2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue
HIST5180M Latin America and the Global Cold War
30 creditsClass Size: 14
Module manager: Eline van Ommen
Email: e.vanommen@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
This module is not approved as an Elective
Module summary
The real Cold War was hot. In Latin America, it was a period of unprecedented violence, mass mobilisation, and foreign interventions. This module delves into new research and debates on the Cold War in a Latin American context. It explores how the Cold War intersected with local, national, and regional struggles for social justice and national liberation. It discusses how and with what consequences Latin Americans challenged Western hegemony and explored the possibility of South-South collaborations.Objectives
By centring Latin America rather than the superpowers, this module offers a fresh perspective on the Cold War. It asks how the Cold War started and ended in Latin America, who its main protagonists were, and the conflict’s impact on different scales, varying from local activists to international organisations. Students are encouraged to analyse the Cold War in Latin America from transnational, international, and global perspectives. The module zooms in on various case studies, which may include the Guatemalan Spring (1944-1954) the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Allende’s Chile (1970-1973), Southern Cone Dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, and the Central American civil wars. Seminars will involve intensive reading and discussion of secondary sources, combined with reflections on newly released online archival materials, oral histories, artwork, and memoirs.Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. identify and explain key trends and defining moments in the Cold War in Latin America
2. critically evaluate, compare, and contrast different historiographical approaches to the Cold War in Latin America
3. assess the impact of international politics and global events on Latin America’s Cold War, and vice versa
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4.weigh up different arguments and perspectives, using supporting evidence to form opinions, arguments, theories, and ideas
5. write in a clear, concise, focused, and structured manner that is supported by relevant evidence
6. deliver effective and engaging oral and visual presentations to a variety of audience
Syllabus
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
Teaching methods
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
| Seminar | 11 | 2.00 | 22.00 |
| Private study hours | 278.00 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 22.00 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300.00 | ||
Opportunities for Formative Feedback
Students will receive written feedback on a 500-word plan for the student-led session. The student-led session will help students prepare for the 3,000-word essay by supporting their development critical skills of historiographical analysis.Methods of assessment
Coursework
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
| Presentation | Student-led seminar (including 15-minute presentation) | 50.00 |
| Essay | 3,000-word essay | 50.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100.00 | |
Student-led seminar Students will be required to deliver a fifteen-minute assessed presentation and provide a list of questions to be discussed in class subsequent to the presentation. This assignment will take place in class in one of weeks 6-11. The timetable for the student-led seminars will be set in semester 2/week 2 and the students will receive feedback on a 500-word plan for the session to be submitted in week 4. The resit activity is a 3,000-word essay. 3,000-word essay This historiographical essay will be written in response to a question set by the module convenor.
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 29/04/2024 16:15:06
Browse Other Catalogues
- Undergraduate module catalogue
- Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
- Undergraduate programme catalogue
- Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD