Module Identifier GG26010  
Module Title THE AMERICAS  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Dr Heidi V Scott  
Semester Semester 2  
Other staff Matthew Hannah  
Course delivery Lecture   20 Hours. 10 x 2 hours  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours Seen examination - answer two questions from four.100%
Supplementary Exam2 Hours Resit examination in same format.100%

Learning outcomes

On succesful completion of this module students will have gained an appreciation of:-

Students will be able to:


Aims

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the varied social, economic, and cultural landscapes of the Americas.

Content

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the varied social, economic, and cultural landscapes of the Americas. Focusing on several key themes, such as colonization and independence, nation building and modernization, the course will emphasize how and why diverse cultural formations have attempted to 'shape' New World social formations, as well as the aims and ideals of select groups who have worked to produce alternate visions of society. In-depth case studies ranging from Spanish colonialism in the New World to the making of the American West and from the civil rights movement to nation-building in Latin America will be used to draw out these themes. Students will read both theoretical works and empirical studies of particular peoples and places, and will explore how people and place have been represented in maps as well as diverse written texts. Themes:

Part I: Latin America
1. The Americas: an introduction
2. The Spanish American city
3. Independence and nation-building in Latin America

Part II: The United States
4. What's American about America?
5. Making The American West
6. Marginalization in the American West
7. The myth of the South
8. American mobilities

Part III: The USA an Latin America
9. Latin American-U.S. relations
10. The U.S.-Mexican border

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Burkholder, Mark A. and Johnson, Lyman, L. (2003) Colonial Latin America Oxford: Oxford Uni. Press
Burns, E. Bradford (2002) Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History Eaglewood Cliffs, N.Y. : Prentice Hall
Cronon, William, Miles, George and Gitlin,Jay (eds) (1992) Under an Open Sky: Rethinking America's Western Past. Norton. Classmark: F591.U5
Jackson, John Brinckerhoff (1994) A Sense of Place, A Sense of Time. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Classmark: GF90.I6
Nelson Limerick, Patricia (1987) The Legacy of Conquest. Norton. Classmark: F591.T7
Swanson, P. (ed.) (2003) The Companion to Latin American Studies London, Arnold

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5