Teaching Central America

Russian President Putin in Guatemala 2007

I am teaching a seminar on Central American politics this semester. I grew up at the end of the Cold War and was drawn to the study of the region because of how the struggles played out in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. As a result, my earlier syllabi were heavy on the civil wars.

Not all in one semester, but I've assigned Mark Danner's Massacre at El Mozote, Teresa Whitfield's Paying the Price, Daniel Wilkinson's Silence on the Mountain, and Stephen Kinzer's Blood of Brothers as well as Booth, Wade, and Walker's Understanding Central America and Walker and Armony's Repression, Resistance, and Democratic Transition in Central America.

While I enjoyed the readings and courses overall, as did my students I think, they tended to be too heavily geared towards the region's civil wars. I can't say that I've entirely fixed it this semester, but I consciously chose to end the Cold War section of the course by spring break. That still leaves over half the course to cover two decades of Central American happenings which still isn't the easiest thing to do (but better than the two or three weeks that it used to be).

I'm still not satisfied with the course. I can't say that any professor ever is. We are always striving top improve what and how we teach. But anyway here is what we are reading this semester. Click here for the entire syllabus if you are interested. Suggestions are welcome.

Week 1 (February 3rd)

• Introduction / Historical Overview of Central America

Week 2 The Early Cold War in Latin America (February 10th)

• The Early Cold War in Latin America, Brands, pp. 1-95 (handout)

Week 3 The Revolutionary Wave of the 1970s-1980s (February 17th)

• Kruijt, pp. 1-98 (handout)

Week 4 The Reagan Years and Nicaragua (February 24th)

• Understanding Iran Contra
• The Anti-Contra-War Campaign: Organizational Dynamics of a Decentralized Movement
• In the Name of Democracy, Carothers, pp. 77-117 (handout)

Week 5 El Salvador and the Jesuit Martyrs (March 3rd)

• Brackley, “The University and Its Martyrs: Hope from Central America” (handout)
• Brackley, “Higher Standards for Higher Education”
• Scranton Mission and Vision
• Student presentation on elections in El Salvador

Week 6 Transitions to Democracy 1 (March 10th)

• In the Name of Democracy, Carothers, pp. 1-76; 166-182; 237-262 (handout) 

Week 7 - Spring Break

• Enjoy the break but remember to read for Monday 

Week 8 A new beginning with the end of the Cold War? (March 24th)

• Allison, Martín, and Wade “A New Era of US-Central American Relations”
• Counterinsurgency in El Salvador, Mark Peceny and William D. Stanley
• Watch Voces Inocentes (in class) 

Week 9 Central America during the US’ war on terror (March 31st)

• Allison, Martín, and Wade “America’s “War on Terror” Comes to Central America”
• Greg Grandin, The Latin American Exception: How a Washington Global Torture Gulag Was Turned Into the Only Gulag-Free Zone on Earth
• Radical Neglect? The “War on Terror” and Latin America
• Student presentations on elections in Costa Rica 

Week 10 (April 7th)

• Allison, Martín, and Wade “President Obama and Central America”
• Freedom House, Countries at the Crossroads 2012: Nicaragua
• Alternate Paths to Power? Women's Political Representation in Nicaragua

Week 11 Honduras (April 14th)

• Clayton M. Cunha Filho, André Luiz Coelho and Fidel I. Pérez Flores, A right-to-left policy switch? An analysis of the Honduran case under Manuel Zelaya
• Fr. Ismael Moreno on Honduras, Why is there so much violence in our country?
• John Donaghy, Why is Honduras so poor?
• Clouds over Honduras

Week 12 (Easter) - No class.

Week 13 Panama and Costa Rica (April 28th)

• Panama
• Reading on the upcoming elections
• The CAFTA Conflict and Costa Rica's Democracy: Assessing the 2007 Referendum
• Growth without Poverty Reduction: The Case of Costa Rica
• Reading on recent elections
• Student presentations on upcoming elections in Panama

Week 14 – Guatemala (May 5th)

• Anita Isaacs, Guatemala on the Brink
• Why No Mayan Party? Indigenous Movements and National Politics in Guatemala
• Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, and Ana Arana, Fundación MEPI, Finding Oscar: Massacre, Memory and Justice in Guatemala
• Video of Oscar and How the Media Got Guatemala's Dos Erres Massacre Wrong (in class)

Week 15 El Salvador (May 12th)

• Mara Salvatrucha: The Most Dangerous Street Gang in the Americas?
• Criminal Violence and Democratization in Central America: The Survival of the Violent State
• Inocente Montano
• Reading on recent elections

Week 16th Final Exam Period (May 19th)

• Student presentations