HISTORY 471
HISTORY OF BRAZIL

http://www.history.umd.edu/Faculty/DWilliams/courses/Spring11/HIST471

Spring 2011

Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:15pm

KEY 1117

 

Course Description | Requirements | Readings | Grading | Policies | Schedule

Prof. Daryle Williams
Department of History
2125 Taliaferro Hall
(301) 405-0061
daryle@umd.edu
http://www.history.umd.edu/Faculty/DWilliams

Office Hours:

Tuesdays 4:00-5:00pm and Thursdays 10:00-11:00am and by appointment

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Course Description and Organization

HIST 471 examines the history of Brazil from the transfer of the Portuguese Court in 1807-08 through the waning days of the military dictatorship that began in 1964. Our primary focus will be the historical evolution of the Brazilian state, the contested boundaries of political citizenship, the changing definitions of a Brazilian "national" culture, the conundrums of wealth and poverty in a "developing" economy, and Brazil in the world.

Recurrent themes include political organization and participation, liberalism, (under)development, nationalism, authoritarianism and redemocratization, slavery and emancipation, social organization and stratification, cultural production, race relations, gender politics, and regionalism. Throughout the course, our goal is to make the connections between political economy, political culture, and identity politics to formulate historically-sensitive interpretations of modern Brazilian culture and society.

The course meets twice a week for seventy-five minutes. Each meeting will be divided between lectures, multimedia presentations, and discussion.

Course Prerequisites

HIST250, HIST251, LASC234, or LASC235; or permission of instructor.

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Course Requirements

A pass/fail MAP QUIZ will be given in class on Tuesday, February 1. Seven or more correct identifications (out of a possible ten) will be considered a pass. If you do not pass on the first attempt, you will retake the quiz until you do pass. Failure to pass the map quiz will mean that your final exam grade will automatically be dropped one letter grade. A Study Sheet will be distributed on the first day of class.

The FIRST PAPER is due Thursday, February 17. The six-page paper will ask that you analyze the "Memoir addressed to the General Constituent and Legislative Assembly of the empire of Brazil on slavery,"  authored by José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva (1763-1838) circa 1823. Complete instructions will be provided in an assignment guide.

The MIDTERM will be held in class Thursday, March 17. The exam will cover themes and materials presented during the first half of the course.

The SECOND PAPER is due on Tuesday, May 10. The topic of this paper will be drawn from the topics discussed at The Aesthetic of Revolt: Latin America in the 1960s, an international symposium sponsored by the Latin American Studies Center to be held April 13-15, 2011.

Each Thursday by 6:00pm, the professor will post an online assignment to the course ELMS site. By the following the following Tuesday at 9:00am, all students are required to submit a short two-paragraph response/reaction to the posted assignment. A typical ELMS ASSIGNMENT will ask for a short written response to a primary document, an image, an online video, or an online newspaper.

A two-hour FINAL EXAMINATION will be cumulative in scope. An examination guide will be distributed prior to the exam.

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Readings

All assigned books are available for purchase, download, and/or rental through the University Book Center, the Maryland Book Exchange, and many online book vendors. All assigned books are also available through McKeldin Course Reserves.

Articles and book chapters are available full-text via the Course Reserves link on the course ELMS site and/or via ResearchPort.

The following books, articles, and chapters have been assigned as required reading:

Beattie, Peter M. "The House, the Street, and the Barracks: Reform and Honorable Masculine Social Space in Brazil, 1864-1945." Hispanic American Historical Review. 76:3 (August 1996): 439-473.

Chazkel, Amy. "Beyond Law and Order: The Origins of the Jogo do Bicho in Republican Rio de Janeiro." Journal of Latin American Studies 39:3 (August 2007): 535-565.

Costa, Emília Viotti da. The Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories. Revised Edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000. [978-0807848401]

Crocitti, John. "Vargas-Era Social Policies: An Inquiry into Brazilian Malnutrition during the Estado Novo (1937-1945)." In Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives. Jens R. Hentschke, ed. New York: Palgrave, 2006, pp. 143-172.

Davila, Jerry. "Myth and Memory: Getúlio Vargas's Long Shadow Over Brazilian History." In Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives. Jens R. Hentschke, ed. New York: Palgrave, 2006, pp. 257-282.

Drescher, Seymour. "Brazilian Abolition in Comparative Perspective." Hispanic American Historical Review 68:3 (August 1988): 429-460.

Dunn, Christopher. "Desbunde Revisited: Counterculture  and  Authoritarian Modernization in Brazil, 1968-­1974"

French, John D. "Industrial Workers and the Birth of the Populist Republic in Brazil, 1945-1946." Latin American Perspectives 16:4 (Autumn 1989): 5-27.

Graham, Sandra Lauderdale. Caetana Says No: Women's Stories from a Brazilian Slave Society. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. [ISBN: 978-0521893534]

Green, James N. We Cannot Remain Silent: Opposition to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in the United States. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010. [ISBN: 978-0822347354]

Langland, Victoria. "Birth Control Pills and Molotov Cocktails: Reading Sex and Revolution in 1968 Brazil." In In from the Cold: Latin America's New Encounter with the Cold War. Gilbert M. Joseph and Daniela Spenser, eds. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008, pp. 308-349.

Levine, Robert. "Mud Hut Jerusalem: Canudos Revisited." Hispanic American Historical Review 68:3 (August 1988): 525-572.

Marquese, Rafel de Bivar Márcia and Regina Berbel. “The Absence of Race: Slavery, Citizenship, and Pro-Slavery Ideology in the Cortes of Lisbon and the Rio de Janeiro Constituent Assembly (1821-1824)." Social History 32:4 (November 2007): 415-33.

McCann, Bryan. "Black Pau : Uncovering the History of Brazilian Soul," in Rockin' Las Americas: The Global Politics of Rock in Latin/O America. Deborah Pacini Hernandez, et al., eds. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004, pp. 68-90.

__________. Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. [ISBN: 978-0822332732]

Needell, Jeffrey, "The Revolta Contra Vacina of 1904: The Revolt Against 'Modernization' in Belle-Époque Rio de Janeiro." Hispanic American Historical Review, 67:2 (May 1987): 233-269.

Schultz, Kirsten. "The Crisis of Empire and the Problem of Slavery." Common Knowledge 11:2 (Spring 2005): 264-282.

Weffort, Francisco. "Why Democracy?" in Democratizing Brazil: Problems of Transition and Consolidation. Alfred Stepan, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, pp. 327-350.

Williams, Daryle and Barbara Weinstein, "Vargas Morto: The Death and Life of a Brazilian Statesman." In Death, Dismemberment, and Memory: Body Politics In Latin America. Lyman L. Johnson, ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005, pp. 273-316.

The following textbook is optional:

Skidmore, Thomas E. Brazil: Five Centuries of Change. Second ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. [ISBN: 978-0195374551]

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Grading

With the exception of the pass/fail map quiz, all assignments will be graded on a 100-point scale, with the scale 100 through 60 corresponding to the standard letter grades of A+ through D-. A failing grade is 59 and lower.

The final grade will be determined by the following formula:

Papers (15% each)	30%
Midterm Examination	15%
ELMS Assignments	10%
Final Examination	25%
Classroom Participation	20%

Always keep in mind that active and thoughtful participation in lecture and especially in discussion section will not only enhance the overall quality of learning, it will work in favor of students whose final grade falls near a borderline. Conversely, passive or nonexistent participation will diminish the quality of discussion sections and result in a lowered grade for students who choose not to engage.

Attendance in discussion section is expected, but attendance alone does not guarantee a high grade.

Late papers will not be accepted without prior approval. With the exception of legitimate excuses, late papers may be subject to a grade penalty of up to one full grade for each day late.

Students with a legitimate reason for the delay or rescheduling of an examination should speak with the professor.

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Class Policies

Electronic Devices in the Classroom

A wide variety of electronic devices (e.g., laptop computers, PDAs, smart phones, among others) play an important role in higher-education classroom instruction. Note-taking, the retrieval of assigned texts and media, consultation with the syllabus, online discussion and debate, and other learning activities conducted via electronic devices are acceptable parts of in-class learning and engagement. However, the potentials for distraction and abuse are self-evident.

In HIST 471, the standard of unacceptable use of electronic devices in the classroom is to understood as follows:

Unless specifically authorized, all online social networking, texting, instant messaging, tweeting, and voice communication with anyone outside of the classroom during regularly-scheduled lectures, discussions, and examinations are unacceptable. If you have an electronic communication device, these capabilities should be disabled during class hours.

Excused Absences, Religious Observances, and Accommodations for Inclement Weather

University policy excuses the absences of students for illness (self or dependent), religious observances, participation in University activities at the request of university authorities, and compelling circumstances beyond the students' control. In requesting an excused absence, students may be required to provide appropriate documentation.

All course expectations and requirements will comply with the University System of Maryland Policy on Religious Observances.

Inclement weather and official University closures may require modification of course expectations and requirements. Details of any change will be posted to the ELMS website as appropriate. 

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Students with a documented disability should speak with the professor at the beginning of the semester to discuss arrangements for the appropriate academic accommodations.

Academic Integrity

Academic honesty is a foundation for learning, as outlined in the Code for Academic Integrity. The Code prohibits students from cheating on exams, the intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise, the facilitation of academic dishonesty, and plagiarism. The suspicion of academic dishonesty may result in referral to the Student Honor Council. Questions and doubts about any the expectations for any course assignment or examination should be directed to the professor.

The Honor Pledge

Under the provisions of the resolution adopted by the University Senate on April 9, 2001, and approved by President Mote on May 10, 2001, all students will be asked to write by hand and sign the Honor Pledge on all written assignments and examinations, unless otherwise instructed. 

And Finally…

This syllabus may be subject to change. The online syllabus, available via the course ELMS site, will always be the most up-to-date. Students will be notified in advance of important changes that could affect grading, assignments, and other course components.

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