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.

US-MEXICO RELATIONS SEMINAR

INTERMEDIATE

OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this course is to demonstrate in a clear and global manner, how political, social and economic relations have been established over the years between Mexico and the United States as well as the current relationship between the two countries.

CONTENTS:

I. European influence in North America (France and England)
a. Manifest Destiny Doctrine
b. The colonies and their socio-religious order
c. Relations with New Spain

II. Political relations from the 18-19th Centuries
a. Relationship with insurgent groups
b. James Monroe Doctrine of 1824
c. Poinset and the Yankees in Mexico

III. Political expansions of President Jackson
a. War with Texas in 1935
b. Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk and the invasion of Mexico in 1845
c. Peace treaties and subjugation of September 14, 1848 (Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty)

IV. U.S. Civil War and its repercussions in Mexico
a. Juarez and his relationship with Abraham Lincoln
b. Díaz and liberal policies with the US

V. Politics of Taft and Lane Wilson in relationship to the Mexican Revolution
a. The invasion of 1914-1916
b. Punitive expedition against Villa in 1916
c. Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge and the Mexican post-revolution

VI. Migration of Mexicans to the United States during WW I and WW II
a. Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan in Mexico
b. Presence of Chicano-culture
c. Politics of control towards Latin America: 1960 -1985

V. Free Trade Agreement and the Chiapas Revolution
a. Decadence of the Official Party and drug trafficking (politics on drugs)
b. Economic crisis and the presence of Clinton’s policies