Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE SPA2003

 
TITLE An Overview of Latin American History

 
UM LEVEL 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Spanish and Latin American Studies

 
DESCRIPTION - An overview of the situation before 1492
- The Age of Empire
- Bourbon Reforms
- Adapting to Independence
- The 20th century
- Some case studies
- What prospects for the future?

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Comprehensively understand Latin American history from the pre-1498 indigenous cultures to the present times;
- Understand key principles of historiography;
- Assess the legacy of some of the most influential figures in Latin American history, from Moctezuma to Simón Bolívar, Porfirio Díaz and others.

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- Understand present-day Latin American society as the result of historical developments since 1498;
- Critically think about and analyse some of the most contentious moments of Latin American history, including the Conquest in the 16th century, the colonial period, independence and the new states, the Mexican Revolution, the figure of el dictador in the 20th century, etc;
- Bring together, organise and present essential information from written sources in a structured manner;
- Acquire skills in historical explanation, causation and argumentation.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Quesada, S. (2005) Imágenes de América Latina: manual de historia y cultura latinoamericana. Madrid: EDELSA.
- Fowler, W. (2002) Latin America, 1800-2000. London: Arnold.
- Williamson, E. (1992) The Penguin History of Latin America. London: Penguin.
- Bethnell, L. (Ed) (1984) The Cambridge History of Latin America, Vols. I to VIII. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Skidmore, T.E. and Smith, P.H. (1989) Modern Latin America. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment SEM2 Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Pedro Santamaria

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit