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2022　Area Studies: Latin America

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Academic unit or major
Humanities and social science courses
Instructor(s)
Ohashi Mariko 
Class Format
Lecture    (Livestream)
Media-enhanced courses
Day/Period(Room No.)
Wed3-4()  
Group
-
Course number
LAH.A503
Credits
1
Academic year
2022
Offered quarter
2Q
Syllabus updated
2022/3/16
Lecture notes updated
-
Language used
Japanese
Access Index

Course description and aims

Physically, Latin America is far away from Japan: however, at the same time we can say that Latin America is closely connected to Japan, through the ties such as economy and trade, migrations both to and from, and cultural exchanges. In this course the lecturer tries to introduce students to Latin American culture and society through several different approaches: apart from sociopolitical and historical (well, typically academic) explanations, we will watch the well-know road movie, "Motorcycle Diaries" and we will also listen to music, so that students can get connected to the region with ease. The lecturer, a specialist of the environmental issues in Peruvian Amazon, will devote one (or perhaps even more) of the classes to talk about her research experience in the region.

Student learning outcomes

The lecturer tries to use several different (some of them not very conventional) approaches to explain about the Latin American countries and the region as a whole, so that at least some of those tries will be of interest to the students, and that students will be able to expand their knowledge through those channels. The lecturer also expects that this course will provide students with a good opportunity to listen to someone with a certain amount of research experience talikng to others with not much knowledge about it (well, here it means STEM grad students) and to learn something from that. The lecturer hopes that this experience will foster the ability to talk about one's research to others who have not much experience with that topic, and that will be one of the goals of this course.

Keywords

Latin American Studies, Amazon, Peru, Chile, Mexico

Competencies that will be developed

Specialist skills ✔ Intercultural skills ✔ Communication skills Critical thinking skills Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

Apart from the lectures about Latin American countries, we will also watch movie(s) and listen to music, which will no doubt benefit their learning outcome.

Course schedule/Required learning

  Course schedule Required learning
Class 1 Introduction: overall explanations about the course and the region Students are expected to: understand the aims of this course and will get the very basic knowledge about Latin America
Class 2 Latin America through a movie: "Motorcycle Diaries" (1) Students are expected to: get the knowledge about the regions that appears in the movie and also to nurture the ability to learn from the media such as film.
Class 3 Latin America through a movie: "Motorcycle Diaries" (2) Students are expected to: get the knowledge about the regions that appears in the movie and also to nurture the ability to learn from the media such as film.
Class 4 Chile Students are expected to: understand the society of Chile, the country known as one of the best example of neoliberal economy but also known for its social movements.
Class 5 Peruvian Amazon Students are expected to: understand the society of Peruvian Amazonia, its indigenous people and how the modernization is changing their lives.
Class 6 Mexico Students are expected to: understand the society of Mexico and its world-famous (and often misrepresented) culinary culture.
Class 7 Latin American music + conclusion Students are expected to: learn the importance of music for the Latin American society; how to think about the society through those songs; and to simply enjoy the music!

Out-of-Class Study Time (Preparation and Review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 20 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

No textbook is assigned.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

From time to time, the lecturer will refer to the books or papers of interest in the classes.

Assessment criteria and methods

Participation and attendance: 70%; Final essay: 30%. However, students who fails to submit the essay (or whose essay does not meet the criteria) will not be eligible for the credit.

Related courses

  • LAH.A501 ： Area Studies: Europe
  • LAH.A502 ： Area Studies: East Asia
  • LAH.A504 ： Area Studies: Middle East and Africa
  • LAH.A505 ： Area Studies: South and Southeast Asia
  • LAH.A506 ： Area Studies: North America and Oceania
  • LAL.S431 ： Spanish Seminar: Culture and Society 1
  • LAL.S432 ： Spanish Seminar: Culture and Society 2
  • LAL.S433 ： Spanish Seminar: Culture and Society 3
  • LAL.S434 ： Spanish Seminar: Culture and Society 4

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

No skills or knowledge are required.

Other

I am looking forward to learning a lot of things myself through this experience, especially through the interaction with the students. If there is any students from Latin American countries (or who have lived in those countries) please let me know and please share your experience in the class.

This course is 500-level course. Tokyo Tech’s “wedge-shaped style education” enables students to pursue liberal arts education in a phased manner throughout undergraduate and graduate programs. Students are encouraged to take courses in the sequence of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 levels. As such, master's students must begin from 400-level Humanities and Social Science courses in 1Q and 2Q of the first year, then proceed to 500-level courses. And master's students entering in September must begin from 400-level Humanities and Social Science courses in 3Q and 4Q of the first year, then proceed to 500-level courses. Students can register for 500-level Humanities and Social Science courses six months after their entrance (i.e. students admitted in April can register in 3Q and 4Q, and those admitted in September can register in 1Q and 2Q).

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