Syllabus for Fall 2025, World Society in Literature and Film

Course Syllabus

Introduction to Latin America: Film, Media, Culture

World Society in Literature and Film

Professor Adam Joseph Shellhorse, Ph.D. Office hours: Wednesdays: 3:30-5:00

Department of Spanish & Portuguese & by appointment

Temple University

Email: aj.shellhorse@temple.edu

Office: Anderson Hall 440

SPAN 0868, Section 701

Fall 2025

Presentation sign-up sheet here

Presentation Rubric Here

The course rubric for in class discussions here

Office Hours Zoom link: https://temple.zoom.us/j/95335019614

World Society in Literature and Film

Learn about a particular global culture by taking a guided tour of its literature and film. You do not need to speak a foreign language to take one of these exciting courses, and you will gain the fresh, subtle understanding that comes from integrating across different forms of human expression. Some of the issues that will be illuminated by looking at culture through the lens of literature and film: Global and national dynamics, national self-perceptions, pivotal moments in history, economic issues, social change and diversity. This class will provide an overview of a variety of Latin American literary and film topics and styles which include noir tradition, gender and sexualities, processes of memory and reconciliation, the construction of identities, and the presence of the past in present societies. How have filmmakers and writers represented the rich and convoluted history of Latin America? What film and literary techniques and traditions have been used to represent, discuss or critique the societies and cultures of Latin America? What portrayals and perception of Latin America we can find in these films and texts? We will delve into these queries and many other topics. The course is divided into thematic units, each with mostly short literary texts and supplemental readings, and film selections.

NOTE: This course fulfills the World Society (GG) requirement for students under GenEd and International Studies (IS) for students under Core. Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed any of the following: Arabic 0868/0968, Asian Studies 0868, Chinese 0868/0968, English 0868/0968, French 0868/0968, German0868/0968, Hebrew 0868, Italian 0868/0968, Japanese 0868/0968, Jewish Studies 0868, Korean 0868, LAS 0868/0968, Political Science 0868/0968, Russian 0868/0968, or Spanish 0868.

What is General Education?: The General Education (Gen Ed) program consists of diverse areas of study and practice in which all undergraduate students must undertake coursework. These courses and the Areas they represent provide the place for students to develop academic and professional skills through the context of the course.

Gen. Ed. Program Goals

Critical Thinking
Contextualized Learning
Interdisciplinary Thinking
Communication Skills
Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning
Civic Engagement
Information Literacy
Lifelong Learning

SPAN 0968: World Society in Literature and Film falls into the Global / World Society Area of the Gen Ed Program. Global / World Society courses explore societies and cultures outside of the United States. These courses take one of two approaches. Some concentrate on a single nation or region, examining in depth its political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary, geographic, and/or economic landscape. Others investigate globalization and its effects across nations and regions.

Global / World Society courses are intended to teach students how to:

Understand the influences (e.g., political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary, geographic, economic) on world societies or processes (e.g., globalization) linking world societies;

Access and analyze materials related to world societies and cultures;

Develop observations and conclusions about selected themes in world societies and cultures;

Construct interpretations using evidence and critical analysis; and

Communicate and defend interpretations.

Course goals: Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

Identify and describe different factors (e.g., political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary, geographic, economic) in world societies or processes (e.g. globalization) linking world societies as seen through literature and film

Access, compare and analyze literary, film and academic materials related to world societies and culture within the frameworks established in the course

Develop observations and conclusions about selected themes as presented in literature and film in world societies and cultures

Construct contextualized interpretations using evidence and critical analysis from selected texts and films

Communicate and defend interpretations

Introduction to Latin America:

Film, Multimedia, Culture

This course offers an exciting introduction in English to Latin American film and art from a comparative, inter-American and multimedial context. It endeavors to think the problem of experimental media––movies, texts, and art works––in relationship to politics, history, and society in Latin America. Through classic works, we will examine what is cinema, literature, and art from the perspective of culture, and the concrete functions that have been historically assigned to these institutions and forms of intervention: that is, experimental media’s intimate relation to revolution in all its diverse forms, and particularly, its uneven relation to modernity, race, gender, culture, the subaltern poor, and the nation-state.

Examining experimental media as related to Latin American studies, the course is organized in terms of two questions: 1) an examination of influential Latin American filmmakers, writers, and artists and 2) the politics of experimental cinema, literature, and art in the region and beyond.

As we examine a list of canonical filmmakers and artists, we will be asking ourselves: how are films and artworks different from other cultural productions? And what is cinema and art’s relationship to the nation-state, including its subaltern populations? What kind of power do films and artworks have on “reality,” and on our ways of seeing and sensing the world? Do these artistic works open us up to new possibilities of subjectivity and critique, as well as to new modes of sensing, thinking, and relating to life? Finally, what is cinema and art’s relation to other media, such as mass and digital communications and music?

Over the course of the semester we will explore a wide array of aesthetic artifacts, including works by Fernando Meirelles, Alfredo Jaar, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, Patricio Guzmán, Damián Szifron, and Carlos Reygadas.

Note: In this class, students are responsible for turning in all papers electronically via Canvas mail—2 journals, final paper, and presentation report.

**It is advised that students print out primary literary readings and take notes while reading. For an interesting article on this topic, see: reading on paper helps you remember

***Students are responsible to come to class with required materials.

For Borrowing Books not owned by Temple Libraries, you may order books via the following methods:

EZ Borrow, EZ Borrow here

ILIAD, Illiad here

Useful Research Engines

Research Guide for Latin American Literature, Lit guide here

History Data Bases, History Data Bases here

JSTOR, JSTOR here

Project Muse, Project Muse here

Required Technology

The below technologies are required for the course. A cellular phone or tablet cannot be used for the course to replace a computer / webcam etc.

Computer
Webcam
Microphone
Speakers
Microsoft Office (available free on TUPORTAL)
Broad-band/high-speed internet
Browsers: Chrome & Firefox
Additional information on suggested materials from ODE

*Limited resources are available for students who do not have the technology they need for class. Students with educational technology needs, including no computer or camera or insufficient Wifi-access, should submit a Student Technology Assistance Application located in TUPortal and linked from the Dean of Students Support and Resources webpage. You may also use the Student Emergency Aid Fund form. The University will endeavor to meet needs, such as with a long-term loan of a laptop or Mifi device, a refurbished computer, or subsidized internet access.

* Internet Essentials from Comcast provides the option to purchase a computer for $150 and high-speed Internet service for $9.95 a month, plus tax. The Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) is available to purchase Xfinity, Verizon, T-Mobile, and other internet services. Qualified households can receive a temporary monthly credit of up to $50/month toward their Internet service and leased Internet equipment until the program's funding runs out.

*On-campus computer labs have resumed normal operations and are available for student use.

Support for Students with Basic Needs

When students face challenges securing food and/or housing, it can be difficult to learn. If you are in this situation, please contact the Office of Student Affairs https://studentaffairs.temple.edu/student-emergency-aid-fund. After applying with Student Affairs you can ask for help from the TAUP FAST FUND at http://taup.org/fast-fund/. You can also take advantage of the Cherry Pantry for food needs https://studentcenter.temple.edu/cherry-pantry. If you feel comfortable, please also let me know, and I will do what I can to connect you with appropriate resources. Know that you are not alone in dealing with these issues.

Temple provides resources and support. See also resources from the Office of Student Affairs.

The following academic support services are available to support you. Check the color-coded system in TUPortal to determine which services are virtual or in-person:

Canvas

It is important that you regularly check the Canvas site for your class. In order to be able to use Canvas, you must have a Temple account, which is obtainable online: accounts.temple.edu. A quick student reference guide on Canvas is at: https://computerservices.temple.edu/canvas-quick-reference-guide-students

GENERAL POLICIES

All undergraduate students attending classes in the Spanish Department must review the Department’s Policies and Procedures for Undergraduate Courses document. This document is available on the Department’s website: www.temple.edu/spanpor. The Policies and Procedures document covers numerous topics (including attendance, incompletes, classroom behavior, etc.).

Academic Freedom: Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02.

Classroom courtesy: All cell-phones must be silenced before entering class and students should respect their peers by doing their utmost to complete the assignments and participate. Leaving early will result in an absence, or a half absence, unless the professor is notified in advance that there is an urgent reason for doing so.

Disability Disclosure: This course is open to all students who meet the academic requirements for participation. Any student who has a need for special accommodations based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215-204-1280, in 100 Ritter Annex, to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

Plagiarism: Writing papers is an essential part of a student’s development and your professors take your writing very seriously. Two basic elements of this writing process are “the development of independent thought and a respect for the thoughts of others.” Both are referred to in the University Bulletin statement on Plagiarism and

Academic Cheating: (http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/ugradbulletin/policies_part2.htm#pac). And the Bulletin goes on to say, “The prohibition against plagiarism and cheating is intended to foster this independence and respect.” Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person’s labor, another person’s ideas, another person’s words, and another person’s assistance. Normally, all work done for courses –papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations– is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources –journals, books, or other media– these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor’s responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources –suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language– must be cited. Failure to cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Online translators are considered academic cheating. THE PROFESSOR WILL ASSIGN A FINAL GRADE OF “F” FOR ANY CASE OF PLAGIARISM.

Course requirements and Grading Criteria:

The Final grade of this class will be calculated on a scale of 100 by adding up the following requirements:

Note: In this class, students are responsible for printing out all turned in papers—2 journals, and presentation report—and sending also an electronic copy via Canvas Mail. Failure to turn in a paper copy and an electronic copy will result in a grade deduction.

Course Engagement 40%

1) The “Course engagement” grade replaces the traditional “Class participation” grade and is meant to grade all the ways in which a student demonstrates knowledge in class outside of tests. This class expects all students to read and/or watch all the assigned material for every week. Readings, videos and other materials are due the day in which they are marked in the syllabus and the professor has the right to assess as needed whether the class or any individual student covered the material. If a student is able to come to class but due to any legitimate issues (such as illness or a personal problem) cannot cover the reading, the student should notify the instructor beforehand to avoid the chance of being called for intervention in class. The course engagement grade will be assessed through the following: attendance, quizzes, class participation (both voluntary and requested), use of office hours and email to discuss class materials more fully, extra credits (discussed below), and any other ways in which the student demonstrates a desire to engage course readings and discussions. Students are encouraged to think about ways to engage in class creatively to earn this grade beyond what is described here. Active engagement is expected in the discussion of assigned readings. Please remember to select a citation or moment in any of the readings or from the film that you would like to discuss in class. It is likewise fully expected that students acquire all documents from Canvas and books for class discussion. *If students keep a journal with quotations taken from the readings for each class this semester, they will receive extra credit towards their engagement grade.

****It must be emphasized that if you are always fixated on your computer screen, and do not engage your peers or professor in classroom discussions, this constitutes a lack of engagement and will be graded according to the point system below under point 2 Attendance is obligatory.

Rubric Questions for Class Discussions and Presentations here

2) Attendance is obligatory.

Note: Attendance and Course Engagement will be calculated at the end of the semester during final grading week. If students would like to do extra credit or otherwise make up for missed class, please see me privately.

*Students should strive their utmost to speak and regularly contribute and be present in class discussions. And only doing work focusing on this class during our session.

An absence doesn’t excuse a student from homework or oral/written work. Students should speak with the professor after class about making up any assignments, missed classes, or quizzes. Failure to do so will result in a deduction of your engagement grade.

In addition to quizzes, engagement and attendance will be graded according to the following scale:

10 points	Fully prepared throughout the semester; and/or excellent participation; and/or no absences; Never fixated on computer or cell screen and active participant in class discussions and readings.
9-8 points	Satisfactorily prepared; and/or regular contribution; and/or 1 to 2 absences; Rarely fixated on computer or cell screen and rarely inactive or passive participant in class discussions and readings.
7-6 points	Occasionally prepared; and/or moderate or irregular contributions; and/or 3 to 4 absences; Or, sometimes distracted or fixated on cell phone or computer screen. Sometimes passive in classroom discussions.
5-4 points	Mostly unprepared; and/or very few contributions; and/or 5 to 6 more absences; Or, often fixated on computer and cell phone so much so that the student doesn’t participate regularly in readings and discussions.
3-0 points	Unprepared; and/or not contributing; and/or more than 7 absences; Or, Student is regularly fixated on computer and cell screen and doesn’t regularly participate in readings and classroom discussions.

***It must be emphasized again that if you are always fixated on your computer screen, and do not engage your peers or professor in classroom discussions, or if you do not complete the readings or view the films, this constitutes a lack of engagement and will be graded according to the point system above.

3) Attendance Protocols and Your Health

To achieve course learning goals, students must attend and participate in classes, according to your professor’s requirements. However, if you feel unwell or if you are under quarantine or in isolation because you have been exposed to the virus or tested positive for it, you should not come to campus or attend in-person classes or activities. It is the student’s responsibility to contact their professors to create a plan for participation and engagement in the course as soon as they are able to do so, and to make a plan to complete all assignments in a timely fashion, when illness delays their completion.

If you are unable to attend class (either in person or online) please follow the steps below.

Notify instructors in advance of the absence, if possible, using your Temple email.
Call Temple’s Student Health Services (215-204-7500).
Keep up with coursework virtually as much as possible.
Maintain communication with instructor regarding missed class and assignments, when possible.

If continued active engagement in a course is not possible due to illness or other COVID-related circumstances, students may wish to consider options such as withdrawal or an incomplete contract, if circumstances warrant.

***Important: All students are responsible for making up assignments and participation during any excused missed days of class. Please see course engagement, attendance, and participation policy above for more information.***. The final day to turn in make up assignments is the last day of class, Thursday, April 27^th. No late work will be accepted. Students are responsible to contact the professor about missed classes and devise of a plan to make up work missed in class.

Course Journal 10%

Students are required to keep a weekly course journal, in which they will write a half-page response/reaction, handwritten or typed, to the readings or films for class. Please include the date for your response paper on your entry. Your class journal plays an integral part of your grade, so please get in the habit of maintaining it and have fun with it. Accordingly, you may also make it artful by including images, drawings, or anything else you like. I will check your journals twice during the semester:

22 October (5 entries). Note: the student should turn in both a paper copy in class on the due date and an electronic copy via email.
3 December (5 entries)=10 total by 3 December (last week of class).

Final Research Paper 40%, is due Friday, 12/12, at 6 p.m.

Final paper guidelines, Final paper guidelines

Students will write one final research paper 5-7 pages in length (minimum 1000 words). Following MLA guidelines, the paper will be double-spaced in 12 font (Times New) and include a bibliography and endnotes. The paper should analyze either 1) a primary text, film, work or a set of works from the syllabus, or 2) a primary text, film, work or set of works not included in the class readings. In all cases, the work/s should be selected in consultation with the professor. Very important: do not plagiarize! Plagiarization will be taken seriously and if caught, the student will receive an automatic F (see Plagiarism statement below). Second, failure to follow MLA guidelines and the instructions on this syllabus will result in a deduction of your final score by 10%. For more information on the MLA format, see: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/24/

Note: Students must turn in an electronic copy via email.

Evaluation Criteria for Final Paper:

The essay will be evaluated on the basis of 5 terms:

1) Originality: Outstanding papers should provide an original hypothesis or problem position that is not simply descriptive. A compelling problem position is one that acknowledges the prevailing view or views in the critical literature and seeks to go beyond it.

2) Organization: Precision in formulating the hypothesis and in explaining the paper's methodology and basis. The paper should clearly document primary and secondary sources to support its thesis. Finally, it should provide clear reflection on the contribution it is making with respect to the topic being explored.

3) Critical Sources and Bibliography: Students should draw from and acknowledge previous critical findings and insights. An appropriately researched bibliography is the cornerstone for a successful paper. In addition to Temple Summon and EZ Borrow, I recommend the following search engines Hapi Online, JSTOR, and Project Muse, all of which can be accessed through Temple University Libraries Homepage under E-Resources. For help with research, please see your professor or contact a librarian at Paley Library. For example, chief librarian, Rebecca Lloyd: rebecca.lloyd@temple.edu.

4) Writing: Students should adhere to grammatical, syntactic and lexical standards of English or Portuguese. Innovative writing and theoretical approaches are appreciated.

5) Theory: Students should incorporate theoretical texts to enhance, compliment and buttress their arguments when appropriate. Please see me regarding this aspect of your paper.

Oral Presentation (including 1-page individualized presentation report)

In groups of 2-3, students will present on a primary film and text(s) for 25-30 minutes. Each student will speak about a particular aspect of the film and text that strikes them as powerful, pertinent, and interesting for discussion. Groups will be selected at the outset of the semester. Students should consult with professor the during office hours the week of their presentation. You have creative license in these presentations so long as what you speak about constitutes a thoughtful analysis of the films and the critical articles; failure to consequently and robustly engage with critical readings will result in a deduction of each presenter’s grade. ***For each presentation, each individual student is required to bring to class a response presentation report––a 1-page long, typed response paper––in which they will speak about a specific problem, theme, or scene in the film that they found interesting and pertinent for discussion as well as explain in detail their specific contribution to the group presentation. Note: the student will turn in an electronic copy via Canvas mail on the day of the presentation. Failure to turn in an electronic copy will result in a deduction.

Criteria

1) An outstanding presentation should be well-thought, organized and precise in its inquiry.

2) The student should provide an original viewpoint and be able to respond to classmates' questions.

Terms of Evaluation:

1) Originality and critical insights

2) Organization

3) Providing connections with larger debates and texts that we have discussed.

4) Critical reflection on points 1, 2 and 3

Note: While you may incorporate historical information and secondary sources, i.e., from Wikipedia, what is most interesting is presenting a reading of the text from an original angle and problem position.

Friday, 5/2 Final Papers due at 6 p.m. (Note: Students must turn in an electronic copy via Canvas).

Final paper guidelines, Final paper guidelines

Presentation Sign-up Sheet here

Presentation Rubric Here

Extra credit

Extra credits are voluntary assignments that the professor will give the class throughout the semester. These may include going to events on campus related to Latin America (such as lectures), watching films outside of class, going to local events with Latin American themes (like museum exhibitions) or other relevant options. Extra credit is particularly recommended for students struggling with class engagement or for those unhappy with their midterm or quiz grades, as these will be not negotiable.

Undergraduate Grade Distribution

Course Engagement: Attendance, Quizzes, and Participation: 40%

Final Research Paper: 40%

Journal (10%): 10%

Presentation and Presentation Report: 10%

Access to course materials

All readings, films and materials must be read, watched, or listened to by the Tuesday of the week assigned, unless otherwise specified.

A Note on Content

Materials taught in this class may include situations of violence, sexual content, and politically controversial views. All elements in the class will be discussed in an environment that strives to be open-scholarly and rigorous, and that seeks to be inclusive of all cultural and political perspectives. The class welcomes respectful debate and encourages both agreement and dissent with the materials discussed in class, provided that both agreement and disagreement are done in a rigorous way, with solid backing of scholarly sources. By enrolling in this class, students commit to engaging with these elements in an academic and respectful way and to watch and read the materials regardless of controversy. Students also agree to respect people holding views different than their own. Trigger warnings will only be provided to individual students by request to avoid biasing the rest of the class. If you would like to discuss concerns about content with the instructor, please do so at once.

A Note about the assignments, readings, learning styles, and how this class will be taught

The primary focus and learning objectives in this class are intertwined: learning to read and write critically about Latin America from a comparative, inter-American, multimedial, translingual, and transcultural context. Each assignment in this class thus concerns reading texts that will challenge you to think deeply and learn not only novel words and vocabulary, but new ways of thinking, reading, and writing. To that extent that learning to think critically concerns reading, thinking, and writing beyond the prison house of stereotypes and blind opinions, this course should prove valuable, practical, and applicable not only for future classes but for your life.

It is important to know that this course will require time, energy, regular attendance, and focus. Moreover, as is normal, each student comes to this class with a unique learning style, experience, and ability to read and write. In order to thrive as a student, it is most important to do all the readings, watch all the films, and be proactive in your course engagement, even if you don’t understand everything. You might need to read a chapter, story, or poem multiple times, and even then, it could be difficult. Therefore, students are encouraged to use technology and online sources to help them grasp the texts, such as Google, YouTube, and language tools, to look up cultural information about the writers as well as vocabulary. Reading often and a lot, especially texts that challenge you, is the best way to learn to write and think critically as well as to enhance your vocabulary and grasp the complexity of sentence structures and verbal tenses. This is why there will be regular quizzes to enforce this aspect of the class for the course engagement grade.

The course rubric for in class discussions here

is indispensable, as it provides essential terminology, vocabulary, and questions that students should keep in mind in reading the texts. Additionally, the idea is for students to become proactive, critical readers and writers, and to take responsibility for their learning, writing, and reading, and develop their thinking independently with the tools and texts provided by the professor. However, students who are curious and really would like to discuss all or any of the texts in depth are highly encouraged to come see me during office hours or right after class. Students may come in groups. I will be overjoyed to see your curiosity and desire to learn more, and go over ambiguities for any of the readings, and am always happy to help you.

Finally, based on his experience learning to speak and write fluently in multiple languages and numerous years teaching various languages at three major universities, the professor has thought hard and worked many hours selecting and preparing the assignments and readings on this syllabus to improve your learning, reading, and writing. Sometimes, you will be presented with a brief video or paratextual information in a different language, such as Portuguese, Spanish, or French, because we are reading texts from Brazil and across the Americas (if this is the case, the student should use the auto-translate function as provided in Youtube). This is an excellent way for students to get cultural exposure, a verbivocovisual picture, and perceive different images, voices, and sounds from Latin America. Such videos will be rare but are chosen with a specific goal in mind: that of exposing the students to the intersectional cultural diversity and richness of Brazil and the Americas. In effect, if students have any questions as to the relevance––the why, how, and what about them––I encourage you to come see me during office hours or after class to discuss any of your concerns. Indeed, office hours and outside of class is the most appropriate place for asking questions about your grade, attendance, absences, Canvas technology, misunderstandings, and the why, how, and what of the assignments on the syllabus.

A Note about the syllabus, grading, and assignments, as well as about the use of Canvas, technology and announcements

Since everything is explained on the syllabus, it is essential that we spend invaluable class time discussing the texts and films. I would like to kindly ask that whenever you have any questions concerning bookkeeping, attendance, assignments, the syllabus, grading, or Canvas technology, that you please come and see me privately, right after class, during office hours, or via email. It is not recommended that you solely rely on group chats, but that you actually read and follow the syllabus. My goal is that you all succeed and do well and to provide an open, safe, and welcoming space to discuss the films and texts. Bookkeeping, administrative questions concerning grades, assignments, Canvas, and specific details about homework, absences, and compositions should be reserved for after class and office hours.

Plagiarism

Writing is an essential part of a student’s development and professors take students’ writing very seriously. Two basic elements of this writing process are “the development of independent thought and a respect for the thoughts of others.” Both are referred to in the University Bulletin statement on Plagiarism and Academic Cheating (http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/responsibilities_rights/responsibilities/responsibilities.shtm#honesty). And the Bulletin goes on to say, “The prohibition against plagiarism and cheating is intended to foster this independence and respect.” Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person’s labor, another person’s ideas, another person’s words, and another person’s assistance. Normally, all work done for courses –papers, examinations, homework exercises, laboratory reports, oral presentations– is expected to be the individual effort of the student presenting the work. Any assistance must be reported to the instructor. If the work has entailed consulting other resources –journals, books, or other media– these resources must be cited in a manner appropriate to the course. It is the instructor’s responsibility to indicate the appropriate manner of citation. Everything used from other sources –suggestions for organization of ideas, ideas themselves, or actual language– must be cited. Failure to cite borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. See also above regarding “Academic Honesty.

THE PROFESSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ASSIGN A FINAL GRADE OF “F” FOR ANY CASE OF PLAGIARISM.

Exams: There will be a final paper and quizzes.

Grading Scale:

93 and higher=A 77.5-79.5=C+ 60-62=D-

90-92=A- 73-77.49=C 60 and lower=F

87.5-89.5=B+ 70-72=C-

83-87.49=B 67.5-69.5=D+

80-82.49=B- 63-67.49=D

*Course Reader on Canvas Course Reserves Temple University Libraries.

**Students are responsible to come to class with required materials.

*Please note that this Course Syllabus is subject to change and will at the discretion of the Professor.

**If there is no internet link, then the text is on Canvas Course Reserves or I will send it to you via email. For any questions please contact me anytime.

*Please note that this Course Syllabus is subject to change and will at the discretion of the Professor.

Week 1. Discussion prompt and autobiography due 9/3. Introduction to Class (Bem vindos!); Homework: Write a brief autobiography and why you are interested in Latin American Culture. Please turn in the brief autobiography in the assignment box on Canvas.

1) Jon Beasley-Murray, “Where is Latin America?” (2015) Where is Latin America video here

2) Robert Bresson, The Essence of Cinema, Bresson video here

3) Art of Cinema: What Is Cinema?, What is Cinema here

4) Film #1: 1492, Conquest of Paradise (1992), directed by Ridley Scott, 1492 here

5) Jon Beasley-Murray, “The Meeting of Two Worlds” (2015), Meeting video here

6) Ricardo Piglia, “Theses on the Short Story” (1986), Theses here

7) “Lost at Sea: A Reappraisal of Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise” (2016), Nathaniel Carlson, Lost at Sea here

8) History Buffs: "1492: Conquest of Paradise," history buffs here

Further Reading:

1) Stephen Greenblatt, Marvellous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.

2) Tzvetan Todorov, The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other. Trans. Richard Howard. New York: Harper & Row, 1984.

3) “Edenic and Cannibal Encounters” (9-62), Diane J. Sadlier.

4) “The Filming of Colonial South America” (1996), Cynthia Leigh Stone, focus just on the part about Ridley Scott, The Filming of South America here

5) When Worlds Collide: The Untold Story of the Americas After Columbus (PBS Documentary, 2010), When Worlds Collide video here

6) “Of Hollywood and History: The Columbus Movies of ‘92” (1993), Bryan F. Le Beau, Of Hollywood and History here

7) “1492: Conquest of Paradise” (2005), Interview with Ridley Scott (2005), Ridley Scott Interview here

8) Walter Mignolo, The Idea of Latin America (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005). Download chapters one and two from academia.edu

9) Marshall C. Eakin, "Does Latin America Have a Common History?" (2004)

10) Podcast: Alec Dawson, Introduction to Latin America

11) Alexander Dawson, "Introduction: Latin America's Useable Past". In Latin America Since Independence: A History with Primary Sources. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge, 2014. 1-8.

12) The Voyage of Christopher Columbus: Columbus' Own Journal of Discovery Newly Restored and Translated (originally written 1492-93; later partially transcribed by Bartolomé de las Casas). Ed. John Cummins. New York: St Martin's Press, 1992. Pdf. pgs. 26-48, until “November 28”

13) Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act?” (1987), text: Deleuze conference here

14) Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act” (1987), conference video, Deleuze video here

Week 2. Discussion prompt due 9/10

1) Amores Perros (2000), Alejandro González Iñárritu, Amores Perros video here

2) Michael Hardt, “The Power to be Affected” (2015), pgs. 2-6; until “The next step requires;” Hardt article here

Recommended:

1) Ignacio M. Sánchez-Prado, Amores Perros: Exotic Violence And Neoliberal Fear (2006), Sánchez Prado text here

2) Laura Podalsky’s “Affecting Legacies and Contemporary Structures of Feeling” (2011), 81-93, Podalsky text here

3) Interview - Alejandro González Iñárritu (AMORES PERROS, 2000), interview here

4) Ricardo Piglia, “Theses on the Short Story” (1986), Theses here

5) Notes on the Power to be Affected, Notes here

6) Sánchez Prado Notes, Notes here

Week 3. Discussion prompt due 9/17

1) Jon Beasley-Murray, “The Colonial Experience” (2015), The Colonial Experience video here

2) Cidade de Deus [City of God](2002), City of God here, directed by Fernando Meirelles.

3) Anthropofagia: We're All Eating Each Other, Cyro Baptista, Anthropofagia: We're All Eating Each Other

4) “Latin American art: an introduction”, Dr. Maya Jimenez, Latin American Art Introduction

5) “Series of eight figures” (1641), Albert Eckhout, Eight figures here

6) Our Lady of Guadalupe (1531), The Virgin of Guadalupe video here

7) The Mestizo (second half of the eighteenth century), The Mestizo here

Recommended:

1) Viktor Shklovsky, “Form and Material in Art” (1923), 1-22, Shklovsky text here

2) SOPHIA A. MCCLENNEN, “FROM THE AESTHETICS OF HUNGER TO THE COSMETICS OF HUNGER IN BRAZILIAN CINEMA: MEIRELLES’ CITY OF GOD” (2011), McClennen text here

3) Brazil: A Racial Paradise? (2011), PBS Special: Black in Latin America (2011), A Racial Paradise here

4) Alec Dawson Podcast, The Colonial Heritage

5) Magali M. Carrera, Imagining Identity in New Spain: Race, Lineage, and the Colonial Body in Portraiture and Casta Paintings (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004)

6) Ilona Katzew, Casta Painting: Images of Race in Eighteenth-Century Mexico (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004)

7) Diana DiPaolo Loren, "Corporeal Concerns: Eighteenth-Century Casta Paintings and Colonial Bodies in Spanish Texas". Historical Archaeology 41.1 (2007): 23-36.

8) Gilles Deleuze, “Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought / Lecture 00

JANUARY 24, 1978,” Deleuze lecture here [Affect; affection, affectus; new ways of perceiving; mixture of bodies; the power of acting and continuous variation; inspiring sad passions as necessary for political power; charts of affects; knowing what you are capable of; an ethological chart of affects; know your powers, your intensities: good encounters; ethics is a problem of power, never of duty; being joyful, being reasonable is a problem of becoming; the formation of notions gives me possession of the power of acting]

9) Andrei Tarkovsky, “Art—A Yearning for the Ideal” (1985), pdf. 19-29, Tarkovsky here

10) Director Fernando Meirelles discusses the making of 'City of God' (2011), Interview here

11) Roberto Schwarz, “City of God”, City of God here

Week 4. Discussion prompt due 9/24

1) Children of Men (2006), Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men

2) Andrei Tarkovsky on Cinema, Tarkovsky on cinema here

3) Andrei Tarkovsky, “Art—A Yearning for the Ideal” (1985), pdf. 19-29, Tarkovsky here

4) Three Minute Theory: What are Societies of Control? (2016), Societies here

Recommended:

1) Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, “Percept, Affect, and Concept” (1994), pgs. 88-106 in pdf, Percept text here

2) Viktor Shklovsky, “Form and Material in Art” (1923), 1-22, Shklovsky text here

3) Gilles Deleuze, “Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought / Lecture 00

JANUARY 24, 1978,” Deleuze lecture here

Lecture notes, charting affects—make maps:

[Affect; affection, affectus; new ways of perceiving; mixture of bodies; the power of acting and continuous variation; inspiring sad passions as necessary for political power; charts of affects; knowing what you are capable of; an ethological chart of affects; know your powers, your intensities: good encounters; ethics is a problem of power never of duty; being joyful, being reasonable is a problem of becoming; the formation of notions gives me power possession of the power of acting]

4) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 03, Pdf pgs 1-10; 23-26 Lecture 03 here

Lecture notes, the ethical vision of the world vs. the Moral vision of the world:

[Ethics: practical science of modes of being vs, Morality qua essences and values; Ethics as an Existentialism; Existents in singularity; the world of immanence vs. the system of judgment; what are you capable of?; defining everything dynamically in terms of power; create a register or map or diagram of powers of things; never a quest for essence; everything is singular, never an essence; the aggregate of affects=my power of action; degrees of intensity; a theory is a body with a power of resistance; the anti-system of judgement; juridical conception of ethics: things are defined by their power and not by essence; people as quantities or packages of power; Life is not able to be judged; political power and sad passions; affect: that which realizes my power of action; affect fulfills my power of action].

5) Gavin Young, “Postscript on Societies of Control” (2025), Postscript here

6) Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on Societies of Control” (1992), Deleuze Postscript here

7) Alfonso Cuarón, The Possibility of Hope - Children of Men Extra, the Possibility here

Week 5. Discussion prompt due 10/1

1) Y tu mamá también (2002), Y tu mamá también here, Alfonso Cuarón.

2) Carlos Aguilar, “When ‘Y Tu Mamá También’ Changed Everything” (2021), article here

3) Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, “Percept, Affect, and Concept” (1994), ), pgs. 88-96, until “Can sensation be assimilated” in pdf, Percept text here

Recommended:

1) Abbey Matheson, “The Queer Undertones of 'Y Tu Mamá También'” (2022), Matheson article here

2) Epoch Philosphy, “Deleuze and Spinoza: Practical Philosophy and Process Ontology here” (2021)

3) Gilles Deleuze, “Life of Spinoza”, pgs. 3-14, Spinoza chapters here

4) Baruch Spinoza, from Ethics “Part 3: Of the Origin and Nature of the Affects” (1676), Ethics here

5) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 5, Lecture 5 here [modal immanent milieu; unity as a system of relations; composition and decomposition of relations; individual is not a substance; Nature as infinity of relations; we are packets of relations].

6) Gilles Deleuze, “The Ethical Vision of the World” (1969), Pdf pgs. 258-275, Ethical vision text here

7) Gilles Deleuze, “Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought / Lecture 00

JANUARY 24, 1978,” Lecture here, Pdf pgs. 1, Until “it refers to affectio”; 3-12, “Everything I am saying” until “I am in a world of passion”; 14-16, “Spinoza means something very simple” to “a bell curve

Week 6. Discussion prompt due 10/8

1) Roma (2018), Alfonso Cuarón, ***available on reserve in Charles Library and can be watched on Netflix

2) Andrei Tarkovsky, “Imprinted Time” (1985), Pdf. pgs. 29-41, Tarkovsky here

3) Gilles Deleuze’s alphabet book: “I as in Idea, I for Idea here, Pdf. pgs 15-18.

Recommended:

1) Behind the Scene: Alfonso Cuarón on ROMA, Cuarón here

2) “Alfonso Cuarón on the Painful and Poetic Backstory Behind ‘Roma’” (2018), Cuarón article here

3) Ezra Pound, “The Wisdom of Poetry” (1912) (497-501), Pound text here

4) Baruch Spinoza, from Ethics, “Part 4: Of Human Bondage, or the Powers of the Affects” (1676), Ethics here

5) Gilles Deleuze, “Letter to Red Bensamaia, on Spinoza” (1985), Pdf. Pgs. 83-84, Letter here

6) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 2, Lecture 2 here [univocity of being; materialism; anti-hierarchical philosophy; Form and elements in relation; the criticism of all hierarchy; morality: the hierarchy of values; the fate of man welded to the body; bodies are modes of being].

7) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 03, Pdf pgs 1-10; 23-26 Lecture 03 here [Ethics: practical science of modes of being vs, Morality via essences and values; Ethics as an Existentialism; Existents in singularity; the world of immanence vs. the system of judgment; what are you capable of?; defining everything dynamically in terms of power; create a register or map or diagram of powers of things; never a quest for essence; everything singular, never an essence; the aggregate of affects=my power of action; degrees of intensity; a theory is a body with a power of resistance; the anti-system of judgement; juridical conception of ethics: things are defined by their power and not by essence; people as quantities or packages of power; Life is not able to be judged; political power and sad passions; affect: that which realizes my power of action; affect fulfills my power of action].

8) Tarkovsky notes, Imprinted time here

Week 7. Discussion prompt due 10/15

1) The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), Walter Salles, Motorcycle Diaries here

2) Andrei Tarkovsky, “Cinema’s Destined Role” (1985), Pdf. pgs 42-53, Tarkovsky here

3) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 7, Pdf. pgs. 8-17, Part 2, from “What is it, the affect?” to “do not preexist”; 21-22, from “At the very end?” to “the affects are active”; Lecture 7 here

Lecture notes, active affects:

[What is the affect? Part 2; We are bundles of relations; the good and the bad; there are only relations that are composed; the practical criterion of relation; concretist: Spinozist vs. the abstract; new criteria for the analysis of something: an ethical, existential analysis; affection is the effect; instaneity; what is the affect? lived transitions, the passage-transition, enveloped by the affection; duration is the lived passage: the passage from one thing to another; a stricter definiton of affect: what every affection envelops: the lived passage; affect’s vector; the basis of affectus: of Spinoza’s theory of affect; every affection envelops, implicates; every determinable state envelops an affect, a passage; what does the passage consist of: an increase or decrease of my power of action; the affect is the passage; the passage is the lived transition from one to the other; lived passages can only be lived in the affect; the affects are the lived increases and decreases of power of action; a very profound conception of affect; joys: increases of power of action and sadness: decreases of power of action; affects are based either on joy or on sadness; I have the double of language of instaneous affections and of affects of passage; the example of music: my whole body composes its relations with the resonant relations; we are always in the criteria of the direct, the concrete: a direct compostion of relations is made; the only power is the power of action in the end; the most beautiful of loves is when an encounter works, when it functions well: it’s functionalism; a happy love: you compose a maximum of relations with a maximum of relations of the other—bodily, perceptual, all kinds of natures; a third invidiual is invented; not morality; not you must do this; one doesn’t have to do anything; one must find one’s thing; one must invent the superior individualities into which I can enter as a part; the two basic affects: increase in power of action and decrease in power of action; beatitude: a special type of joy: here you realize your power of action in such a way that this power of action increases to the maximum; not investing traces of sadness with value, with lost time; the dimension of affect: it has two poles—joy and sadness, increase and decrease in power of action; someone in possession of the power to act; one who possesses the maximum power to act—one who has exited the regime of passion; he no longer suffers; he has active affects; whoever is in possession of one’s power to act; there are two kinds of affect of joy: passion joys and action joys; action joys are the result of possessed power of action; I affect myself by myslf—it is like the affection of self by self; when it is I that affects myself, affect is an action; I have composed my relations so much, I have aquired such a power of composition of relations that nothing any longer comes from outside: power of action fully possessed; we are not born with a science of relations and of their combinations; when you are born you are at the mercy of encounters; you are not born reasonable or free: it’s a matter of becoming; Spinoza thinks of everything in terms of becoming and not in terms of the nature of man; the effort of reason: extraordinarily explorative; a kind of apprenticeship; like an apprenticeship in music—finding what you are capabe of and what agrees with you; first aspect of reason: selecting-composing; compose to the max and flee to the max; an art of composing situations; not about previous knowledge: it’s about living experimentation—it’s about aprenticeship; tyring to experiment with capacity and constructing it; a whole calculus of relations; you will arrive at a science of relations; a vital science].

Recommended:

1) Ernesto Che Guevara, “On Revolutionary Medicine” (1960).

2) “LOOKING FOR AMERICA – PART TWO: THE LATIN AMERICAN ROAD

MOVIE” (2016), Neil Archer, article here

3) Michael Hardt, “Foreword: What Affects Are Good For” (2007), Pdf pgs. 10-14, Hardt text here

4) Gilles Deleuze, “Spinoza and Us” (1977) [turn on CC], Spinoza and Us here

5) Tarkovsky Notes, Cinema’s destined role here

Week 8. Discussion prompt due 10/22

1) Relatos Salvajes (2014), Damián Szifron, Relatos salvajes here

2) Andrei Tarkovsky, “The Film Image” (1985), Pdf. pgs. 53-82, Tarkovsky here

3) Gilles Deleuze, “The Ethical Vision of the World” (1968), Pdf pgs. 258-260; 263-265, from “There could be only” to “a totality of compatible relations”; 271-275, from, “In an ethical vision of the world” to end, Ethical Vision here

3a) The Film Image Notes, Tarkovsky: Film image notes here

4) Journal 1 due

Recommended:

1) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 4, Lecture 4 here [the problem of reason is a problem of affects; reason is an aggregate of affects; manners of reading at play; ontology entails a political philosophy; Spinoza’s political problem: why do people fight for their slavery; how to explain why people don’t revolt?; pure ontology repudiates hierarchies; the world of immanence; a practical hierarchy is needed; the problem of ontology: how to be free, how to realize its power of action under the best conditions; the State: the aggregate of conditions under which man can realize his power of action; the best society; the one that provides man best means for realizing his or her power of action; in moral philosophy: obedience is primary: the political relation is the relation of obedience; ethics is an existentialism; judgment depends on authority superior to Being; the philosophy of judgment is a catastrophe; judgment implies the primacy the One over Being; poisoning one’s life, placing oneself in impossible situations; ethics: the art of selecting at the level of the situation itself; the reasonable person is an experimentor making selections; the example of the gambler and the self-banishment document from the casino; selecting what is apt to give me independence; materialism of the wise person].

2) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 03, Pdf pgs. 3-3, from “Notice that the moral vision” to “it’s about ethics”; 5-9, from, “So, look, being able” to “What does that mean?”; Lecture 3 here

Lecture Notes, charting affects—the ethical vision of the world vs. Moral vision of the world:

[Ethics: practical science of modes of being vs. Morality qua essences and values; Ethics as an Existentialism; Existents in singularity; the world of immanence vs. the system of judgment; what are you capable of?; defining everything dynamically in terms of power; create a register or map or diagram of powers of things; never a quest for essence; everything is singular, never an essence; the aggregate of affects=my power of action; degrees of intensity; a theory is a body with a power of resistance; the anti-system of judgement; juridical conception of ethics: things are defined by their power and not by essence; people as quantities or packages of power; Life is not able to be judged; political power and sad passions; affect: that which realizes my power of action; affect fulfills my power of action].

3) Gilles Deleuze, “Spinoza and Us” (1977) [turn on CC], Spinoza and Us here

Week 9. Discussion prompt due 10/29

1) Guillermo del Toro, El laberinto del Fauno (2006), Laberinto here (Spanish)

2) Andrei Tarkovsky, “The Author in Search of an Audience” (1985), Pdf. pgs. 82-88, Tarkovsky here

3) Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act?” (1987), text: Deleuze conference here

Recommended:

1) “How Guillermo del Toro Deals With Trauma” (2017), video here

2) Gilles Deleuze, “On the Difference Between The Ethics and a Morality” and “Spinoza and Us” (1970), 17-29, 122-130, Spinoza chapters here

3) Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act” (1987), conference video, Deleuze video here

Week 10. Discussion prompt due 11/5

1) Stellet Licht (Silent Light) [2007], Stellet Licht movie here

2) Andrei Tarkovsky, “The Author’s Responsibility,” Pdf. pgs. 89-101, Tarkovsky here

3) Michael Hardt. “The Procedures of Love” (2012), Procedures here

Recommended:

1) Tiago de Luca and Nuno Barradas Jorge, “Introduction: From Slow Cinema to Slow Cinemas” (2016), Luca and Barradas Jorge text here

2) Tiago de Luca, “Carlos Reygadas: Cinema of the Impossible” (2014), pdf. 43-103, Cinema of the Impossible text here

3) Japón (2002), Carlos Reygadas, Japón here

4) Tarkovsky notes, The author’s responsibility here

Week 11. Discussion prompt due 11/12

1) Nostalgia de la Luz [Nostalgia for the Light] (2010), Patricio Guzmán, Nostalgia de la luz movie here

2) Andrei Tarkovsky, “Conclusion,” Pdf. pgs. 116-121, Tarkovsky here

3) Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, “Percept, Affect, and Concept” (1994), pgs. 88-96, until “Can sensation be assimilated” in pdf, Percept text here

Recommended:

1) Brad Epps, “The Unbearable Lightness of Bones: Memory, Emotion, and Pedagogy in Patricio Guzmán’s Chile, La Memoria Obstinada and Nostalgia De La Luz” (2017), Epps text here

2) Gilles Deleuze, “Thought and Cinema” (1985), Pdf. pgs. 156-173, Deleuze here

3) Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act?” (1987), text: Deleuze conference here

4) Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act” (1987), conference video, Deleuze video here

5) Gilles Deleuze, Spinoza: The Velocities of Thought (1981), Lecture 9, Pdf pgs. 7-14, from “Part 2” to “Uh…time for a break!”, Lecture 9 here

Lecture notes, perceiving compositions of relations:

[we are in a night of signs; we live in a world of interpretations, imperatives, and indicatives; the goal: arriving at a world of univocal expressions—the world of luminous expressions; the language of light; our desire, our state of affairs to accede to a world of luminous expressions, a world of univocity; the clear and distinct idea; where what is said, is said in one and the same sense for everything about which it’s said; a fourth type of signs: affects; bizarre signs: which present us with the possibility of getting out of signs; if we knew how to use them; a kind of functionalism; what interests Spinoza is how things work; signs by their function could bring us out of the world of signs; affections are indications—an imprint, a trace on my body; affectio, or ideas, or perceptions; affectus: I introduce the dimension of duration; a fourth kind of sign; what’s their use?; affectus, the passage, are signs of increase or decrease of my power of action; sadness and joy are the vector signs; how can vectors allow us to get out of the world of signs—of perceptions, fictions, abstractions? affects are like little glimmers of light in the night of signs—kinds of glow worms; the good vector, the one that will open us up to the optical world, is joy; it’s a question of selecting joys; a true of art of living goes beyond that; these are not two pure lines; the first effort of reason: a selective art: to get onself aboard this increased power of action; you are successful in creating your line of joy; beyond pleasure, you are looking for bodies that suit you; rediscover your life; selecing one’s line of joy so well that it could be said that he or she is in possession of their power of action; what does that mean? it means getting out of the realm of passions; to go beyond mere perception; I know it when a person has reached a threshold, some sort of agreement with himself or herself—his way of walking, modes of being in self-possession; affect awareness; affect dimensionality; when one grasps their power of action; I know bodies beyond the simple effect they have on my body; I know bodies now as the relations that constitute them; that is, insofar as these relations combine with the relations that constitute me; it’s a composition of relations between a body and my own: an immense difference; learning is always organizing the encounter; knowing how to do something is living mathematics; this is usually what is called rhythm; when you reach this life skil, this savoir-vivre: you can say: I possess my power of action—grasping things within the composition of relations between them and my body; at this point, you no longer see so many things, so many objects; that was the time of inadequate affections; in this second moment, you see nothing other than relations and compositions of relations to infinity; here, you are invulnerable; living in accord with oneself, with one’s nature; ripping forth a final secret about the composition of relations; I no longer see him as a delimited object; I see him as an aggregate of mobile relations: a proportion of rest and movement, of speed and slowness; and now we have the world turning into a composition of composition of composition of infinite relations; each relation has a style; I need to raise myself up to the idea of common relations between the external body and mine; I can raise myself up—not through sadness since it’s an effect on my body that is not suitable with mine—through a kind of leap, a leap to this understanding of something in common, which is a composed relation, between the external body and my own, and when I raise myself up: everything changes: I possess my power of action; you never learn abstractly: joy wins; I am no longer in the world of affectio; I’m on a new level: composition of relations and composed relations; when I do such: my ideas are always adequate; ideas always result from affects, but this time these affects are active; the second state of reason is the conquest of relations and compostions of relations from which active affects result, which can only be joys from then on; So I possess the cause; Spinoza calls the ideas of compositions of relations common notions; the affects which result from common notions are affect-actions; these are active joys; a common notion is necessarily univocal; we are completely out of the equivocity of signs; when you’re reached the domain of composition of relations, you have reached univocity; the good dancer is a univocal expression; necessarily so: this is the world of light; the essence of a thing is the singular power of action of such a thing, and not the common relation between things; so here we need to raise ourselves from common notinos to the knowledge of the singuar essence of everything; individuality, singularity is the power of action as such; this goes beyond common notions; three types of knowledge: (1) aggregate of affections and affects-passions—the world of signs; (2) called reason: the aggregate of univocal common notions and the active affects that result from them; we need to get on the joy vector to rise ourselves up to this second type of knowledge which is reason; (3) knowledge or intuition of essences; feeling eternal: to lead one’s life in such a way that they will have fulfilled the greatest part of themselves; they will have organized and composed their lives in such a way that they will have fulfilled the major part of themselves with common notions and ideas of essences—affections of the second and third kind; act from now on so that the greatest part of yourself is realized, so that the greatest part of your power of action is realized is throuch common notions and ideas of essences; we experience that we are eternal; this eternity is a matter of experimentation; you’ve built your own eternity, as a lived eternity; henceforth, an individual is composed of three levels; there is no definition of man except political; every individual is infinitely composed].

6) Gilles Deleuze’s alphabet book: “I as in Idea, I for Idea here, Pdf. pgs 15-18.

7) Gilles Deleuze, “Spinoza and Us” (1977) [turn on CC], Spinoza and Us here

8) Tarkovsky Conclusion notes here

Week 12. Discussion prompt due 11/19

1) Alfredo Jaar in “Protest” Art in the Twenty-First Century Season 4, PBS (2007), Jaar PBS video here

2) Alfredo Jaar. Art today. How to? 2016, focus on La geometria de la conciencia [The Geometry of Consciousness], Jaar Art today video here

3) Chilean Artist Alfredo Jaar (2019), Jaar text here

4) Alfredo Jaar Interview: Images Are Not Innocent, Jaar Images video here

5) Alfredo Jaar: Gramsci & Pasolini | Art21 "Exclusive", Jaar Exclusive video here

6) Midnight Moment August 2014: A Logo for America by Alfredo Jaar, Jaar America here

7) Alfredo Jaar - The Silence of Nduwayezu, The Silence here

8) TVN - Open Knowledge: Alfredo Jaar, Jaar Open here

9) Alfredo Jaar: Exhibition Trailer, Jaar exhibition here

10) Alfredo Jaar: The Garden of Good and Evil, Jaar Garden here

Recommended:

1) Jacques Rancière, “Theatre of Images” (2007), Rancière text here (pdf

pgs. 25-30)

2) “Interview” (2013), Alfredo Jaar, Jaar interview

3) David R. Castillo and William Egginton, “Introduction: Medialogies” (2017), Intro Medialogies here

4) David R. Castillo and William Egginton, “Editing Reality” (2017), Editing Reality here

5) David R. Castillo and William Egginton, “Minor Strategies” (2017), Minor Strategies here;

6) David R. Castillo and William Egginton, “Empire of Solitude” (2017), pgs. 207-208, until “And fundamentalism is a symptom of today’s medialogy.”; and pgs. 215-217, from “The reason we see Cervantes as a model” to chapter’s end, Empire of Solitude here

7) Medialogies: Reading Reality in the Age of Inflationary Media, from 27.49-42:00; 47:20-51:00; 53:45-111:33, view video here

8) Alfredo Jaar notes here

9) Noes on Medialogies and the Power to be Affected, Notes here

Week 13, 11/24-30

Fall Break, no class.

Week 14, 12/3

1) Review

2) *Journal 2

Friday, 12/12, Final Papers due at 6 p.m. (Note: Students must turn in an electronic copy via Canvas mail).

Final paper guidelines, Final paper guidelines

Instructor Information
Purpose of the Course
The Learning Environment
Course Schedule
Grading & Assessment Guidelines

Technology Guidelines
Academic Guidelines

Basic Course Information

General Education

This course fulfills the General Education area of Global Society

Emergency Meetings

In the event that we are unable to meet in person, such as due to bad weather or illness, expect a Canvas announcement directing you to a Zoom meeting or providing other guidance.

Students are to register for the TUAlert System to be made aware of University closures due to weather or other emergency situations and follow all additional university-wide emergency instructions. Students can register for this system on the Campus Safety Services website.

Please note that online classes are generally not affected by campus closures.

Instructor Information

My Name: Professor Adam Joseph Shellhorse, Ph.D.

Instructor Biography

See: https://liberalarts.temple.edu/directory/adam-joseph-shellhorse

My Contact Information: aj.shellhorse@temple.edu

My Office: 440 Mazur Hall

Office Hours online or in person. If possible, please schedule: https://temple.zoom.us/j/95335019614

Student Drop-In Hours*

Seeking out individual assistance from the professor is a normal part of the learning process. I set aside 3:30-5:00 on Wednesdays for you to come to my office; scheduling in advance is highly preferred. We can discuss the course content, your progress on the assessments, your future in the field, or anything else you need to talk about. If my office hours don’t fit your schedule, please email me to make an appointment.

Purpose of the Course

Overall Purpose

Note: Globally focused, this course is open to all.

Bem-vindos! Bienvenidos!

Overview of the Course*

Temple's official GenEd description: https://bulletin.temple.edu/undergraduate/general-education/#GenEd_Courses

3 Credit Hours

Prerequisites/Corequisites: none.

Learning Goals*

Upon successful completion of this General Education course, you will be able to

Improve your language and expository skills through readings, discussions, presentations, and written exercises.
Read films, narratives, and articles selected by the professor.
Improve your critical thinking, reading and writing skills.
Develop your language competencies and powers.

Gen. Ed. Program Goals

Critical Thinking
Contextualized Learning
Interdisciplinary Thinking
Communication Skills
Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning
Civic Engagement
Information Literacy
Lifelong Learning

Global / World Society courses are intended to teach students how to:

Understand the influences (e.g., political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary, geographic, economic) on world societies or processes (e.g., globalization) linking world societies;

Access and analyze materials related to world societies and cultures;

Develop observations and conclusions about selected themes in world societies and cultures;

Construct interpretations using evidence and critical analysis; and

Communicate and defend interpretations.

Course goals: Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

Identify and describe different factors (e.g., political, social, historical, cultural, artistic, literary, geographic, economic) in world societies or processes (e.g. globalization) linking world societies as seen through literature and film

Access, compare and analyze literary, film and academic materials related to world societies and culture within the frameworks established in the course

Develop observations and conclusions about selected themes as presented in literature and film in world societies and cultures

Construct contextualized interpretations using evidence and critical analysis from selected texts and films

Communicate and defend interpretations

General Education Competencies and Area Learning Goals

Competencies: https://bulletin.temple.edu/undergraduate/general-education/#Program_Competencies

Area Goals: https://bulletin.temple.edu/undergraduate/general-education/#GenEd_Courses ]

The Learning Environment

Note: In this class, students are responsible for turning in all papers electronically via Canvas mail—2 journals, final paper, and presentation report.

**It is advised that students print out primary literary readings and take notes while reading. For an interesting article on this topic, see: reading on paper helps you remember

***Students are responsible to come to class with required materials.

For Borrowing Books not owned by Temple Libraries, you may order books via the following methods:

EZ Borrow, EZ Borrow here

ILIAD, Illiad here

Useful Research Engines

Research Guide for Latin American Literature, Lit guide here

History Data Bases, History Data Bases here

JSTOR, JSTOR here

Project Muse, Project Muse here

Required Technology

The below technologies are required for the course. A cellular phone or tablet cannot be used for the course to replace a computer / webcam etc.

Computer
Webcam
Microphone
Speakers
Microsoft Office (available free on TUPORTAL)
Broad-band/high-speed internet
Browsers: Chrome & Firefox
Additional information on suggested materials from ODE

*On-campus computer labs have resumed normal operations and are available for student use.

Support for Students with Basic Needs

Temple provides resources and support. See also resources from the Office of Student Affairs.

The following academic support services are available to support you. Check the color-coded system in TUPortal to determine which services are virtual or in-person:

Canvas

GENERAL POLICIES

Course requirements and Grading Criteria:

The Final grade of this class will be calculated on a scale of 100 by adding up the following requirements:

Course Engagement 40%

Rubric Questions for Class Discussions and Presentations here

2) Attendance is obligatory.

*Students should strive their utmost to speak and regularly contribute and be present in class discussions. And only doing work focusing on this class during our session.

In addition to quizzes, engagement and attendance will be graded according to the following scale:

10 points	Fully prepared throughout the semester; and/or excellent participation; and/or no absences; Never fixated on computer or cell screen and active participant in class discussions and readings.
9-8 points	Satisfactorily prepared; and/or regular contribution; and/or 1 to 2 absences; Rarely fixated on computer or cell screen and rarely inactive or passive participant in class discussions and readings.
7-6 points	Occasionally prepared; and/or moderate or irregular contributions; and/or 3 to 4 absences; Or, sometimes distracted or fixated on cell phone or computer screen. Sometimes passive in classroom discussions.
5-4 points	Mostly unprepared; and/or very few contributions; and/or 5 to 6 more absences; Or, often fixated on computer and cell phone so much so that the student doesn’t participate regularly in readings and discussions.
3-0 points	Unprepared; and/or not contributing; and/or more than 7 absences; Or, Student is regularly fixated on computer and cell screen and doesn’t regularly participate in readings and classroom discussions.

3) Attendance Protocols and Your Health

If you are unable to attend class (either in person or online) please follow the steps below.

Notify instructors in advance of the absence, if possible, using your Temple email.
Call Temple’s Student Health Services (215-204-7500).
Keep up with coursework virtually as much as possible.
Maintain communication with instructor regarding missed class and assignments, when possible.

Course Journal 10%

(5 entries). Note: the student should turn in both a paper copy in class on the due date and an electronic copy via email.
24 April (5 entries)=10 total by 24 April (last day of class). Note: the student should turn the journal a paper copy in class on the due date and an electronic copy via email.

Final Research Paper 40%, is due Friday, 5/2, at 6 p.m. Note: Students must turn in an electronic copy via Canvas mail.

Final paper guidelines, Final paper guidelines

Note: Students must turn in an electronic copy via email.

Evaluation Criteria for Final Paper:

The essay will be evaluated on the basis of 5 terms:

4) Writing: Students should adhere to grammatical, syntactic and lexical standards of English or Portuguese. Innovative writing and theoretical approaches are appreciated.

5) Theory: Students should incorporate theoretical texts to enhance, compliment and buttress their arguments when appropriate. Please see me regarding this aspect of your paper.

Oral Presentation (including 1-page individualized presentation report)

In groups of 2-3, students will present on a primary film and text(s) for 25-30 minutes. Each student will speak about a particular aspect of the film and text that strikes them as powerful, pertinent, and interesting for discussion. Groups will be selected at the outset of the semester. Students should consult with professor the during office hours the week of their presentation. You have creative license in these presentations so long as what you speak about constitutes a thoughtful analysis of the films. ***For each presentation, each individual student is required to bring to class a response presentation report––a 1-page long, typed response paper––in which they will speak about a specific problem, theme, or scene in the film that they found interesting and pertinent for discussion as well as explain in detail their specific contribution to the group presentation. Note: the student will turn in an electronic copy via Canvas mail on the day of the presentation. Failure to turn in an electronic copy will result in a deduction.

Criteria

1) An outstanding presentation should be well-thought, organized and precise in its inquiry.

2) The student should provide an original viewpoint and be able to respond to classmates' questions.

Terms of Evaluation:

1) Originality and critical insights

2) Organization

3) Providing connections with larger debates and texts that we have discussed.

4) Critical reflection on points 1, 2 and 3

Friday, 5/2 Final Papers due at 6 p.m. (Note: Students must turn in an electronic copy via Canvas).

Final paper guidelines, Final paper guidelines

Presentation Sign-up Sheet here

Presentation Rubric Here

Extra credit

Undergraduate Grade Distribution

Course Engagement: Attendance, Quizzes, and Participation: 40%

Final Research Paper: 40%

Journal (10%): 10%

Presentation and Presentation Report: 10%

Access to course materials

All readings, films and materials must be read, watched, or listened to by the Tuesday of the week assigned, unless otherwise specified.

A Note on Content

A Note about the assignments, readings, learning styles, and how this class will be taught

Also, due to the duration of the class session, 80 minutes, it will be impossible for the professor to cover every detail in each movie or text in absolute depth, that is, line by line, symbol by symbol, meaning by meaning. Moreover, literary and filmic texts are dynamic works of art, which contain multiple dimensions and are never linear. There is a multiplicity of ways of reading literary and filmic texts due to their open, polyphonic structure and penchant for word or camera play. Again, this is a huge part of the course engagement grade: simply reading the texts and being exposed to new words, perspectives, cultures, languages, and writing styles. You will only grow if you read more. Again, the professor will not be responsible to walk the students through all the difficulties of each text on the syllabus. His task will rather be to provide readings, critical terms, conceptual vocabulary, and present different reading methods, questions, themes, and strategies for you to better frame and analyze the texts yourselves and to hopefully inspire you to read more and in different ways. In this regard, the course rubric is indispensable, as it provides essential terminology, vocabulary, and questions that students should keep in mind in reading the texts. Additionally, the idea is for students to become proactive, critical readers and writers, and to take responsibility for their learning, writing, and reading, and develop their thinking independently with the tools and texts provided by the professor. However, students who are curious and really would like to discuss all or any of the texts in depth are highly encouraged to come see me during office hours or right after class. Students may come in groups. I will be overjoyed to see your curiosity and desire to learn more, and go over ambiguities for any of the readings, and am always happy to help you.

A Note about the syllabus, grading, and assignments, as well as about the use of Canvas, technology and announcements

Plagiarism

THE PROFESSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ASSIGN A FINAL GRADE OF “F” FOR ANY CASE OF PLAGIARISM.

Exams: There will be a final paper and quizzes.

Grading Scale:

93 and higher=A 77.5-79.5=C+ 60-62=D-

90-92=A- 73-77.49=C 60 and lower=F

87.5-89.5=B+ 70-72=C-

83-87.49=B 67.5-69.5=D+

80-82.49=B- 63-67.49=D

*Course Reader on Canvas Course Reserves Temple University Libraries.

**Students are responsible to come to class with required materials.

*Please note that this Course Syllabus is subject to change and will at the discretion of the Professor.

**If there is no internet link, then the text is on Canvas Course Reserves or I will send it to you via email. For any questions please contact me anytime.

*Please note that this Course Syllabus is subject to change and will at the discretion of the Professor.

Software or Other Supplies

If you need access to basic software for creating documents, slideshows, or spreadsheets, you have free access to Microsoft 365.

Accessibility

It is important to me that every student has the opportunity to succeed in this course. Please reach out to me if any obstacle is in the way of your success.

Any student who has a need for accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability or medical condition should contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) located in the Howard Gittis Student Center South, 4th Floor at drs@temple.edu or 215-204-1280 to request accommodations and learn more about the resources available to you. If you have a DRS accommodation letter to share with me, or you would like to discuss your accommodations, please contact me as soon as practical. I will work with you and with DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities. All discussions related to your accommodations will be confidential. Students can learn more about the accommodation process and pre-register on the DRS website. Students may register at any time during the semester, but accommodations are not active until you register, so I recommend doing so as early in the semester as possible.

Information regarding accessibility for additional technologies is provided below: [add/delete as appropriate]

Resources and Support*

Student Success Center

University Libraries

Undergraduate Research Support

Career Center

Tuttleman Counseling Services

Disability Resources and Services

Wellness Resource Center

Student Health Services

If you are experiencing food insecurity or financial struggles, Temple provides resources and support. Notably, the Temple University Cherry Pantry is in operation, as well as a variety of resources from the Division of Student Affairs.

Library Resources*

Temple University Libraries provide resources to assist Temple students with their class projects and research needs. Visit the Libraries’ website to find millions of articles, books, video, and other resources, both in print and online.

The site also provides tutorials to help you start your research, as well as subject and course research guides to help you identify resources that may be particularly useful for this class.

Contact the library at any stage of the research process. You can chat with a librarian 24/7 or make an appointment with your subject librarian, who can help you explore a topic, craft a research question, and identify and cite sources.

School-Life Conflict

Many unpredictable things can happen over the course of a semester. If you find yourself struggling to balance your education and your other commitments, please reach out to me immediately so that we can work together to build a plan for your success. Some of the resources in the next section may also be of use to you.

Attendance and Your Health

To achieve course learning goals, students must attend and participate in classes, according to the course requirements. However, if you have tested positive for or are experiencing symptoms of a contagious illness, you should not come to campus or attend in-person classes or activities. It is your responsibility to contact me to create a plan for participation and engagement in the course as soon as you can, and to make a plan to complete all assignments in a timely fashion.

Religious Holidays

It is your right to observe religious holidays without impacting your opportunity to learn and succeed in this course. Please reach out to me at the start of the semester so that deadlines can be reviewed in advance of your religious observations. You will still be held responsible for course content and any assignments, but you will not lose points for attendance and participation on days important to your faith.

Caregiver Responsibilities

I have great respect for students who are pursuing their education while responsible for the care of children or other family members. Please contact me if you encounter challenges that require you to miss a class session or if your caregiving responsibilities are interfering with your success in the course. Together, we may be able to find some flexibility to support your learning.

Withdrawal

If you are considering withdrawing from the course after the add/drop date, please don’t make that decision alone! Withdrawing from the course without talking to me first eliminates the possibility of finding a path to success for you. Furthermore, it is extremely important that you consult your academic advisor before withdrawing. They will be able to walk you through how the withdrawal would impact your progress towards your degree and your graduation date.

Please check the academic calendar for the last day to withdraw from a course.

Incomplete

A student will be eligible for a grade of “Incomplete” only if the student: 1) has completed at least 51% of the work at a passing level, 2) is unable to complete the work for a serious reason beyond their control, and 3) files a signed agreement with the instructor outlining the work to be completed and the time frame in which that work will be completed. The student is responsible for initiating this process, and all incomplete forms must be sent to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs prior to the start of study days in that semester.

Please refer to the following for further details: Temple University’s Incomplete Policy. (Policy #02.10.13).

Technology Guidelines

Technology Requirements*

To participate in this course, you will need the equipment, software, and internet access necessary to reliably use Zoom and Canvas, as well as “productivity tools” like word processors and slide show creators.

Limited resources are available for students who do not have the technology they need for class. Students with educational technology needs, including no computer or camera or insufficient Wifi access, should submit a Student Technology Assistance Application located in TUPortal and linked from the Dean of Students Support and Resources. The University will endeavor to meet needs, such as with a long-term loan of a laptop or Mifi device, a refurbished computer, or subsidized internet access.

Note that there are technology resources available for students, including on-campus computers available for student use, the Tech Center computer labs and free laptop and battery borrowing at Charles Library, software that is available for free download and other specialty software that may be available for remote access through ITS.

Technical Support

For a listing of technical support services available to Temple University students, see the Tech Support page.

Live Chat or Request Help: help.temple.edu

Phone: 215-204-8000

Email: help@temple.edu

Website: its.temple.edu

Location: The TECH Center, Room 106

Technology Usage

Excellence in any endeavor requires attention. To that end, we need to be mindful of the unnecessary use of technology in the class. To avoid distracting yourself or others, please only use your laptop, phone, or other device for activities relevant to the course. If you find yourself needing to take a call or participate in a text, please excuse yourself from the classroom and return as soon as you are able.

Class Recording

Individuals are not permitted to record, copy, publish, or redistribute audio or video recordings of any portion of the session to individuals who are not associated with the University without the express permission of the host/faculty member and of any other meeting participants who are recorded. Distribution without permission could be a violation of various privacy laws, including FERPA, as well as the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, and possibly copyright law.

Attending Zoom meetings using an AI proxy is not allowed.

Privacy and Data Protection

Please see the links below to become familiar with the privacy policies for each of the following:

Academic Guidelines

Academic Freedom*

Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. I have the freedom and responsibility to design and facilitate our learning environment to best achieve the promise of the course as outlined in its official description. You have the responsibility to engage with the course in good faith and freedom from mistreatment when your opinion differs from mine. Note that it is not an abuse of this freedom for me to require that you support relevant opinions with clear argumentation and solid evidence. For more on academic freedom, consult the official Temple policy on the matter.

Academic Integrity*

Temple University believes strongly in academic honesty and integrity. Plagiarism and academic cheating are, therefore, prohibited. All work you submit for assessment should be your own efforts. For more on this topic, consult the relevant portions of Temple Bulletin and the Student Conduct Code.

The course syllabus will provide you with the course schedule, course objectives, explanations of assignments and assessments, grading policies, and instructor contact information. Please read it carefully. You should have a deep familiarity with the schedule and process of the course.

Course Syllabus

Introduction to Latin America: Film, Media, Culture

5) Magali M. Carrera, Imagining Identity in New Spain: Race, Lineage, and the Colonial Body in Portraiture and Casta Paintings (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004)

6) Ilona Katzew, Casta Painting: Images of Race in Eighteenth-Century Mexico (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004)

7) Diana DiPaolo Loren, "Corporeal Concerns: Eighteenth-Century Casta Paintings and Colonial Bodies in Spanish Texas". Historical Archaeology 41.1 (2007): 23-36.

Navigation Menu Use this menu to move to different sections of this page.

General Education

Emergency Meetings

Instructor Information

My Name: Professor Adam Joseph Shellhorse, Ph.D.

Instructor Biography

My Contact Information: aj.shellhorse@temple.edu

My Office: 440 Mazur Hall

Student Drop-In Hours*

Purpose of the Course

Overall Purpose

Overview of the Course*

Prerequisites/Corequisites: none.

Learning Goals*

General Education Competencies and Area Learning Goals

The Learning Environment

Software or Other Supplies

Accessibility

Resources and Support*

Library Resources*

School-Life Conflict

Attendance and Your Health

Religious Holidays

Caregiver Responsibilities

Withdrawal

Incomplete

Technology Guidelines

Technology Requirements*

Technical Support

Technology Usage

Class Recording

Privacy and Data Protection

Academic Guidelines

Academic Freedom*

Academic Integrity*

Navigation Menu
Use this menu to move to different sections of this page.