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LAS 329
The Literary Works of Mario Vargas Llosa in their artistic, intellectual and political contexts
This course will examine the literary trajectory of Mario Vargas Llosa, giving pride of place to eight novels and two plays that speak to his native Peru.   We will also read several of his major essays.  The course will explore the works of art, political experiences and intellectual currents that inform Vargas Llosa’s creative process, and we will count on the author’s presence during five or six of twelve sessions. Other information:   Mario Vargas Llosa will be a co-instructor of this course. Prerequisites and Restrictions: Course will be taught in Spanish.
Efraín Kristal and Mario Vargas Llosa. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm T.

LAS 401/SPA 412/LAO 401
Latin American Studies Seminar: Islands, Literature & History in Latin America & the Caribbean
How have islands been depicted in literature, historical narratives, film, and popular culture? How have empires, from the Spanish conquest to Guantánamo, reinvented the Caribbean islands as tropical paradises or as very real prisons? We consider the ways in which nationalist discourse, slavery and marronage, revolutions, military occupations, and tourism have shaped collective memory in the “sugar islands.” We will also explore questions of exit, voice and loyalty in Caribbean diasporic communities. The Tempest, More´s Utopia and Robinson Crusoe will provide starting points for rethinking key poetic and political traditions at play. Prerequisites and Restrictions: 200-level Spanish class or permission of Instructor. Open to juniors and seniors. Graduate students are encouraged to enroll. Other Information: The course will be taught in Spanish. Readings and discussion in Spanish and English. Participation in seminar discussion is important. Papers may be written in English but Spanish concentrators wishing to count the course as a departmental must do the readings and written work in Spanish. Program in Latino Studies concentrators must write their papers on topics that engage the US perspective and provide copies of the papers to LAO in order to receive certificate credits.  Other Requirements: Open to Juniors, Seniors, and Graduate Students Only.
Arcadio Díaz Quiñones. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm W.

LAS 402
Latin American Studies Seminar: Economic Analysis of Latin American Development
Most courses on the economics of Latin America focus on macroeconomic aspects of development. In fact, macroeconomic crises have become a trademark of the region. Chronic inflation, international debt and exchange rate and commodity price fluctuations are well known illnesses in the region. In this course I propose a careful look at the microeconomic aspects of the development process in the region, and its intricate relation to an evolving social fabric. The course pays close attention to human development, nuanced individual behaviors, demographic trends and the welfare impacts of social policy.   Economic theory, sociological insights and historical accounts are combined in an attempt to understand the various forces that have shaped economic development in Latin America. The first half of the course looks at historic and macroeconomic issues. We aim at discussing development policies including the import-substituting industrialization policies of the 1950s-1970s, the market-oriented reforms of the 1980s, and the present. The second half of the course digs deeper into microeconomic issues such as poverty, inequality, education, and corruption. Macro discussions are then informed by micro fundamentals while the micro discussions will be guided by questions of macro relevance . Prerequisites and Restrictions: Basic notions of statistics. Introductory Economics (principles) welcome, but not required.
Marcos Rangel. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm F.

LAS 404/COM 428
Latin American Studies Seminar: Jorge Luis Borges in Comparative Contexts
We will read Jorge Luis Borges' creative writings as a concentrated and explicit dialogue with the Western Canon: the Arabian Nights, Cervantes, Dante, Shakespeare, Kafka, Poe, Whitman, and the Jewish tradition. This course will explore the ways in which Borges’ fictions and poems involve rewritings, variations, critical views or corrections of masterpieces of Western Literature, from Don Quixote to Dante’s Inferno.  Prerequisites and Restrictions: The course will be taught in English. Readings will be available in several languages for those who can read the originals. Other Information: An oral presentation of approximately 15 minutes is expected of each student.
Efraín Kristal. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm Th.

LAS 501/SPA 588
Intelectuales y Poder en México
This course will examine the life and work of twelve representatives of Latin American literature. It will be partially based on my book Redeemers: Ideas and Power in Latin America but will present additional material and reflections.  We will examine the specific contributions of each writer to the political and economic development of his own country and of the region as a whole.  The course will emphasize the biographical aspects of each thinker, an area that has been under-emphasized in Latin America itself. The principal sources will be biographies, autobiographies and personal letters (as well as exchanges of letters between important figures).  Connections will be established with the respective works of literature and we will consider the differences and the common denominators among these writers. The final objective will be to attempt a general collective portrait of the complex cultural profile of Latin America.  Other Information: If course is full, please email plas@princeton.edu to be placed on a waiting list.
Enrique Krauze. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm M.

AAS 327 /LAS 335 /COM 376
Blackness in the Early Modern Atlantic World
This comparative course examines notions of human difference (blackness in particular) via literature, travel writing, and other contemporary materials from Iberia, England, France, and the Americas. As we read these texts, we will consider how modern notions of race, gender, and sexuality have shaped our view of blackness in the early modern world, and, possibly, vice-versa. The ultimate aim of the course is to consider the overlaps and differences between paradigms, images, and theories of blackness generated by Iberian, English, and French contact with Africa, America, and the East. Other Information: LAS Concentrators must write their final paper on a Latin American topic and provide a copy of the final paper to PLAS in order to receive certificate credit.
Larissa Brewer-Garcia. Schedule: S01 3:00 pm-4:20 pm MW.

ART 268 /LAS 268
Introduction to Mesoamerican Material Culture
This course explores the art and archaeology of Mesoamerica, including the cultures and regions of the Olmec, West Mexico, Teotihuacan, Oaxaca, Maya, and Aztec. From temple pyramids and carved stone monuments located in plaza centers to the broken ceramic shards and stone tools found in household trash deposits, material culture comprises one of the basic resources archaeologists examine to understand past ways of life. The course will explore the inferences scholars make in the analysis of material remains as well as the ways in which material culture was integral to the making of ancient political, economic, religious, and social systems. Other information: For department majors, satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. Enrollment in precepts will be done using SCORE.
Christina T. Halperin. Schedule : L01 3:30 pm-4:20 pm MW; P01 10:00 am-10:50 pm Th; P02 11:00 am-11:50 pm Th.

ART 344 /LAS 334
Topics in 20th-Century Art

Art at its Limits: The 1960s in Brazil, Argentina and the US. This seminar investigates experimental art  practices that emerged in Brazil, Argentina and the United States over the course of the 1960s. Through  focused, cross-cultural case studies, we explore how artists sought to use strategies of play, protest,  reflexivity, and intervention to expand and even dissolve the category of art. Topics addressed include  spectator participation, bodily engagement, textual strategies, media interventions, and political  activism. Other Information: For department majors, satisfies Group 3 distribution requirement.
Irene V. Small. Schedule : L01 11:00 am-12:20 pm TTh.

ART 460 /LAS 460
Theorizing the Archive in Latin American Art

A practicum for developing critical approaches to the use and interpretation of archival materials, with  emphasis on the way archives have been deployed to construct the idea of Latin American art in the 20th  and 21st centuries. Departing from recent developments such as digital meta-archives, the display of  historical archives within contemporary art exhibitions, and the construction of new documentation  centers, the class considers specific case studies alongside theoretical texts that explore how archives  constitute institutional authority, how they produce their objects of study, and how we can narrate  absences within them.
Irene V. Small. Schedule : S01 1:30 pm-4:20 pm M.

COM 238 / LAS 238
Contemporary Latin American Literature
This course is an introduction to the study of contemporary Latin American literature and visual arts with a transatlantic perspective. Placing special emphasis on the changing relationships between aesthetics and politics, the course will analyze different genres and artistic styles that emerge with new forms of imagining the political from the 1960s to the present. Readings will include critical texts on minor literatures, transatlantic connections, new social movements as well as literature dealing with situationism, romance reportagem, indigenous movements, testimonio, zapatism and contemporary global mobilizations.
Susana Draper. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm T.

COM 378 / LAS 378
Intellectuals and the State: Writing in Latin American Culture
Introduces the study of Latin American culture from the Colonial period to the present, with emphasis on the 20th century. Through works of literature, essays, and visual arts, we will analyze the changing relations between intellectuals and the state by means of key historical moments (nation-state, revolutions, dictatorships, globalization). Approaches the changing roles of intellectuals in Latin American history by introducing different critical concepts that have been used to critically pose the dynamics of culture and power (e.g., lettered city, transculturation, local and border thinking, and Latin American critical regionalism).
Susana Draper. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm W.

HIS 303 /LAS 305
Colonial Latin America to 1810
This course begins with the origins and consolidation of the Aztec, Inca and Iberian polities and ends  with the severance of colonial ties. It combines an overview of the political economy of the region over  three centuries with a study of how social groups interacted among themselves and with imperial rule over time through accommodation and conflict. We pay special attention to comparisons and contrasts – centers and frontiers of settlement, urban and rural life, indigenous and African populations, religion and  transgression, Portuguese and Spanish models of rule -- and to long-term processes and implications of  environmental change.
Vera S. Candiani. Schedule: L01 11:00 am-11:50 pm TTh P99 TBA.

POR 301 / LAS 303
Modern Brazilian Literature and Culture
How to live together, deployments and folds of Brazilian culture: This course intends to approach a set of literary and artistic productions that imagined alternative ways of life, seeking a critical intervention in the historical period in which they emerged, or a withdrawal and 'self-marginalization' of the same period. We will study the dialogues and intersections that they established with broader social and cultural transformations, such as the crisis and fall of the "Old Republic" of the '20s, Brazil's modernization and industrialization of the '50s, and dictatorship and counterculture of the '60s, '70s and '80s. Prerequisites and Restrictions: POR 208 or POR 207S or instructor's permission. Other information: Class will be taught in Portuguese.
Mario C. Camara. Schedule: C01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm W.

SOC 210 /LAS 210
Urban Sociology: The City and Social Change in the Americas
By taking a comparative approach, this course examines the role of social, economic, and political  factors in the emergence and transformation of modern cities in the United States and selected areas of Latin America. We consider the city in its dual image: both as a center of progress and as a redoubt of social problems, especially poverty. Attention is given to spatial processes that have resulted in the   aggregation and desegregation of populations differentiated by social class and race.
Patricia Fernández-Kelly. Schedule : L01 3:30 pm-4:20 pm MW; P99 TBA.

SPA 220/LAS 220
El Género Negro: Crime Fiction
This course is an introduction to crime fiction from early 20th-century "closed room" mysteries to 21st   century narco-narratives. It examines short stories, novels, films and critical writings about detective   and crime fiction in Latin America and Spain. Topics include the genre's links to high and low   literature, to film and to historical contexts such as immigration, state crime, drug culture and  globalization. Authors include Roberto Arlt, María Elvira Bermúdez, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Roberto Bolaño,   Jorge Luis Borges, Alicia Gimenez Bartlett, Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Ricardo Piglia, Fernando Vallejo,   and others. Other information : Course taught in SpanishRachel Price . Schedule: C01 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm MW.

SPA 222 /LAS 222 /LAO 222
Introduction to Latin American Cultures
This course offers an introduction to modern Latin American literature and culture. It focuses on the complex ways in which cultural and intellectual production anticipates, participates in, and responds to political, social, and economic transformations in the 20th and 21st centuries. Through a wide spectrum of sources (essays, fiction, poetry, film, and art), students will study and discuss some of the most relevant issues in Latin American modern history, such as modernity, democracy, identity, gender, memory, and social justice. Prerequisites and Restrictions: SPA 207 or higher, or instructor's permission. Other Information: Course taught in Spanish.
Javier E. Guerrero. Schedule : C01 11:00 am-12:20 pm WF.

SPA 342 /LAS 342
Topics in Latin American Modernity : Latin American Literature after Latin America
This course examines literature and film from Latin America from the past decade. In the globalized present, does it make sense to speak of "Latin America" or "Latin American literature" as coherent entities? While reviewing some 20th century reflections on "Latin America," the course mainly focuses on very recent works that address a variety of trends, many of which are not unique to the region: crime, informal economies, new immigrant groups, indigenous governance, new media, ecological crisis, multi-lingual writing, desire and sexuality. Prerequisites and Restrictions: A 300-level SPA course; or fluency in Spanish; or instructor's permission. Other Information: Course taught in Spanish.
Rachel L. Price. Schedule: C01 1:30 pm-2:50 pm MW.

SPA 351 /LAS 347
Topics in the Culture of Cities : Spanish Urban Cultures - Rap, Graffiti and City Life
Graffiti and rap music have become main cultural phenomena in the last decades, expressing the desires, fears and demands of cities dwellers. This is also accomplished in the Luso-Hispanic world by blending hip-hop's global spirit with local cultural traditions. In Madrid, Buenos Aires, Rio and Caracas, urban cultures have expressed the transformations of cities in a globalized world, as well as the struggles of their populations to become agents in these processes instead of victims alone. Taking the Spanish case as its axis, this course analyzes Hispanic expansion of hip-hop cultures from artistic, historical, social and political angles. Prerequisites and Restrictions: A 200-level SPA course or instructor's permission. Preferably, a second 200 or 300-level course. Other Information: Above sample reading list is comprised of films which will be made available. Accompanying reading material will also be provided. Course taught in Spanish.
Germán Labrador Méndez. Schedule: C01 11:00 am-12:20 TTh.

SPA 355 / COM 329 / LAS 355
The Itinerant Languages of Photography
This course traces different modes of photographic itinerancy from the nineteenth century to the present and, in the process, offers an alternative transnational history of photography. The course accompanies an exhibition of the same title that will take place in the Princeton Art Museum in the fall of 2013. Like the exhibition, the course focuses on the circulation and exchange of images across cultural, social, and national borders; the dialogue between photography and other media; and the ways in which visual archives enact relationships among memory, history, and "photographic poetics ." Other Requirements : Not Open to Freshmen. Prerequisites and Restrictions: At least one of the following courses: SPA 222, 224, 227, 307, or equivalent, highly recommended. Other information: Course taught in Spanish.
Gabriela Nouzeilles. Schedule: C01 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm T Th.

SPA 359
Technologies of Empire – 1493 and Beyond

Technology is the making, modification and knowledge of tools and systems of organization used for  problem-solving. And the problem i the case of the Spanish empire is blood purity. In the extraordinary  aftermath of 1492 the consequences of Spain's conquest of the New World and its Reconquest of Iberia will be studied in terms of the technologies of race and gender - including some surprising and unintended consequences - in several of the most intriguing authors writing in the Spanish language: from the myth and history of La Malinche to the writings of the Inca Garcilaso and Sor Juana, to Zayas, Calderón and Cervantes. Prerequisites and Restrictions: A 200-level Spanish course.
Marina S. Brownlee. Schedule : C01 11:00 am-12:20 pm MW.

SPA 401 /LAS 428
Topics in Hispanic Culture (Europe and America) : Revolution, Mourning, and Literature in 20th Century Latin America
Twentieth-century Latin American history is shaped by the collective experience of various revolutionary  and social movements. From the Mexican to the Cuban revolution and the populist Peronism and Varguismo, to the belligerent promises of "Chavismo", the cultural history of the region cannot be understood apart from the pitfalls of revolutionary nationalism. This course studies the processes of mourning unleashed by the shortcomings or failures of those revolutionary processes through music, literature, cinema, music, as well as comics and graphic art. Other Requirements: Open to Juniors, Seniors, and Graduate Students Only. Prerequisites and Restrictions: At least one of the following strongly recommended: Spanish 222, 224, 227, 307. Other Information: Taught in Spanish.
Rafael Elias Rojas Gutirérez. Schedule: S01 1:30 pm – 4:20 pm M.

AAS 412 / ENG 425 / LAO 412
Cultures of the Afro-Diaspora
This course analyzes key readings and studies on Afro-diasporic cultures across the Americas in the 20th century. From reggae's unrelenting rhythms to the dances that move carnaval, the New World thrums with activity from populations that have persevered conditions of displacement to create new aesthetic forms. We will investigate expansive notions of blackness that move beyond national paradigms and the productive pressure that performance puts on ontologies of identity such as the Afro-Latino, African American, and West Indian in theory and literature. Artists include Bob Marley, Katherine Dunham, Jorge Ben, and Patato y Totico. [NOTE: LAS Concentrators must write their final paper on a Latin American or Brazilian topic and provide a copy of the final paper to PLAS in order to receive certificate credit.]Alexandra T. Vazquez.  Schedule:  L01 11:00 am - 12:20 pm T Th ; P99 TBA.

GHP 403
Health and the Social Markers of Difference
This course will examine the role of social markers of difference including race, nationality, gender, sexuality, age and religion in current debates and challenges in global health. We will explore contemporary illness experiences and therapeutic interventions in sociocultural context through case studies from the US, Brazil, and South Africa. Students will be introduced to key concepts such as medicalization, embodiment, structural violence, and the social determinants of health, and gain experience in applying anthropological and related social scientific research methods to questions of global health policy. Other Requirements: Open to Juniors and Seniors Only.  [NOTE: LAS Concentrators must write their final paper on a Latin American or Brazilian topic and provide a copy of the final paper to PLAS in order to receive certificate credit.]
Peter A. Locke. Schedule: S01 7:30 pm - 10:20 pm Th.

HIS 348
The Hispanic World, 1400-1800
Long before Victorian Britain became synonymous with world empire, there was Spain. In the 16th century, the kingdoms of medieval Iberia banded together to forge the first global monarchy, reaching from Latin America to the Philippines--only to watch it disintegrate in the 17th and 18th centuries. Understanding Spain's Golden Age is essential for interpreting not only the histories of modern Spain and Latin America, but also the history of the early modern world. Topics include the creation of Spanish identity; Christian, Muslim, and Jewish relations; the Renaissance; the governance of Empire; imperial decline; and the Enlightenment. Prerequisites and Restrictions: There are no prerequisites, though a basic familiarity with European and/or Latin American history may prove useful. Students prepared to read Spanish or Portuguese may choose to use foreign language materials in their assignments, but this is not required. [NOTE: LAS Concentrators must write their final paper on a Latin American or Brazilian topic and provide a copy of the final paper to PLAS in order to receive certificate credit.]
Adam G. Beaver. Schedule: L01 11:00 am - 11:50 am M W; P99 TBA.

POR 303
Lyrical Traditions in Portuguese
A voyage through the lyrical traditions of Portugal, Brazil, and Portuguese-speaking Africa, this course seeks to trace the evolution of the poetic form and illuminate dynamic and enduring intertextualities. Through close-readings of major works of poetry we will explore the ongoing dialogue between poets and artists of the spoken word across time and space, providing the foundation for a deeper understanding of the diverse Portuguese-language literary and cultural landscape. Prerequisites and Restrictions: POR 208 or instructor's permission. [NOTE: LAS Concentrators must write their final paper on a Latin American or Brazilian topic and provide a copy of the final paper to PLAS in order to receive certificate credit.]
Nicola T. Cooney. Schedule: C01 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm T Th.

POR 561
Modern Brazilian Literature - Brazil and Latin America
Seminar focuses on how intellectuals phantasize the uniqueness of Brazil and Latin America, and how they conceive the differences between "Iberoamerica" and the United States of America. Works to be read include Sérgio Buarque de Holanda's Raízes do Brasil, Gilberto Freyre's Casa-grande & Senzala, José Enrique Rodó's Ariel, Octavio Paz's El Laberinto de la Soledad, Richard Morse's El Espejo de Próspero and José Miguel Wisnik's Veneno Remédio. Other Requirements: Open to Graduate Students Only. Other information: Seminar will be conducted in Portuguese, though discussions can be held in Portuguese, English or Spanish. The final paper can be written in any of the three languages. No incompletes (INC) will be accepted.
Pedro Meira Monteiro. Schedule:  S01 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm M.     

SPA 224
Hispanic Studies: Introduction to Cultural Analysis
An introduction to the analysis of contemporary cultural texts (narrative, poetry, film, photography) from Latin America and Spain, with the support of various theoretical ideas. The course's main objective is to provide students with a set of strong conceptual, analytical and linguistic skills, which will be of great help in 300-level literature/culture courses. Other Requirements: Not Open to Seniors.  Prerequisites and Restrictions: Another SPA 200-level course or instructor's permission. Other information: At least one of the classes will be held in the Princeton University Art Museum in order to examine the Museum's holdings of Latin American photographs. Any student unable to register in the course, please contact Prof. Loureiro, loureiro@princeton.edu.
Manuel-Angel G. Loureiro. Schedule: C01 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm M W.

SPA 551
Body Cultures: Exhibitionism and Materiality in Latin America
Can the body disobey the limits imposed by the materiality of sex? Is it possible to disorganize the binary opposition without reinforcing its normativity? Can gender have a decisive bearing on bodily materiality? My seminar answers these questions, exploring the work of Latin American artists who aim to defy the norms imposed by the heterosexual imperative. Their own bodies generate a response, which arises from their compulsive need to call attention to their materiality. I propose that the possibility of a new body depends on its visuality and visibility to enable the deactivation of the culture's preferred categories. Other Requirements: Open to Graduate Students Only.
Javier E. Guerrero. Schedule: S01 5:00 pm - 7:50 pm M.

Fall Semester 2013-2014 pdf