Unit information: Latin America in the Twentieth Century: A People's History in 2021/22

Unit name	Latin America in the Twentieth Century: A People's History
Unit code	HISP20119
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Professor. Brown
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will explore Latin American history from 1910 to 1990. It explores the profound changes in Latin American cultures and societies that have occurred since republics were established in the nineteenth century. It will introduce undergraduates to the key historical themes of race, class, gender and geography and how they have shaped processes of urbanization, inequality, national identity, social transformation and environmental change.

The unit will explore these themes and processes through critical analysis of a range of primary source material in Spanish, including novels, poetry, speeches, newspaper reports and photography, and comparison will also be made to historical experience in Brazil.

Aims

Students will explore several texts in detail and will analyse them within their political and historical contexts.

Students will also be trained in conducting historical research online, finding and identifying primary sources through libraries and databases, and building their own extended research bibliographies from the materials presented by the unit directors.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. demonstrate a high level of understanding of the global, international, national and local historical processes that shaped the development of Latin American cultures and societies during the twentieth century;
2. analyse cultural texts and historical events through a critical approach that privileges close reading and historical contextualisation;
3. identify and compare major themes from twentieth-century Latin American history such as race, gender and class, both chronologically and across the continent;
4. develop clear communication and presentation skills;
5. formulate their responses and arguments in written form to a standard appropriate to level I/5

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including group seminar-style discussion and self-directed exercises.

Assessment Information

1 x 15-minute presentation (30%), testing ILOs 1-4.

1 x 2500-word coursework essay (70%), testing ILOs 1-3 and 5.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HISP20119).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.