HIST 346
History of Modern Brazil Spring 2010
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
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Class Details

Brazil has been “the country of the future” longer than it has been an independent nation. This course will introduce students to the many contradictions hinted at in that label-for beyond a patriotic boosterism, the phrase also suggests frustrations that Brazilians have felt, as their country failed to reach what they considered its magnificent potential. While they can celebrate their World Cup victories or the size of their economy (among the ten largest in the world, and heavily industrialized for a “developing nation”), they also have to acknowledge a series of troubling paradoxes: the mixture of fluidity and hierarchy apparent in racial and gender relations; the persistence of political authoritarianism and rampant social violence amidst struggles for citizenship; the endless inventiveness of Brazilian music, religion, and futebol along with government attempts to co-opt such forms of popular culture. Combining cultural, political, and social analyses, this course fulfills the Exploring Diversity Initiative requirement by examining a range of written texts and other sources to understand these and other themes in the lives of Brazilians of different social identities and political standings since Independence.
The Class: Format: lecture/discussion
Limit: 25
Expected: 12-15
Class#: 3170
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation will be based on class participation, two short papers, and a longer (10-12 page) final essay
Prerequisites: none
Distributions: Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Attributes: AFR Interdepartmental Electives
HIST Group D Electives - Latin America + Caribbean
INST Latin American Studies Electives
LATS Countries of Origin + Transnationalism Elect

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