Instructor: Heather Sullivan Email: [email protected] Phone: 315.859.4239 Office: KJ 118

Course Description

This course explores the politics of Latin America by looking at the political history and contemporary politics in a number of different countries in the region. We will explore how the strength of states, the quality of democracy, and pervasive inequality - on the axes of class, race, and gender/sexuality - affected and continue to affect politics throughout Latin America. Readings include a textbook as well as films and journalistic accounts of political life. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to describe Latin America’s modern political history and systematically compare across time and place. In addition, you will also be learning how to edit Wikipedia pages and will improve a Wikipedia page related to Latin American politics.

This course contributes to several of the educational goals of Hamilton College. I highlight three in particular:

  1. Intellectual curiosity and flexibility: Over the course of the semester, we will examine how political life is structured in Latin America. The course will push you to engage with politics in a spirit of intellectual curiosity.
  2. Disciplinary practice: During the semester, you will learn to approach Latin American politics as a political scientist does, asking why politics looks the way it does in a given place and making systematic comparisons to answer questions about the political world.
  3. Analytic discernment: Throughout the course, you will identify patterns in the political world, make connections between past and present as well as across countries, and evaluate how theories and concepts help us understand contemporary political events.

Norms and Policies

Requirements