University of Mississippi Department of History History 470-1: Undergraduate Research Seminar The Cold War in Latin America Instructor: Oliver Dinius Office: Bishop Hall 304 Contact: dinius@olemiss.edu, ph.: 915-3791 Office Hours: T, 3-4:30pm; Th 1:30-3pm Spring Semester 2009 Th, 4:00-6:30 pm Bishop 326 COURSE CONTENT The seminar examines the history of the Cold War (1947-1991) in Latin America. The Soviet Union never posed a military threat in the region outside the island of Cuba, but the Cold War nevertheless affected Latin America profoundly because the United States feared Communist threats. The first part of the course will be centered on readings that (1) provide an overview of the period, (2) explore the U.S. involvement in the region to fight real or imagined Communism, and (3) analyze the Latin American role in the Cold War in response to US action. This includes a critical assessment of U.S. decisions to expand intelligence gathering, increase military and economic aid, back anticommunist governments in Latin America, and use troops in direct military interventions. LEARNING OBJECTIVES The main goal of the capstone seminar is to write a 25-page research paper that demonstrates the student s ability to produce work that fulfills the formals standards of historical scholarship. Students will perform extensive research, both in the library and with academic online sources, and they will develop their academic writing skills. Moreover, the course provides training in summarizing arguments of scholarly works, presenting one s own work to others, and critiquing the work of peers. GRADING 1) Class Participation & Presentations 15% 2) Short Paper based in Primary Sources 10% 3) Midterm Exam 10% 4) Annotated Bibliography 10% 5) First Draft of Research Paper 15% 6) Final Research Paper 40% RESEARCH PAPER: Students will write a 25-page research paper. Readings in the first few weeks, a primary source-based writing exercise, and a session with a reference librarian will familiarize students with (1) the difference between primary and secondary sources, (2) research strategies to identify proper sources, and (3) the correct use and citation of courses in a research paper. Based on broad knowledge gained from the readings in the first weeks, students will formulate a research topic. The papers have to address an aspect of the Cold War in Latin America. Students are expected to research the Latin American perspective on the events based on available English-language sources. Topics that deal exclusively with U.S. policy-making will not be approved. The paper can focus
on one of the major events related to the Cold War in Latin America or on less well-known aspects. Students will decide on a topic in close consultation with the instructor. The research paper requires students to use both primary and secondary sources, and the process of writing the essay will be broken down in several steps: (1) prospectus, (2) annotated bibliography, (3) primary source analysis, (4) partial draft, (5) first full draft, and (6) final paper. MIDTERM EXAM: The midterm exam will have two parts. The first will be a map quiz to test your knowledge of Latin American geography. You will receive (in advance) a list of terms including countries, cities, and major geographic features. In the exam, you will be expected to be able to place these geographic features accurately on a blank map of Latin America. The second part will be IDs and essays to test your knowledge of the Cold War in Latin America based on the class readings. Together with the midterm, I will administer a standardized assessment test given to all students enrolled in 400-level seminars. The assessment tests general skills such as distinguishing between primary and secondary sources, reading and interpreting a text, and recognizing plagiarism. ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION: You are expected to attend all seminar sessions, finish all assigned readings prior to class, and be prepared to participate actively. PRESENTATION: Towards the end of the semester, you will give a presentation on the topic of your research to the entire seminar. This will be a 10-minute presentation in which you present on the results of your research (based on your full research paper draft) and provide conclusions that you have drawn from your work. In the same session, I will ask each of you to respond ACADEMIC INTEGRITY The University of Mississippi has an Academic Discipline Policy that will be followed in this course. Students are expected to submit their own original work in all aspects of this course and behave in a respectful manner both toward the professors and other students in the class. Suspected violations will be subject to disciplinary action according to the University policy. If you have questions, please consult the University's M Book (Section II, I. A-G). READINGS The following books are required for this course and are available at the university bookstore and on reserve at the main library: Nick Cullather. Secret History: The CIA s Classified Account of its Operations in Guatemala, 1952-54. 2 nd edition. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006. J. Patrice McSherry. Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Henry Raymont. Troubled Neighbors: The Story of US-Latin American Relations from FDR to the Present. Boston: Westview Press, 2005. 2
Mary Lynn Rampolla. A Pocket Guide to Writing in History. Boston: Bedford s St. Martin, 2007. Additional required readings will be placed on electronic reserve as PDF files on the Blackboard website for INST 207. These readings are marked with a double asterisk (**) in the syllabus. Background Readings If you have never taken Latin American history and would like to do some background reading, I recommend you read the chronologically relevant chapters of a textbook on modern Latin American history. Two good options are. Thomas Skidmore and Peter Smith. Modern Latin America. 6 th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005 (on reserve at John Williams Library for INST 207). Lawrence Clayton & Michael Conniff. A History of Modern Latin America. 2 nd edition. Belmont (CA): Thomson - Wadsworth, 2005. For a more theoretically sophisticated interpretation of recent Latin American history, see: Tulio Halperín-Donghi. The Contemporary History of Latin America. Edited and translated by John Charles Chasteen. Durham: Duke University Press, 1993. COURSE OUTLINE (Note that the course outline and reading assignments may be subject to change.) Th 1/21 Th 1/28 Th 2/5 Introduction to Course Video: CNN Cold War Series: Backyard (1954-1990) Overview: The US and Soviet Presence in Latin America Common Readings: 1) Henry Raymont, Troubled Neighbors: The Story of US-Latin American Relations from FDR to the Present, 1-68. 2) ** Nicola Miller, Communist subversion in Latin America? The Impact of Marxist Thought, in Soviet Relations with Latin America 1959-1987, 23-57 (Ch.2). 3) ** Nicola Miller, The Soviet Union and the Major Latin American Powers, Soviet Relations with Latin America 1959-1987, 148-187 (Ch.6). 4) Henry Raymont, Troubled Neighbors: The Story of US-Latin American Relations from FDR to the Present, 69-280. Assignment: Prepare Chapter Summary Historiography: The Case of Guatemala Common Readings: ** Richard H. Immerman, Guatemala as Cold War History, Political Science Quarterly 95:4 (Winter, 1980-1981), 629-653. 3
Nick Cullather. Secret History: The CIA s Classified Account of its Operations in Guatemala, 1952-54, 1-123. ** Max Holland, Private Sources of U.S. Foreign Policy: William Pawley and the 1954 Coup d État in Guatemala, Journal of Cold War Studies 7:4 (Fall 2005), 36 73. Assignment: Outline a Historiographical Argument Th 2/12 ` Th 2/19 Getting Ready for Research Part I (4-5pm): Introduction to Online Research Tools Taught by Ryan Johnson, Reference Librarian, Williams Library (Room TBA) Part II (5-6:30pm): Analyzing Primary Sources Common Reading: 1) M.L. Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Research, 6-24 and 69-72. Individually Assigned Reading: 2) ** Selected Texts from Robert H. Holden and Eric Zolov, eds., Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). Assignment: 1) Primary Source Analysis 2) Preliminary Topic Proposal for Final Paper Writing Based on Primary Sources: The Cuban Missile Crisis Common Reading: 1) M.L. Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Research, 43-68 and 88-95. 2) ** Nicola Miller, Castro s Cuba A Gift to the Russians? The Soviet-Cuban embrace, 1959-1962, Soviet Relations with Latin America 1959-1987, 58-90 (Ch.3). 3) ** Daniela Spenser, The Caribbean Crisis: Catalyst for Soviet Projection in Latin America, in Gil Joseph, ed., In from the Cold: Latin America s New Encounter with the Cold War, 77-111. 4) ** James G. Hershberg, The United States, Brazil, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 (Part I), Journal of Cold War Studies 6:2 (Spring 2004), 3 20. 5) ** James G. Hershberg, The United States, Brazil, and the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 (Part I), Journal of Cold War Studies 6:3 (Summer 2004), 5 67. Assignment: Short Paper based on Primary Sources Th 2/26 The Cold War on the Ground: Operation Condor Common Readingss: 1) J. Patrice McSherry, Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America, 1-68. 2) J. Patrice McSherry, Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America, 69-255. 4
3) ** Ariel Armony, Transnationalizing the Dirty War: Argentina in Central America, in Gil Joseph, ed., In from the Cold: Latin America s New Encounter with the Cold War, 134-168. 4) ** Robert H. Holden, Securing Central America against Communism: The United States and the Modernization of Surveillance in the Cold War, Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 41:1 (Spring 1999), v-30. Assignment: Final Prospectus for Long Research Paper Th 3/5 Th 3/12 Latin America and Beyond: Cuba and the Global Cold War Common Readings: 1) ** Piero Gleijeses, The View from Havana: Lessons from Cuba s African Journey, 1959-1976, in Gil Joseph, ed., In from the Cold: Latin America s New Encounter with the Cold War, 112-133. 2) ** Yinghong Cheng, Sino-Cuban Relations during the Early Years of the Castro Regime, 1959 1966, Journal of Cold War Studies 9:3 (Summer 2007), 78 114. 3) ** Piero Gleijeses, Cuba's First Venture in Africa: Algeria, 1961-1965, Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Feb., 1996), 159-195. 4) ** Piero Gleijeses, The First Ambassadors: Cuba's Contribution to Guinea-Bissau's War of Independence, Journal of Latin American Studies 29:1 (Feb., 1997), 45-88. 5) ** Piero Gleijeses, Moscow s Proxy? Cuba and Africa 1975 1988, Journal of Cold War Studies 8:2 (Spring 2006), 3 51. Assignment: Annotated Bibliography for Long Research Paper *** MIDTERM EXAMINATION*** **** MARCH 16-20 SPRING BREAK **** Th 3/26 Th 4/2 Th 4/9 Research - Final Paper Reading: M.L. Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Research, 72-87. Assignment: Outline of Final Paper Research - Final Paper Assignment: Research and Writing - Final Paper Reading: M.L. Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Research, 96-134 (consult as you write). 5
Assignment: Partial Draft of Final Paper Th 4/16 Tues., 4/21 (@ 4pm) Th 4/23 Th 5/1 Research and Writing - Final Paper Full Draft of Final Paper due to Instructor and Peer Reader Presentation of Research & Peer Review Class Meets!!! Assignment: Peer Review of another Student s Full Draft Research and Writing - Final Paper Individual meetings with instructor FINAL DRAFT of RESEARCH PAPER DUE on MONDAY, May 4, @ 4pm 6