Course Information for Students

  • Dr. Slatta Follow Professor Slatta down historical pathways!
  • Why study Latin America? Good question. Let me quote from Craufurd D. Goodwin and Michael Nacht, Missing the Boat: The Failure to Internationalize American Higher Education (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991, p. 113): "To a degree far greater than at any time in the past, the world is an integrated whole. This generalization holds at every level. The most urgent problems facing humankind cannot any longer be thought to stop at national borders: Population growth, disease, environmental degradation, arms races, terrorism--none of these can be perceived any longer as someone else's problem or as ours alone. They are ours collectively. A highly integrated world economy means that business practices, legal systems, engineering tasks, and food production can no longer be viewed exclusively from a domestic perspective. They are all global issues. Those who persevere in a parochial approach to these subjects cut themsvels off from prospective solutions and impose unacceptable costs on themselves and on the world. Even the conception of national security as a purely military problem has lost much of its rationale. Fortress America is simply not a viable option. What good are so-called secure borders if nuclear fallout from some third-party conflict half a world away decimates our own population, or if tropical deforestatation and worldwide air pollution lead to global warning and inundation of our coast cities?"
  • HI 215: Latin America to 1826 The origins and development of social, political, economic and religious institutions from pre-conquest times to the achievement of independence. The ancient American cultures; Spain and Portugal before 1492; conquest and settlement, Spanish rule in theory and practice, economic life, the Church, land and labor; the African contribution; the Portuguese in Brazil; the independence movements.Surveys the major cultural roots of Latin America: Pre-Columbian, Iberian, and African. Traces the conflict and conquest of the sixteenth century, the growth of Spanish colonial institutions, and the move toward independence. Taught every semester, almost always by my colleague Dr. Bob Butler.
  • HI 216: Latin America since 1826 The triumphs and tragedies of the region since the independence era. Social, political, economic, and intellectual life in the 19th and 20th centuries in Central and South America. The social structure of the new nations; 19th century liberalism; the force of tradition; relations with Europe and the United States; economic change; caudillo rule; 20th century upheavals; revolutions; political conflict, human rightst. Available some semesters online as HI 216 Online.
  • HI 469: 20th-Century Latin American Revolutions The causes and outcomes of political violence in the region. Preq: junior standing or permission of instructor Credit for both HI 469 and HI 569 will not be given Comparative analysis of causes, participants, process, and outcome of revolutions in Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, and Central America. Taught about once each year.
  • HI 453: US-Latin American Relations Good Neighbors? Well, not always. Learn why. Offered Fall 2002 and for the first time online Spring 2003.
    Preq: junior standing or permission of instructor Credit will not be given both for HI 453 and HI 553 Analysis of periods, issues, and events in U.S.-Latin American relations since 1823: Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny, Mexican and Spanish-American Wars, Dollar Diplomacy, Good Neighbor Policy, anti-Communist crusade since 1945, Alliance for Progress, U.S. responses to revolution. Historical perspective on contemporary inter-American problems on drugs, environment, debt crisis, and human rights abuses. Available some semesters as a distance education course. See HI 453 Online Home page.
  • HI 300: Sophomore Seminar in Historical Research and Writing A nuts-and-bolts workshop of how to be a historian. Roll up your sleeves and learn! [Also taught by other NCSU history faculty] Preq: 3 hours of history or Sophomore standing Coreq: HSS 100, History majors only Introduction to the process of researching and writing history. Techniques for locating and interpreting primary sources. The craft of historical writing. Analysis and criticism of the varieties of history. Basic computer literacy: basic computingterms, electronic mail, online searching of the NCSU Libraries, use of the Internet, and word processing.
  • Occasional specific topics courses [HI 491] on a variety of topics, usually ones that I've researching myself.
  • Need help planning your eductional future? The Directory for Graduate Schools has over 49,000 listings of graduate school programs. You can browse through the subject directory or do a school-by-school search. When you browse you'll see the sponsored sites listed first before the complete school or subject listing, which may br a little confusing. This site also has a Directory for Studying Abroad opportunities.
    Doing Research at Duke or Chapel Hill?
  • Owing to Cooperative Latin American Collection Development at the UNC and Duke Libraries:
  • UNC takes primary responsibility for: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, insular Caribbean, with emphasis on Cuba
  • Duke focuses on: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, English-speaking Caribbean, and Central America.
  • You may search either catalog using the D. H. Hill library search engine.
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