SPAN302

Latin American Student Movements

Cross-listed with RMST 280

#IAm132

“We are the 90 percent!”

“Starving is cringe!”

“Education is not for sale!”

What if the classmate sitting next to you today were one of the leaders for change toward a better tomorrow at UBC, in Vancouver, or even around the world?  The slogans that open this course description were voiced by student leaders that strove to revolutionize the face of university life and society as a whole in Mexico, Chile, Colombia… and even right here in Vancouver, Canada!

Since the start of the 20^th century (and even long before!), student activists from across Latin America have used the university as a space to breed social and political change.  Beginning with José Enrique Rodó’s Ariel (1900), which establishes youth as a form of power to be employed toward change, and ending with more recent protests against neo-liberal education practices, this course traverses countries (Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela), spaces (the university, the mountain, the city square, the border, the internet), and genres (diary, testimonial, (graphic) novel, documentary, film, music, new and social media) to evaluate the major concepts, practices, urgencies, and voices that frame student movements in Latin America throughout the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

We will read some of the most impactful works-in-translation on student-driven pathways to change: Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries (2003), Iverna Lockpez’s graphic novel, Cuba: My Revolution (2010), Elena Poniatowska’s collection of testimonies on the 1968 Mexican Student Movement and ensuing massacre, Massacre in Mexico (1971), Omar Cabezas’s account of his time as a student-revolutionary in Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution, Fire from the Mountain (1983), and Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s depiction of the bogotazo and other violent events in Colombia’s recent history, The Shape of the Ruins (2015), among others.  We will also examine manifestos, (new) media, documentaries, and films from and on student voices from Venezuela’s caracazo (1989), the Chilean Winter (2011), and more recent protests in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Colombia, which show why and how issues that impact university life—equal access to education, tuition raises, food insecurity, and safety—are also connected to broader social and political issues and questions of democracy across Latin America and beyond.

Accessibility—in terms of topics addressed and types of works studied, affordability and easy access to materials, and student interests and levels—is a major priority for the instructor.

Required texts

Required texts and supplementary materials will be provided in digital format when possible, and made available to students on Canvas.

• Ariel (1900), José Enrique Rodó (selections)
• Cuba: Students, Yankees, and Soldiers (1933) , Justo Carrillo (selections)
• Motorcycle Diaries (1952, 2003), Ernesto “Che” Guevara (selections) [Translator: Ann Wright]
• Cuba: My Revolution (2010), Iverna Lockpez
• Massacre in Mexico (1971, 1991), Elena Poniatowska (selections) [Translator: Helen R. Lane]
• Amulet (1999, 2006), Roberto Bolaño [Translator: Chris Andrews]
• Fire from the Mountain (1983), Omar Cabezas (selections) [Translator: Kathleen Weaver]
• The Shape of Ruins (2015), Juan Gabriel Vásquez [Translator: Anne McLean]

Select films and documentaries:

• Motorcycle Diaries (2004), Walter Salles (Director)
• El Grito, Mexico 1968 (1968), Leobardo López Arreteche (Director)
• Chile’s Student Uprising (2014), Roberto Navarrete (Director)

Prerequisite: None

Language of Instruction: English

Hispanic Cultural Expressions

Flamenco dancer.

Este curso se propone explorar las múltiples facetas de la cultura hispánica desde una perspectiva crítica. A través del examen de varios géneros (la música, el arte y el cine), los estudiantes analizarán la producción cultural de distintos períodos históricos, vinculándola tanto con sus creadores como con sus contextos sociopolíticos respectivos. En cada análisis se aprenderá una terminología específica y se discutirán conceptos propios de los estudios culturales. Asimismo, abordaremos temas fundamentales, como la identidad colectiva, la resistencia cultural, los movimientos sociales y la política de género, entre otros. El objetivo principal consiste en que los estudiantes desarrollen su capacidad para leer, ver y reflexionar sobre textos culturales en español, ya sea oralmente o por escrito.

Language of instruction: Spanish

Prerequisites: One of BC High School Spanish Grade 12, SPAN 202, SPAN 203 or successful completion of language placement exam or an assessment interview

Conversational Spanish II

This second year conversational-Spanish sequence is designed for students who have been exposed to a minimum of 150 hrs of conversation (CEFR A2/B1) and wish to expand in their communicative competencies.  It offers a combination of instructor-facilitated, small-group discussions, peer review projects, debates, interviews, and brief presentations around topics such as the view of the Hispanic world on global warming, technology and health, amongst other relevant topics. Special guests are a key element in this course, so students can deepen their skills as they expand their awareness through active participation.

Grammar will only be reviewed through context study, emphasizing on the topics of relative pronouns, compound tenses – both in indicative and subjunctive mood, and the use of all conditional sentences.

High attendance throughout the class, and a continuous collaborative environment is vital for the success in this course.

The Department of FHIS reserves the right to refuse enrollment to any of its language courses to a student who has, in the view of the Department, a level of competence unsuited to that course. Enrollment at or below the level the student has already attained is not permitted.

Prerequisite: SPAN 206

Language of Instruction: Spanish