Week One
This is a course on Mesoamerica, not just Mexico. Here are some maps to start with, from modern, to colonial, to 'Postclassic' and 'Classic,' and both culture areas and geographical zones.
(All maps are from Robert M. Carmack, Janine Gasco, and Gary Gossen, The Legacy of Mesoamerica. Carmack and Gossen are anthropologists working in Guatemala and Chiapas respectively. In the 1960s and 70s, they were pioneers of what came to be called "ethnohistory," an interdisciplinary approach that combines archaeology, history, art history, anthropology, epigraphy, and whatever else is useful to understand a people or culture.)
Week Two
Check out my del.icio.us links to the right for reviews of Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto,' reactions (in Spanish) to the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan recently exhibited for the first time in Guatemala, and the University of Oregon's wonderful site of digitalized Mesoamerican mapas. Take advantage of this last site soon, it's password protected and I'll need to take it down after a few weeks.
Week Three
Here's a study guide for Tuesday's quiz. The quiz will consist of twenty short answer questions involving the what, when, where, and why it is significant for all these terms. For the where, refer to the maps above and also the map of Aztec empire on del.icio.us, under the AncientAmericas tag.
Week Four
Huzzah, it's a lecture outline for Tuesday. And another for Thursday.
Week Five
Lecture outlines: Tuesday and Thursday. Dartmouth has a very nice Sor Juana site. For more on Maria Luisa Bemberg, the filmaker of Yo, La Peor de Todos, see this 1994 article.
Week Six
On Thursday (lecture outline here), we'll discuss these casta paintings, which I'm borrowing from the website of historian Dr. Kathryn Burns (who has done some fantastic, pathbreaking work on the economic role of convents in colonial Peru).
Looking ahead: Quiz #2, covering the colonial period (ie, through this Thursday's lectures and readings), is next Tuesday. Study guide is here.
Week Seven
TWO extra credit opportunities:
There are four great Latin American-ish films being shown this week on campus. For this class, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Thursday's (Oct. 11) showing of El Violin, about rebellion in southern Mexico. So highly, in fact, that I will add up to 15 points to Quiz #1 or #2 (whichever grade is lower) if you go, and write an intelligent 2-page response paper to it. Papers are due at the beginning of class next Tuesday, Oct. 16. Fair warning: the very beginning is pretty brutal. The rest is tense, but not so violent. WILLIAM WEHR PHYSICS BUILDING, ROOM 153 BEGINNING AT 5:30PM, free.
Also, the Milwaukee Museum of Art is showing an exhibition of the artwork of Martín Ramirez through the rest of the semester. Ramirez left Mexico in 1924 to find work in northern California. He was arrested in the U.S. for 'erratic behavior,' diagnosed (perhaps wrongly) with schizophrenia, and institutionalized until his death in 1963. In the mental asylum, he began drawing, and became one of the leading artists of the twentieth century. This extra credit opportunity, with the same requirements as above, will continue throughout the semester and can also be applied to Quiz #3. It must be turned in by Thursday, Nov. 15.
Lecture outline for this week here.
Week Eight
ALERT:::::::::::::Class Tuesday meets in Raynor Library's Conference Center Rooms B&C, on the bottom floor next to the Reserves room!!!
Come ready to divide into groups for your food project, and then,
Enjoy your Midterm Break
Week Nine
Those who didn't see El Violin for lack of subtitles, you may turn in the same extra credit assignment for either Men With Guns OR La Otra Conquista. Both are available at Raynor's Reserve desk (they are not, however, specifically on reserve for this class). Due by Thursday, Nov. 15. You may not do two movie reviews -- however, I encourage everyone to go see Martín Ramirez at the MAM.
Please be ready to give me a list of the dishes you will be preparing for our fiesta by next Tuesday, Oct. 30.
Lecture outlines for this week are here.
Week Ten
Quiz 3 -- the last for the course -- is coming up next Tuesday. Here's the study guide.....and lecture outlines for the Mexican Revolution.
Remember: no peanuts/peanut oil or pork/lard in your food dishes, please!! The list of dishes you plan to prepare should be turned into me on Tuesday.
Week Eleven
Tuesday after the quiz we'll turn, briefly, to Guatemala: lecture notes here.
On Thursday....it's a food fiesta! Please come a little early to class -- with your food, your report, a bottle of some appropriate beverage, and any Mexican music CDs you'd like to share. We will meet in AMU in the Office of International Education's reception room, 4th floor, Room 407.
Week Twelve
Lecture outlines for this week are here....and don't forget that all extra credit papers are due to me by this Thursday.
Looking ahead to I, Rigoberta Menchú, you are only responsible in class for Ch. 1-4, 9-10, 12, 15-19, 23-24, 27, and 32. Also I have added two short pieces by Rohter and Montejo, listed as "The Rigoberta Menchú Controversy" on E-Reserve for the class.
Finally, I have changed the due date of the final essay. It is now due NO LATER THAN 3 p.m., Monday, Dec. 10.
Week Thirteen
Lecture notes....final paper guide...have a safe holiday.
Week Fourteen
Lecture notes for this week....
Thursday, we'll discuss Broccoli and Desire, and hear yet another disciplinary perspective on the issues of global trade from a Marquette professor in the Business school, Dr. Joseph Daniels. In class, you are responsible for:
Introduction, Ch. 1 ("Something Better"), Ch. 4 ("Social Suffering the the Postwar Era"), Ch. 6 ("Beyond Victimization") and the Conclusion.
How's this for a great example of the Zapatista's (and their supporters') postmodern media savvy.
Week Fifteen
The last week of lecture notes...
And the changing face of immigration. More Mexicans are immigrating from the south, and more Central Americans are coming too. They are often native Mesoamerican with limited Spanish skills, and are often moving to places where immigrant labor has not traditionally appeared, ie the U.S. southeast. See this article on migrant labor in the U.S. meatpacking industry, from the Migration Policy Institute, and a New Yorker article by John Bowe recently republished in his book Nobodies, on farm workers in Florida. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is an interesting comparison with the United Farm Workers, updated with the new language of fair trade.
Teenagers reflect on growing up between Chicago and Durango, Mexico, with their former fourth-grade teacher.
It's been a pleasure sharing the semester with you, and I look forward to reading your papers due in HARD COPY UNLESS PREVIOUSLY ARRANGED WITH ME no later than 3 p.m., Monday, Dec. 10.