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    POLITICS AND IDEOLOGIES FROM THE AMERICAS

    Time

    Fall and Winter 1999-2000

    Faculty

    Jorge Gilbert

    Enrollment

    25 students

    Prerequisites

    yes (O.K. from Faculty)

    First Year Students

    yes (25 percent)

    Faculty Signature

    yes

    Special Expenses

    $10 for program materials

    Part Time Options

    Spanish (in the program)

    Internship Possibilities

    No

    Additional Courses Allowed

    No

    Credits

    16

    • Rich and industrialized nations from the North assert that capitalism brought progress and welfare to many nations. On the other hand, people from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean argue that capitalism was based upon primitive accumulation rooted on the primitive violence, pillage, and genocide of the inhabitants of the Third World. Accordingly, they claim that rich nations exist today because their ancestors plundered other nations for many centuries. First Europe and then the U.S.A., after they expropriated the Third World of their right to life, have created and imposed structures and laws, which allowed them to decide the destiny of these continents. These conditions have permitted the historical oppressors to behave like creditors and judges who dictate sentences forcing Third World countries to continue funneling their wealth toward the developed economies, according to this interpretation. Through these mechanisms, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean were converted into secondary chapters of the European history; it is argued by the Third World. Besides the rules of European capitalist market, their culture, religion and identity were imposed upon them. Peoples from these continents were forced to be ashamed of them because they were Indians or Blacks, to renegade their cultures and to accept to living under eternal conditions of exile in their own lands.

    This program is aimed to study the above processes in the Americas from pre-Columbian times until today from a multidisciplinary approach which includes history, politics, economics, religion, culture, folklore, literature, theater, media, art, etc. Within this context, the process of underdevelopment, which characterizes the region today, will be historically analyzed and evaluated in light of the formation and expansion of the capitalist system in Europe first and the United States later. This program will utilize Latin American approaches and interpretations, as opposed to Eurocentric studies and models both from Europe and the USA.

    This program will also include a social research methods component to study the subjects described here. Projects including video production, cultural journalism, folklore, theater, alternative media and Spanish language will be developed by students working in small groups. During the Spring quarter of 1999 the program will offer interested students a chance to prepare for travel to Chile. Participation in research projects and production of several short documentaries about relevant topics studied in this program will be the focus of this Field School to Chile.

    Credit will be awarded in social sciences, communications, Spanish language, Latin American studies, political economy, arts, television production and writhing.