Course Syllabus
Course Information
History 4359, Section 001, Spring 2018
Cuban Revolution
JO 4.102, M/W 5:30-6:45
Professor Contact Information
Dr. Monica Rankin
JO 4.916 or JO 4.602
Office: (972) 883-2005
Mobile: (972) 822-5375
Office Hours: M 4:00-5:30 or by appointment
TA Contact Information
Jeffrey Landrum
Office: JO 5.410C
Course
Description
This course will examine the
background, events, and legacy of the 1959 Cuban Revolution from a multi-disciplinary
perspective. Using a combination of
historical analyses, primary sources, films, and digital media, the course will
begin with an overview of Cuba’s colonial history and its twentieth-century
relationship with the United States.
Students will review Fidel Castro’s rise to power, his revolutionary
movement of 1959, and the revolution’s eventual turn to the Soviet Union. The course will emphasize the impact the
revolution had on U.S.-Latin American relations in the context of the cold war
as well as the dynamic cultural influences the conflict had and continues to
have in the United States. Other themes
will include the social aspects of the revolution within Cuba, the end of the
Cold War, and the importance of Cuba in U.S. politics.
Student
Learning Objectives/Outcomes
Required
Textbooks and Materials
Textbook: Marifeli Pérez-Stable, The
Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy, Oxford University Press,
1999. ISBN: 0195127498
Essay and Document Reader: Aviva
Chomsky, The Cuba Reader: History,
Culture, Politics, Duke University Press, 2003. ISBN: 0822331977
Additional
readings will be distributed in class or made available through the McDermott
Library E-Reserves system.
Reserve Readings:
Assignments
Class Participation: All students are expected to participate in class
discussions by incorporating information from assigned readings and class
lectures. Students’ participation should
be constructive and contribute to the overall discussion. Please consider quality as well as quantity
in class discussions. Discussions will be based on reading assignments out of
the Chomsky book and other outside
readings distributed in class or on E-Reserves.
Generally those assignments will correspond to
the previous day’s lecture, so you will hear a lecture over a given topic and
then read one or more chapters related to that topic after hearing the basic
narrative.
Weekly Quizzes: At the
beginning of days designated for formal class discussions/participatory
activities, we will start with a brief open note quiz. All students are strongly encouraged to take
thorough notes on the assigned readings as these notes may be consulted during
the weekly quizzes. You may use the
questions listed on the discussion link to our course website as a general
note-taking guide. Oftentimes quiz
questions will be modified versions of the questions listed on that site. If
you take notes on a computer, please print out a copy of your notes to use for
the quiz. No electronic devices are allowed during quiz time.
NOTE: The quiz will begin promptly at the start of class time and will last
for no more than 10 minutes. Students
arriving late to class will not be allotted additional time to complete the
weekly quiz. No make-ups will be allowed
on weekly quizzes, but I will drop your lowest quiz score at the end of the
semester.
See www.utdallas.edu/~mrankin for quiz study questions.
Game Project: We are partnering with Monica Evans, director of
gaming in ATEC, to conduct an academic game based on the Cuba Revolution. We will
have specific days set aside for this in-class activity. More information will
be made available later in the semester.
Exams: The exams in this class will be
take-home exams. They will consist of
various ID terms that must be defined and tied to specific examples from the
assigned readings. I will provide
students with exam questions and thorough instructions in advance. Exams will be due on the days listed in the
course schedule. They must be typed and
uploaded to TURNITIN.com.
Grading Policy
The
breakdown of the grading is as follows:
Midterm Exam 100 points
Final Exam 100
points
Game Project 50 points
Weekly
Quizzes 100 points
Class Participation 100
points
Course
& Instructor Policies
There
is no formal attendance policy in this class, but I will distribute a sign-in
sheet each day to help track class participation. Please keep in mind that it is not possible
to “make-up” class participation. If you
are not physically (and mentally) present in the classroom, it will affect your
participation grade. Furthermore, past
experience has proven that students who attend class regularly tend to earn
higher grades. I frequently include
information in my lectures that is not necessarily covered in your
reading. It behooves you to be present
to listen to lectures and participate in class.
Finally, please refrain from disruptive behavior such as arriving late,
departing early, talking, sleeping, texting, facebooking,
reading the newspaper, etc. (I reserve the right to add to this list as
needed).
·
No
late assignments will be accepted and there is no make-up policy for in-class
work. All student will be allowed to
turn in one readings summary paper to make up for a missed quiz.
·
All
exams must be uploaded to E-learning by 11:59 pm on the due date. Class will not meet on the days that exams
are due.
All
assignments for this class are mandatory.
Materials used in this course have been carefully selected for their
scholarly value, but some audiences may take offense at topics of a sensitive
nature. There will be no substitutions
of readings, films, documents, presentations, and/or other course requirements
to suit personal preferences and/or sensitivities. There are no exceptions to this rule.
UTD
Syllabi Policies: For University Syllabi Policies, please see: http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies
Academic
Calendar:
The
following schedule outlines the topics and reading assignments for each
class. This schedule is subject to
change. Any changes made to the schedule
and/or any other course requirements will be announced in class and will be
posted on the course website: www.utdallas.edu/~mrankin
Academic
Calendar:
The
following schedule outlines the topics and reading assignments for each
class. This schedule is subject to
change. Any changes made to the schedule
and/or any other course requirements will be announced in class and will be
posted on the course website: www.utdallas.edu/~mrankin.
COURSE SCHEDULE AND
READING ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1
Jan.
8 Introduction and Syllabus
Jan.
10 Introductory Video: Fidel
Castro: El Comandante
Read: Leogrande and NYT
articles
Textbook: Introduction and Chapter 1
Week 2
Jan.
15 Campus Holiday – NO CLASS
Jan.
17 Lecture 1: Cuba’s Colonial
Past
Week 3
Jan.
22 Quiz #1
Reserve Reading #1
(Gray)
Cuba Reader:
Wurdeman, “A Physician’s Notes on Cuba (39-43)
Manzano, “Autobiography of a Slave (49-57)
Placido, “An Afro-Cuban Poet (110-112)
Marti, “Our America (122-127)
Jan.
24 Lecture 2: Independence and
the United States
Textbook: Chapter 2,
pp36-42
Week 4
Jan.
29 Quiz #2
Reserve Reading #2
(Deere)
Cuba Reader:
New York Journal, “Explosion of the Maine” (130-134)
Johnson, “U.S. Cartoonists Portray Cuba” (135-138)
Roosevelt, “The Platt Amendment” (147-149)
Jan.
31 Lecture 3: The Rise of
Dictatorship
Textbook: Chapter 2, 43-81
Week 5
Feb.
5 Quiz #3
Reading Response #3
Reserve Reading #3 (Dur and Gilcrease)
Reserve Reading #4 (Whitney)
Cuba Reader:
Loveira, “Generals and Doctors” (186-188)
Mella, “Where is Cuba Headed?” (265-269)
Phillips, “The Fall of Machado” (274-280)
Feb.
7 Lecture 4: The Rise of
Revolutionaries
Week 6
Feb.
12 Quiz #4
Reserve Reading #5 (Ameringer)
Cuba Reader:
Chibas, “The Last Call” (298-299)
Franqui, “Three Comandantes Talk It
Over” (302-305)
Castro, “History Will Absolve Me” (306-314)
Feb.
14 Lecture
5: Rebellion in Cuba
Textbook Chapter 3
**Final exam information begins here
Week 7
Feb.
19 Quiz #5
Reserve Reading #6 (Boughton)
Reserve Reading #7 (Luxemberg)
Cuba Reader:
Guevara, “Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary
War” (315-320)
Matthews, “The Cuban Story in the New York Times” (326-332)
Feb.
21 Exam
1 due – upload to turnitin.com by 11:59pm
Week 8
Feb.
26 Lecture
6: The Delicate Diplomatic Dance
Feb.
28 Video:
Cuban Story
Week 9
March
5 Lecture 7: Missiles and
Attempted Murder
March
7 Video: 368 Ways to Kill Castro
March
12-16 Spring Break – NO CLASS
Week 10
March
19 Quiz #6
Reserve Reading #8 (Brenner)
Reserve Reading #9 (Gleijeses)
Cuba Reader:
Castro, “Castro Calls on Cubans to Resist the
Counterrevolution” (536-539)
Desnoes, “Inconsolable Memories: A Cuban View of the Missile
Crisis” (547-551)
Select Committee…, “The Assassination Plots” (552-556)
March
21 Lecture 8: The Emergence of
Socialism
Textbook: Chapter 4
Week 11
March
26 Quiz #7
Reserve Reading #10 (Farber)
Cuba Reader:
Benjamn, “How the Poor Got More” (344-353)
Arenal, “Fish à la
Grande Jardinière” (354-362)
March
28 Lecture 9: Revolution, Culture,
and Gender
Textbook: Chapter 5
Week 12
April
2 Quiz #8
Reserve Reading #11 (Ocasio)
Cuba Reader:
Randall, “The Family Code” (399-405)
Arenas, “Homosexuality, Creativity, Dissidence” (406-411)
Daniel, “Dance and Social Change” (466-474)
Zúñiga, “The Virgin of Charity of Cobre,
Cuba’s Patron Saint” (490-497)
April
4 Lecture 10: Refugees and Rectification
Textbook: Chapters 6-7
Week
13
April
9 Video: Salud
April
11 Video: Salud
Week
14
April 16 Quiz #9
Reserve Reading #12 (Walsh)
Reserve Reading #13 (Dominguez)
Cuban Reader:
Masud-Piloto, “From Welcomed Exiles to Illegal Immigrants”
(561-565)
Fernández, “Wrong Channel” (566-567)
Rodríguez, “The Special Period” (599-603)
April
18 Lecture 11: Cuba Today
Textbook: Chapter 8
Week 15
April
23 Quiz #10
Reserve Reading #14 (Leogrande)
Reserve Reading #15 (Castro Mariño)
Cuba Reader:
Anderson, “The Old Man and the Boy” (644-649)
Sánchez Santacruz, “A
Dissident Speaks Out” (664-665)
Tamayo, “One More Assassination Plot” (666-670)
April
25 Final Game Activity – TBA
TBA Final Exam
Turn in to turnitin.com by 11:59pm