Latin American Studies

This course offers an introduction to the historical and cultural processes of the Caribbean from the Lithic Age to the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Topics include: introduction to Insular Caribbean Studies; the Antillean insular environment and it's population; periodization of the pre-Hispanic Insular Caribbean; daily life and Antillean material culture; Antillean mythology and worldview; first contact with Europeans.

This course discusses some of the most representative and foundational texts of the narrative genre from the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, as well as several lesser-known authors who were marginalized within the canon during the boom in Latin American literature. Topics include: the Latin American short narrative of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; an overview of the Latin American short novel-- from the late 1920s to the 1950s; the tensions of the canon and the boom (1950s and 1960s). 

This course offers a study of the history of migration in Argentina. It examines the various historical contexts in which immigrant communities arrived in Argentina and how they were integrated into, or marginalized by, a larger national community. This course discusses how migratory phenomena affect the position and relationship of Argentina with other countries in the region and on a global scale.

This course presents the discussion of Brazilian culture in its most relevant aspects to students who come from other cultures. Rethink Brazil through the reading of possible stereotypes present in images internationally disseminated, taking into consideration the process of construction of the Brazilian Portuguese Language and the verbal, non-verbal, and social interactional patterns currently in use. This course provides effective contact with different cultural aspects such as ethnic diversity, art, religion, folklore, culinary, and language through theoretical readings, debates, and eventual lectures about specific cultural topics.

This course examines Spanish and Latin American film studies while exploring the tensions, negotiations, and complex flows of influence from a transatlantic angle. Comprising history, theory and criticism through the exploration of 'national' cinema industries, it explores sites of production and circulation, by examining the role co-productions and film festivals play in the conceptualization and consumption of Latin American and Spanish cinema.