Unit information: Contemporary Latin American History in 2022/23

Unit name	Contemporary Latin American History
Unit code	HISP30069
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Brown
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	None
School/department	Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

This unit examines the principal challenges faced by Latin American states at the beginning of the twenty-first century: Climate Change, Social Inequality, Drug Trafficking and the development of Democracy. Students will explore the ways in which these subjects affect the different Latin American states, adopting a comparative framework in all cases. We will employ a range of primary sources to assist our analysis of the four main themes: from newspapers and online media, novels and films, through to the speeches of politicians, institutional documents, political manifestos and economic statistics.

Aims:

• To introduce students to a significant body of knowledge of a complexity appropriate to final year level. The content matter will normally include one or more of the following: literature; social, cultural or political history; linguistics; cultural studies; film, television or other media.

• To facilitate students’ engagement with a body of literature, including secondary literature, texts, including in non-print media, primary sources and ideas as a basis for their own analysis and development. Normally many or most of these sources will be in a language other than English and will enhance the development of their linguistic skills.

• To develop further skills of synthesis, analysis and independent research, building on the skills acquired in units at level I.

• To equip students with the skills to undertake postgraduate study in a relevant field.

Your learning on this unit

Successful students will:

1. be knowledgable about a significant cultural, historical or linguistic subject related to the language they are studying;
2. will have advanced skills in the selection and synthesis of relevant material;
3. be able to evaluate and analyse relevant material from a significant body of source materials, usually in a foreign language, at an advanced level;
4. be able to respond to questions or problems by presenting their independent judgements in an appropriate style and at an advanced level of complexity.

How you will learn

Lectures and seminars, use of e-resources through blackboard, Latin American newspapers online, films in the Multimedia Centre.

How you will be assessed

Two 3000 word essays equality weighted 50/50, testing ILO's 1-4.

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. HISP30069).

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.