Taught In English

There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.

Description
A general survey of the complex heritage of Central America, with an emphasis on Costa Rica, examined through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary view, focusing on the historical development and present day dynamics of economy, society, politics and culture. Special attention will be given to topics such as identify formation, education, peace and democracy, arts and literature, and ecological, genre, communal and ideological movements.
Syllabus:
Part I. Early Historic and Socioeconomic Development
1.1 Pre-Columbian times and conditions
1.2 Colonial and early independence periods: Costa Rica. s place in
Central and Latin America.
1.3 Commercial agriculture and social development: the coffee. s complex
organization and expansion
1.4 Patterns and settlement and regional development.
1.5 Class formation: The rise of the oligarchy and development of the
labor force.
1.6 Opening up the economy: railroads, banana plantations and politics.
Part II. National identity and State formation
2.1 Ethnic diversity: its contribution to culture and identity development
2.2 The oligarchic state: its military, educational and republican
institutions.
2.3 The national liberation war of 1856: its national meaning and impact
on militarism.
2.4 Political groups, parties and social movements: the rise of
competitive politics and elections since 1889.
2.5 Civil society, economic liberalism and the role of the
liberal-democratic state.
2.6 The styles of cultural and aesthetic development: foreign influences
and local symbolical production
2.7 The great crash of 1929: its impact on the economy, society and the
State.
Part III. Modern Ideological Movements, the Middle Class, and The Development of the Welfare State
3.1 The critique of the liberal state and oligarchic society: nationalism,
communism and democratic socialism in perspective.
3.2 The middle classes, the struggle for democracy and crisis of political
participation: the civil war of 1948.
3.3 Abolition of the army: its social and political consequences.
3.4 The formation of the populist and welfare State: growth of a new
public sector
3.5 New influence and developments in the sphere of culture and arts
3.6 The role of the mass media in social and political communications
Part IV. Crisis of Development Model and the Recent Challenges of Globalzation
4.1 Origins and nature of the economic crisis of 1982
4.2 The end of social equity economics and the implementation of
structural readjustment plans.
4.3 Patterns of unequal and combined development: Central America and
Costa Rica. The Central American Common Market and beyond
4.4 Changes in State-Civil Society relations
4.5 New cultural styles and challenges to identity preservation and
development
Activities:
The academic program includes visits to the National Theater, House of Congress, National Museum, Modern Art Museum, Jade Museum. There is a possible tour to a Coffee plantation depending on the weather and conditions of the roads. Interviews with local personalities are programmed according to their agenda possibilities.