTURES OF LATIN AMERICA
Class Meetings: MWF 9-9:50 a.m. Place: FD 100
Office Hours: M 1-4, T 1-4, 110E DiLoreto Hall

DESCRIPTION: This course explores the diversity of peoples of the Americas, as well as the common experiences of ethnicity, economy and .. that shape their lives. We will have three approaches to the material. Ethnographically, we will be reading cultural descriptions. Methodologically, we will be comparing the different "case studies" to arrive at the region's cultural patterns and distinctions. Theoretically, we will be exploring the connections between local logics and global processes, identity and economy. Finally, the readings cross boundaries of class, race and gender and of course, of nationality: the future of the peoples of Latin America has a profound impact on the future of "North" America. We end the course, therefore, with the voice and testimony of those Latin Americans.

Course format includes lecture, movies, class discussion and journal swapping. Reading is set at 60-70 pages per week, with one exception. Most of the movies are from the highly acclaimed "Americas" series, produced for the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Cristobal Colon on the continents.

TEXTS: Elvia Alvarado with Medea Benjamin, Don't Be Afraid, Gringo

Sheldon Annis, God and Production in a Guatemalan Town

Duncan Green, Faces of Latin America

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Death Without Weeping

REQUIREMENTS: 1) Attendance and Participation: 10%

2) Reading Journals: 30%

3) Midterm Exam: 20%

4) Final Paper and Peer Review: 30%/10%

CLASS SCHEDULE:

Sept 4: Introduction to Course

6: Introduction to the Continent: Geography, History, Cultural Diversity

Sept 9-13: In and Out of Empire

On Reserve: Wolf and Hansen, "Indians and Europeans,"

Nash, "Aztec Women"

Sept 16-20: Consequences of Conquest and Colony

Green, Chapter One

On Reserve: Foster, "Peasant Society and the Image of the Limited Good"

Wolf, "Closed Corporate Peasant Communities in Mesoamerica and Central Java" Myers, "A Glimpse of Family Life..."

First Reading Journal Due in Wednesday class, Sept 18

Sept 23-Oct 4: Closed Corporate Community???: A Mayan Town in Guatemala

Green, Chapter Eleven

Annis, God and Production...

On Reserve: Stephen, "Zapotec Weavers of Oaxaca"

Movie: "Miracles Are Not Enough"

Oct 7-11: World Economic System, World View: Cosmology and Identity in a Changing World

Green, Chapters Two and Three

On Reserve: Wilson, "Machine Guns and Mountain Spirits"

Nash, "Devils, Witches and Sudden Death"

Wolf, "The Virgin of Guadalupe"

Midterm Exam, October 11

Oct 14-16: Rural to Urban: Machismo, Mestizaje, Managing on the World Periphery

Green, Chapter Nine

On Reserve: Lancaster, "Subject Honor, Object Shame"

Stephens, "Marianismo"

Ehlers, "Debunking Marianismo"

Movie: "In Women's Hands"

October 18 READING DAY

Oct 21-25: Green, Chapters Four and Five

On Reserve: Gill, "Painted Faces"

Lancaster, "Coping With Less"

Lancaster, "The Negro of the Family"

Movie "Mirrors of the Heart"

Second Reading Journal due Wednesday Class, October 23

Oct 28-Nov 1: Brazil: From Sugar Plantations to Urban Slums

Scheper-Hughes, Introduction and Chapter One

Paper Topics and Readings Due Nov 1

Movie "Capital Sins"

Nov 4-8: Brazil: Ideals of Gender, Engendering Class

Scheper-Hughes, Chapters Two and Three

Nov 11-15: Brazil: M(otherhood) and Social Reproduction

Scheper-Hughes, Chapters Seven through Nine

Third Reading Journal due Wednesday Class, November 13

Nov 18-22: The Other Brazil and Lowland Amazonia: On-Going Contact and Conquest

Green, Chapter Ten

On Reserve: Bodley, "Support in the Struggle"

Movie "The Kayapo"

Nov 25-Dec 6: Men and Women and The Land

Green, Chapters Seven and Eight

Alvarado, Don't Be Afraid

First Draft of Paper Due in Class November 25

Peer Review Due in Class December 2

Dec 9-13: Borderlands: North American in Latin American, Latin American in North America

Green, Chapter Six

On Reserve: Anzaldua, Chapters One through Three

Enloe, "Carmen Miranda on my mind"

Movie "Builders of Images"

Last Reading Journal due Wednesday Class, December 11

Final Papers Due Final Exam Session, December 16, 8-10 a.m.

Grading Policies:

1) Class participation is an important part of this course and consists of:

A) Attendance: More than three absences will hurt a student's grade. Students are responsible for documenting their attendance by signing the attendance sheet. I am taking attendance to encourage your exposure to the material available only in class and to encourage your participation and support in class discussions. Perfect attendance will help the final grade. After three absences, each further absence deducts two percentage points from final grade. Whether or not you attend the session, you will be responsible for the material presented in class, and I will not reteach class during office hours.

B) Participation: As part of this class, you are responsible for active listening, discussion participation, supporting each other in sharing, risk-taking and feedback.

2) Reading Journals: You are responsible for four journals over the course of the semester, each journal based on discussion questions that I will present the previous week. There is space provided on the syllabus to note those discussion questions. Each journal must be at least two pages, typed and double-spaced. Make two copies. These will be shared with your classmates during the first half-hour of Wednesday's class, and will provide the basis for discussion.

The journals are more than reading notes, but not as formal as essays. I expect good paragraph and sentence structure, but not necessarily an overall paper structure (thesis, body, conclusion). These should include the MAIN IDEAS of each of the pieces you are reading, and YOUR IDEAS about the connections that you are beginning to draw between the readings and the other course materials.

The readings are rich, and each can be read several times. With each reading, more becomes clear, more connections are made, more questions apparent. One suggestion for thinking about a chapter or article is to try to sum it up in ONE WORD after your first reading: "This article is about ____________." Then try a complete sentence: "This article concludes that _______________" or "The reading addresses our reading last week by ____________." Feel free to use first or third person. I, and the rest of the class, will always find interesting the questions and consequences that you raised in your first reading of the material. Include these also and raise them in class!

Your grade is based on the quality of the completed journal: Re-presenting or summarizing the readings earns a C; Commentary and connections earns a B; Superlative commentary, connections and mastery of the material earns an A. Experiment with your first journal, and remember, I always take improvement into account.

3) Final Paper/Peer Review: You will choose a book about a Latin American's life, written in their voice. I will provide a list of possibilities, as well as a description of the testimony genre. I expect you to address the issues concerning testimony in your paper, but otherwise, you are free to develop your own paper topic based on the issues and debates raised in the course. Your topic MUST BE APPROVED by me, and are due November 1, as noted on the Class Schedule.

As a scholarly exercise, papers should contain a) a THESIS STATEMENT clearly defining the specific question or issue you will address and WHY it is IMPORTANT, b) proof that you know what you are talking about through an INFORMED discussion of MULTIPLE SOURCES or points of view that address your topic and your book's subject, drawn from the course readings. Descriptive summaries of ethnographic facts or one author's position will NOT be acceptable.

Drafts of papers are due Monday, November 25, as noted on syllabus: Bring two copies, one for me and one for a peer reviewer. I will assign a number to everyone to use instead of your name. Peer review of the rough draft of another student's paper shall consist of a two-page evaluation of the paper, drawing on knowledge gained from the course to offer constructive--and specific--comments and suggestions regarding content, organization and style. All reviews and any comments made directly on the draft will be due Monday, December 2, so that authors may use these in revising their papers. If these are received Wednesday, partial credit might be arranged. AFTER THIS, no credit will be given.

4) Midterm Test: One week before the test, you will receive a study sheet with thought questions and key terms. The midterm will take the hour of class on the day noted. The test will consist of multiple choice and true/false questions.

5) Late Work and Missed Exams: I will deduct one grade level per day for assignments received after the due date. For example, if your paper due Tuesday was handed in on Thursday and earned a B+, it would earn a B-. Late reading journals can receive no grade higher than a B-. See the exception for the peer review assignment.

6) Rough Drafts: I am happy to read rough drafts of assignments before their due date.

7) Incomplete Grades: I allow incomplete grades for students who have passed the first half of the course, who have a legitimate reason for not completing the semester's work and who speak with me a week before the final class.