ALST 309 - Latin America: Critical Landscapes of Development

Explores the development experience of Latin America through examination of pressing environmental, economic, political, and social issues that currently face the region as a whole and play out differently across the region. The focus is guided by a critical reading of development theory, paying particular attention to Latin American theorizations and empirical experiences, and concern for the subjects, places, and scales that have been excluded from the presumed benefits of development. Mindful that Latin America’s development experience is historically embedded, students examine the transformation of Latin American societies and environments through legacies of conquest and colonialism, processes of globalization and neo-liberalization, dynamics of rural and urban change, changes in gender and race relations, and transformations of political and civil society dynamics. These issues are grounded in case studies drawn from Central America, the Caribbean, and Andean countries, and Southern Cone, and Brazil. The course’s point of entry is contemporary environmental crises and the role of natural and human resources in shaping the development experience of the region.

Credits: 1.00
Crosslisted: GEOG 309
Corequisite: None
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: No First-year
Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
Liberal Arts CORE: Global Engagements

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