HIST 21700 - Modern Brazil

Course Credit: 1
Maximum Credit: 0

(LAST)
This course examines the history of modern Brazil from 1808 to the present, focusing on the negotioation of race, gender and class in a heterogeneous society. Our readings and discussion will focus on cultural production including novels, films, soap operas, music and food as a window to Brazilian identity. Themes include Brazilian slavery and the transition to free labor; immigration and the construction of national identity; populism and the cooptation of the Brazilian working classes; state projects for modernation and the construction of Brasilia; the persistence of racial prejudices in a racial democracy; authoritarianism, tropicalismo, and the return to civilian rule; and economic growth and development in a highly stratified society. [GE, HSS, PPRE, SJ]