US - Cuba. From friendship to hostility 4219-SG053
This is an active participation class where you’ll have a chance to get closer to the US and Cuban history, politics, and political culture. We’ll have lectures, presentations, and debates where you will have an opportunity to ask questions but also express your thoughts. We will walk through the history of relations between the United States and Cuba from early independence days. The contemporary issues though will stay at the spotlight. During the course we will try to answer the question why two, neighboring countries, with multiple historical links came to feuds, or even hostile relations. The Cuban Revolution, the role of charismatic leader as Fidel Castro was, and the drift towards the soviet model will focus our attention. Here are some tips on topics I plan to develop:
- Independence – two visions and two traditions.
- “Cuba is special”.
- The US expansion.
- Towards the Independence: Jose Marti, uprisings, and the war of 1898.
- The Americans in the island.
- Batista – the Caribbean despot.
- “Crazy Horse” and the students.
- Dignity and Revolution.
- CIA, Caribbean Crisis, and blockade.
- Soviet model.
- Exporting the revolution.
- Bad, or even worse relations.
- Cuba after Fidel.
- Obama - the trial of normalization.
- The Trump’s counter-offensive.
- Chinese Dragon.
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Upon completing this course, a student:
KNOWLEDGE
A graduate possesses comprehensive knowledge and understanding of:
- the complexity of research on the culture of the United States and the necessity of drawing from other scientific disciplines to create foundations and contexts for these studies
- the basic characteristics and principles of the formation of social structures and their functioning in the United States, including the individual's position, types of bonds and social
structures, their evolution, governing regularities, norms, and rules
- the social specificity of the United States and Latin America, and how multiculturalism and multi-nationality of its inhabitants condition the dynamics of social development and potential difficulties in such development
- cultural products of American culture and their historical, social, and political contexts, as well as manifestations and processes characteristic of contemporary cultural, social, and political life in the United States
- historical processes and events that led to the establishment of the United States and further development of statehood until modern times
- the structure and principles of operation of the political system and political life institutions relevant to American Studies concerning the United States
SKILLS:
A graduate is able to:
- formulate and solve complex research problems, recognizing, understanding, interpreting,
explaining, and analyzing the causes and course of cultural processes and phenomena in the United States and Latin America using sources and standard research methods and tools within the humanities
- use acquired theoretical knowledge to describe and analyze cultural processes and phenomena occurring in the United States
- communicate on American topics related to the United States using specialized terminology in the English language and advanced information and communication
techniques
- apply principles of effective communication necessary in the context of exchange between
two cultural systems
SOCIAL COMPETENCES:
A graduate is able to:
- critically perceive content related to the United States conveyed by the media and other environments
- utilize interdisciplinary knowledge acquired in American Studies concerning the United States to formulate own opinions and recognize its significance in solving cognitive and practical problems
- engage and utilize Americanist knowledge for the benefit of the social environment through entrepreneurial thinking and action
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Assessment criteria
- Attendance - 20% (max 2 absences accepted)
- Active participation - 40%
- Presentation - 40% (evaluation of the joint project presentation prepared on specific topic).
100-90pt/5; 90-70/4; 70-50/3
Bibliography
LaFebre, Walter. The American Age. US Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad 1750 to the Present. 1994. W.W. Northon & Co. New York-London
Schulzinger, Robert D. U.S. Diplomacy since 1900. 2002. Oxford University Press. Oxford – New York
Smith, Joseph. The United States and Latin America. A history of American diplomacy, 1776-2000. 2005. Routledge. London and New York
Gil, Federico G. Latin American - United States Relations. 1971. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. New York - Chicago
Online text on specific problems will be offered during the course.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: