Courses

Venezuelan History, Politics and Society I (45 hours, 3 credits)

This course explores Venezuela's history from its pre-colombian roots through Spanish colonialism and the independence war of Simon Bolivar. The age of the federal wars and the democratic pact of Punto Fijo will also be covered as will the impact of the discovery of petroleum on Venezuelan society, the rise and collapse of a state-led development paradigm and the ascendancy of president Hugo Chavez Frias.

Class will be held at the Faculdad de Derecho, Universidad de Los Andes and will be comprised of two hour lectures by university professors followed immediately by a one hour discussion or seminar based on lecture materials and assigned readings. English will be the predominant language of instruction with some lectures given in Spanish. Students will meet during the week with representatives of the petroleum industry, the opposition movement, and representatives of the government's educational reforms. These sessions will typically be of a duration of two to three hours each.

Venezuelan History, Politics and Society II (45 hours, 3 credits)

Focused on the composition of Venezuelan society, this course will expose students to a diversity of contemporary sociological and anthropological themes such as the role of women and the indigenous in current political processes. The course will also explore how environmentalism, religion, and cooperative work relations articulate with Venezeula's move torwards a 'Socialism of the Twenty-First Century'.

Class will be held at the Faculdad de Derecho, Universidad de Los Andes and will be comprised of two hour lectures by university professors followed immediately by a one hour discussion or seminar based on lecture materials and assigned readings. English will be the predominant language of instruction with some lectures given in Spanish. Students will meet with gender, environmental, and media activists working independent from government programs. These sessions will be of a typical duration of two to three hours each.

Intensive Spanish (90 hours, 6 credits)

This is an immersion course focused on improving oral fluency and accuracy through the use of content-based and communicative language teaching methods. The course utilizes a holistic approach to language learning which combines grammar instruction and authentic materials with group discussions and presentations.

Class will be held twice weekly in downtown Mérida for a duration of three and a half hours each class. Students will be able to apply their classroom learning to situations in the home when spending time with their Venezuelan host families.

Independent Study (45 hours, 3 credits)

Students will have the opportunity to learn from Venezuelans working in government missions or independent organizations in the field. This course will be based on 4 weekend trips designed to discuss social policy with local actors working in the following areas: health care, agrarian reform, participatory democracy and popular economy. Students will be required to research a topic of interest to them and author a long essay discussing the theoretical and practical implications of their chosen topic at the end of the course.

Evaluation

Venezuelan History, Politics and Society I and II

• Attendance - 10%
• Reflections on readings - 20%
• Participation in discussions - 20%
• Final 3 hour written exam - 50%

Intensive Spanish

• Attitude/Participation: - 10%
• Homework: - 20%
• Quizzes: (2) - 15%
• Exams (2): - 25%
• Presentations (2): - 10%
• Improvement in Oral Fluency: - 10%
• Oral Accuracy: - 10%

Independent Study

• Attendance at weekend visits-- 10%
• Participation in discussions -- 20%
• Oral presentation of research -- 20%
• Long essay (15-20 pages) -- 50%

Institutions

Classes will be administered and evaluated by the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Sociales de América Latina (CEPSAL) at the Universidad de Los Andes (ULA), Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas. CEPSAL will generate a transcript for all academic work completed, with grades on a 4-point scale. The transcript will then be made available to students' home universities for transfer credit

Course Materials

All course reading materials including articles related to specific lectures and/or seminars will be made available to students upon arrival in Venezuela.

Selected Course Bibliography, Venezuelan History, Society, and Culture I and II

Boudin, Chesa et al. (2006) The Venezuelan Revolution: 100 questions -- 100 answers. Thunder's Mouth Press.

Buxton, Julia (2005) Venezuela's contemporary political crisis in historical perspective. Bulletin of Latin American Research 74 (3):328-347

Coronil, Fernando (1997) The magical state: nature, money, and modernity in Venezuela. University of Chicago Press

Ellner, S. and Hellinger, D. (eds.) (2003) Venezuelan politics in the Chavez era: class, polarization, and conflict.

Lynne Rienner. Ewel, Judith (1984) Venezuela: A century of change. Stanford University Press

Friedman, Elisabeth J. (2000) Unfinished transitions: Women and the gendered development of democracy in Venezuela 1936 -- 1996. The Pennsylvania State University Press.

García-Guadilla, M.P. (2002) Democracy, decentralization, and clientelism: new relationships and old practices.

Latin American Perspectives 29 (5): 90-109 Global Exchange (2006) Realtiy Tours Venezuela: Current issues reader and resource guide. Unpublished reader compiled by Zach Hurwitz for Global Exhange, San Francisco.

Hellinger, Daniel C (1991) Venezuela: Tarnished democracy. Westview Press

Lombardi, John V. (1982) Venezuela: The search for order, the dream of progress. Oxford University Press.

López-Maya, M. (2002) Venezuela after the caracazo: forms of protest in a deinstitutionalized context. Bulletin of Latin American Research 21(2):199-218.

McBeth, B S (1983) Juan Vicente Gómez and the oil companies in Venezuela, 1908 -- 1935. Cambridge University Press.

Morón, Guillermo (1963) A History of Venezuela. Roy Publishers.

Tarver, M and Fredrick, J. (2006) The history of Venezuela. Palgrave Macmillan.

Tugwell, Franklin (1975) The politics of oil in Venezuela. Stanford University Press

Wright, Wintrop R. (1990) Café con leche: Race, class, and national image in Venezuela. University of Texas Press

All original, academic materials for Spanish courses including text books and workbooks will be made available to students by the Iowa Institute upon arrival in Venezuela.