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The final exam is now available
as are the last quizes.

A sample midterm is still available online so you can see what an excellent exam looks like. (Princeton on campus access only.)

T his course is an introduction into the major themes of social science research in Latin America focusing on the comparative analysis of two of the most important countries in the region. Because the two societies we are studying are so complex, there is an explicit division of labor in covering the material: The lectures will present theoretical debates, general historical narrative, and systemic descriptions of social structures in class. The students will read much more detailed accounts and specific examples of these larger trends. The Web site will provide photographs, maps, video and audio cuts, and interactive sources with which to deepen your impressions. The precepts will give us an opportunity to bring these together to form a coherent picture. Please note that all these elements are crucial and that you must attend all classes and precepts as well complete the readings and look at the Web site by the assigned dates in order to benefit from taking the course.

  • TWO TAKE-HOME EXAMS each covering half of the course (40% of final grade each.)

  • Weekly READINGS (150 pages). I will hand out weekly-suggested readings and will be happy to consult on your interests.

  • Weekly readings from Website. Weekly self-administered quizzes will be 10% of grade.

  • A short (5 pg.) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY on one of the major topics covered in the course that explicitly compares the manner in which the two societies have been studied. The professor must approve topics. (10% of final grade).

    LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT WRITTEN EXCUSE OR PERMISSION

    NB: The readings have been selected to compliment the lectures and illustrate critical problems facing these societies today (e.g. agrarian and popular movements in Mexico). In general they are not the classic books for the fields. I will be happy to suggest further readings for each of the weeks. Readings have been chosen to reflect some recent trends or represent historical views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the management. Students wanting a historical introduction may want to look at Hugh Thomas, Cuba and Michael Meyer and William Sherman, The Course of Mexican History. For more contemporary issues see Marifeli Perez-Stable, The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course and Legacy and Hector Aguilar Camin and Lorenzo Meyer, In the Shadow of the Mexican Revolution. For recent developments in Cuba see Enrique Baloyra and James Morris, eds., Conflict and Change in Cuba, and Miguel Centeno and Mauricio Font, eds., Towards a New Cuba. For Mexico, see Philip Russell, Mexico under Salinas, Nora Lustig, Mexico: The Remaking of an Economy, and Miguel Centeno, Mexico in the 1990s or Democracy within Reason: Technocratic Revolution in Mexico. I also recommend Latin American Weekly Reports.
















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    Last Updated: September 17, 1998; mexicuba@princeton.edu
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