HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA

-Provide students with a clear theoretical and empirical framework to understand History of Latin America, especially in the early modern period (15th – 19th centuries)
-Analyze History of Latin America in a multidisciplinary perspective able to encompass political, economic and cultural factors
-Analyze History of Latin in global perspective, namely considering the networks of cultural, economic and political relations, especially with Europe and North America
The above-mentioned three specific objectives aim to give students the instruments necessary to develop a critical view of the topics discussed and to develop an independent and multidisciplinary methodology for the analysis of historical phenomena to better understand the present.

1. Knowledge and understanding
- Understand the general framework of the historical analysis of Latin America
- Understand the specificity of the early modern period and its heritage
- Understand the multidisciplinary character of the historical analysis
2. Ability of applying knowledge and understanding
- Understand the general framework of the historical analysis of History of Latin America > Ability of discussing subjects related to the field (History of Latin America) in a specialized language and according to an historical methodology
- Understand the specificity of the early modern period and its heritage > Ability of pinpointing the characters of the early modern period, recognizing how they shaped contemporary Latin America, and confronting them with the following ages
- Understand the multidisciplinary global character of the historical analysis > Ability of applying the historical methodology acquired also to other fields of study (e.g. other courses, final dissertation)
3. Judgement abilities
- Ability of connecting the facts and data learnt during lessons
- Ability of organizing the course materials (lessons and readings) in a coherent interpretation
4. Communicative abilities
- Ability of presenting the issues related to the field of study using specialized language
- Ability of presenting the knowledge acquired from lessons and readings in a coherent discourse
5. Learning abilities
- Ability of taking notes during lessons
- Ability of critically reading the assigned bibliography
- Ability of connected the knowledge acquired to nowadays issues

A good knowledge of general history (15th – 19th centuries)

This course will take into account major issues in History of Latin American with specific focus on the following aspects: Latin America and the Atlantic World and Latin America in a Global perspective, cultural aspects and cultural transfers. Main contents will be:
- 16th century travels
- The European Conquest of America
- Pre-Columbian societies in America and in Europe
- The Columbian Exchange
- The political and cultural foundations of Spanish America and Brazil
- Colonial societies in Spanish America and Brazil
- Colonial economies
- Plantation societies and slave trade
- Colonial culture
- The Jesuits in America and in exile
- The Enlightenment reforms in Spanish America and Brazil
- The concept of empire and its crisis
- The Independence in Spanish America and Brazil
- Politics after the Independence: the Enlightenment and the Napoleonic heritage

Textbook: John Charles Chasteen, Americanos. Latin America's struggles for Independence, Oxford University Press, 2010

For those who will not attend lessons
Textbook: John Charles Chasteen, Americanos. Latin America's struggles for Independence, Oxford University Press, 2010
-Edwin Williamson, The Penguin History of Latin America, 2009 (Parte One: The Age of Empire and Part Two: The Challenge of the Modern World)
-Jorge Flores, The Iberian Empires, in The Cambridge World History. Vol. VI The Construction of a Global World, 1400-1800 CE, Part I: Foundations, ed. By J. H. Bentley, S. Subrahmanyam, M. E. Wiesner-Hanks, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 271-296
-Julie A Charlip, Latin America in World History. 1750-21century, in The Cambridge World History. Vol. VII Production, Destruction and Connection, 1750-Present, Part I: Structures, Spaces and Boundary Making, ed. by J. R. McNeill, K. Pomeranz, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 526-555
-Jaime E. Rodriguez, Atlantic revolutions: a reinterpretation, in The Cambridge World History. Vol. VII Production, Destruction and Connection, 1750-Present, Part I: Structures, Spaces and Boundary Making, ed. by J. R. McNeill, K. Pomeranz, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp. 273-298

Final oral exam. The exam aims to assess the critical understanding of the contents discussed during the course and the individual reflection on the assigned bibliography. It will therefore consist of three questions. The approximate duration is 25-30 minutes.
The first question will ask the student to present a chosen subject (taken from lessons or bibliography), so that he/she can show his/her ability of organizing information in a coherent discourse and in a historical perspective (expected learning results 1.Knowledge and understanding and 4. Communicative abilities).
The second question will be on an issue explored during lessons so that the student can show his/her ability of personal re-elaboration (expected learning results 3.Judgement abilities and 5.Learning abilities).
The third question will concern the texts assigned, so that the student can show his/her ability of critical reading and understanding of scholarly literature (expected learning results 2.Ability of applying knowledge and understanding and 5. Learning abilities) .

Lectures
Case study analysis
Ppt presentations
Written, figurative and audiovisual sources
Digital Humanities

English

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development