SYLLABUS

LAAS 3100: Contemporary Latin America

Fall, 2009 

Instructor’s website: http://cda.mrs.umn.edu/~kildegac/ 

LAAS degree requirements click HERE

For special last semester requirements for LAAS majors click HERE 

Professor: Arne Kildegaard

Office & Phone: Camden 202, x6190

Office Hours: Mon 2:30-4:30, Thurs. 9:30-11:30

Description: This one-hour course meets approximately every alternate Monday night, 7-9 p.m. in IH 112 (unless notice to the contrary is given). See the specific dates below. It is a chance to share and develop our common interest in Latin America, from our various disciplinary perspectives. Students are expected to read widely from a variety of sources, and to come to class prepared to share what they have learned with their fellow students. Typically, we will watch a “background” film for the first hour of the class, and discuss our readings for the second hour of the class. Some weeks there will be a theme (e.g. “Modern Art in Latin America) and some nights it will be a more flexible, open forum on current events.

Assignments: Each student is expected to read (and be prepared to share with the group) at least two articles from different sources for each week’s meetings. One of the two will be selected by your instructor, whereas the other is up to you. Please: no articles from wire services or other daily news sources. In addition, each student should write a one page summary of each article. These should be photocopied (for my benefit), with one copy turned in at the end of each class, and the other copy maintained in a journal. Each article read should be added, on a rolling basis, to a comprehensive bibliography, which will be turned in at the end of the semester. It is expected that the “degree of difficulty” of the articles chosen will rise with the student’s time in the major, over the course of their undergraduate career.

Grading: Grading will be based on 1) attendance, 2) class participation, and 3) written article summaries and final bibliographies.

Dates for Fall '09: 8/31, 9/14, 9/28, 10/12, 10/26, 11/9, 11/23, 12/7