Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Intermediate

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of two semesters (or three quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of four semesters (or six quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

DESCRIPTION

The course introduces the history of the region, with reference to both the Spanish and the non-Spanish (i.e., English, French, Dutch) Caribbean.

OBJECTIVES

1. To give a basis of knowledge and elements of analysis for the understanding of the principal social, political, and economic processes in the formation of today’s Caribbean.
2. To pay special attention to nature and the effects of three centuries of slavery and to the social history of ex-slaves after emancipation in 18th century.
3. To analyze selected examples of popular movements in the region in the 20th century in the context of democracy, dictatorship, and foreign meddling.

CONTENTS

Unit 1: What is the Caribbean?

1. Geography.
2. Population and migration.
3. Culture and identity.

Unit 2: The Conquest and Spanish Empire after 1492 and the arrival of the northern European empires in the 16th and 17th centuries.

1. The Pre-Colombian Caribbean.
2. The Spanish Empire.
3. Rivalry and European conquests.
4. “King Sugar”.

Unit 3: Plantations and slavery.

1. The social and economic system of plantations.
2. White creoles: The dominant class of plantation owners.
3. Slave commerce.

Unit 4: Resistance, rebellion, and emancipation.

1. Slave society.
2. Resistance and rebellion.
3. Haiti, 1789-1804.
4. Emancipation in the 18th century: causes and effects.

Unit 5: Popular movements, dictatorships, and foreign domination in the 20th century.

1. Popular, nationalist, and democratic movements.
2. Foreign interventions.
3. Dictatorship and democracy: The example of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.
4. The Cuban Revolution of 1959.
5. The Caribbean after the Cold War.

EVALUATION:

Reports (Different reading will be assigned): 40%
Participation (Attendance and class participation will be evaluated): 30%
Fianl project: 30%
Total: 100%

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bosch, J. (2000) De Cristobal Colón a Fidel Castro. Santo Domingo: Editoria Corripio.

Cassá, R. (2000) Historia Social y Económica de la República Dominicana. 2 Tomos. Santo Domingo: Editora Alfa y Omega.
Hoetink, H. (1994) Raza y Color en el Caribe en Santo Domingo y el Caribe: Ensayos sobre Cultura y Sociedad. Santo Domingo: Fundación Cultural Dominicana.

Klein, H. (1986) La Esclavitud Africana en América Latina y el Caribe. Madrid: Editorial Alianza.

Lowenthal, D. (1972) West Indian Societies. Londres: Oxford University Press.

Williams, E. (1984) From Columbus to Castro: A history of the Caribbean. New York: Vintage Books.