HISTORY 471
HISTORY OF
BRAZIL
http://www.history.umd.edu/Faculty/DWilliams/courses/Spring12/HIST471
http://elms.umd.edu
Last updated:
Monday, May 7, 2012
Spring 2012 |
Tuesdays and
Thursdays |
KEY 0126 |
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 and Thursdays 3:30-5:00pm and by appointment
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.
A pass/fail MAP QUIZ will be given in class on Thursday, February 2. 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 16. The 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 JosŽ Bonif‡cio de Andrada e Silva (1763-1838). Complete instructions will be provided in an assignment guide.
The TAKE-HOME MIDTERM will be distributed the week of March 12. The exam, due on noon Monday, April 2, 2012, will draw heavily from the assigned Chazkel reading. Examination Guide.
The SECOND PAPER is due on Thursday, May 10. Additional details will be distributed in class after the spring break. Assignment Guide
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, to take place Wednesday, May 16, 2012, 10:30am-12:30pm, will be cumulative in scope. Study questions will be distributed prior to the exam. Examination Guide
All students are encouraged to seek out the professor for guidance in writing well-organized and engaging papers. Outlines and/or rough drafts are always welcome. Many may benefit from a session with the Writing Center, located in 1205 Tawes Hall. The Writing Center accepts both appointments and drop-in visits. Tel: 301-405-3785.
The following books, articles, and chapters have been assigned as required reading:
Costa, Em’lia Viotti da. The Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories. Revised Edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000. [978-0807848401]
Dassin, Joan. "A Report on Human Rights in Brazil: A Report as of March, 1979." Universal Human Rights 1, no. 3 (July-Set ember 1979): 35-49.
Deutsch, Sandra McGee. "Christians, Homemakers, and Transgressors: Extreme Right-Wing Women in Twentieth-Century Brazil." Journal of Women's History, 16, no. 3 (Fall 2004): 124-137.
Drescher, Seymour. "Brazilian Abolition in Comparative Perspective." Hispanic American Historical Review 68, no. 3 (August 1988): 429-460.
Graham, Sandra Lauderdale. Caetana Says No: Women's Stories from a Brazilian Slave Society. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. [ISBN: 978-0521893534]
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. Father of the Poor? Vargas and His Era. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. [ISBN: 978-0521585286]
Marquese, Rafael de Bivar M‡rcia and Regina Berbel. ÒThe 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, no. 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.
McCann, Bryan. "Carlos Lacerda: The Rise and Fall of a Middle-Class Populist in 1950s Brazil." Hispanic American Historical Review 83, no. 4 (November 2003): 661-696.
Needell, Jeffrey, "The Revolta Contra Vacina of 1904: The Revolt Against 'Modernization' in Belle-ƒpoque Rio de Janeiro." Hispanic American Historical Review, 67:2 (May 1987): 233-269.
Reis, João José. "'The Revolution of the Ganhadores': Urban Labour, Ethnicity, and the African Strike of 1857 in Bahia, Brazil," Journal of Latin American Studies 29, no. 2 (May 1997)
Sattamini, Lina. A Mother's Cry: A Memoir of Politics, Prison, and Torture under the Brazilian Military Dictatorship. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010. [ISBN: 978-0822347361]
Schultz, Kirsten. "The Crisis of Empire and the Problem of Slavery." Common Knowledge 11, no. 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]
ACCESSING ASSIGNED 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 on 2-hour reserve at McKeldin Course Reserves.
Articles and book chapters are available full-text via the Course Reserves section of the HIST 471 ELMS site. Full-text articles are also accessible via ResearchPort.
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% |
Take-Home Midterm |
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.
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 resolutions adopted by the University Senate, all students will be asked to write by hand and sign the Honor Pledge on all written assignments and examinations, unless otherwise instructed.
And FinallyÉ
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.
Week I |
Introduction |
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Jan. 26 |
Course Overview |
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Week II |
From Colony to Empire |
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Jan. 31 |
Crises of Late Colonial Portuguese America |
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Feb. 2 |
The Transfer of the Portuguese Court |
Map Quiz |
Readings |
Schultz, "The Crisis of Empire and the Problem of Slavery" |
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Week III |
The Empire |
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Feb. 7 |
Independence |
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Feb. 9 |
The Problems of Liberalism |
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Readings |
Marquese and Berbel, “The Absence of Race" |
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Week IV |
Brazilian Slave Society I |
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Feb. 14 |
Bonifácio's "Memoir on slavery" |
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Feb. 16 |
Slavery, Empire, History |
First Paper Due |
Reading |
Viotti da Costa, The
Brazilian Empire, 94-171 |
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Week V |
Brazilian Slave Society II |
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Feb. 21 |
Plantation Society |
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Feb. 23 |
The Problems of Freedom |
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Readings |
Graham, Caetana Says No |
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Week VI |
1888-1889 Interpretations |
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Feb. 28 | The Destruction of Slavery |
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March 1 |
The Fall of the Monarchy |
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Readings |
Viotti da Costa, The
Brazilian Empire, 202-268 |
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Week VII |
The First Republic I |
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March 6 |
CafŽ-com-Leite and Other Politics |
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March 8 |
Canudos |
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Readings |
Levine, "Mud Hut Jerusalem" |
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Week VIII |
The First Republic II |
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March 13 |
Rio's Belle Epoque |
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March 15 |
Guest Lecture: Dr. Amy Chazkel, CUNY-Queens |
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Readings | Chazkel, Laws of Chance | |
Week IX |
Spring Break |
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March 19-23 |
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Week IX |
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March 27 |
Arts, Politics, and Society, 1922-1945 |
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March 29 |
Skype with Dr. Chazkel |
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Readings |
Levine, Father of the Poor, 1-96 |
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Week X |
The Vargas Era |
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April 3 |
The First Vargas Regime |
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April 5 |
The Second Vargas Regime |
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Readings |
Levine, Father of the Poor |
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Week XI |
After Vargas |
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Apr. 10 |
The Vargas Legacies |
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Apr. 12 | Workshop: Africans on the Move in 19th-century Brazilian Slave Society |
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Readings |
Williams and Weinstein, "Vargas Morto" |
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Week XII |
JK |
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Apr. 17 |
Film Screening: Candango na Belacap |
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Apr. 19 |
Film Screening: Candango na Belacap and Samba em Brasília (exceprt) |
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Readings |
Deutsch, "Christians, Homemakers, and Transgressors" |
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Week XIII |
The Military Regime I |
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April 24 |
1964-1968 |
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April 26 |
Contra/cultura |
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Readings |
Sattamini, A Mother's Cry |
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Week XIV |
The Military Regime II |
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May 1 |
After AI-5: Milagre Econômico and Anos de Chumbo |
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May 3 |
Video Screening: Vlado Thirty Years Later |
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Readings |
Dassin, "A Report on Human Rights in Brazil" |
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Week XV |
Towards (Re)Democracy |
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May 8 | Abertura | |
May 10 |
Review |
Second Paper Due |
Readings |
Weffort, "Why Democracy?" |
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May 16 |
FINAL EXAMINATION |