This month-long program explores the intersection of Argentine pop culture, such as tango, rock music and art forms linked to the soccer world, with political and social developments.

• Structure: The course is structured in three parts or modules:
  1) The first and last decades of the twentieth century: tango, immigration/emigration and national identity;
  2) Soccer and nationalism;
  3) Rock in the seventies, cumbia in the nineties: politics, protest and youth.
  
  
• Hours and modality: Students will attend one 2½-hour lecture every week; lectures will give them the necessary background and analytical tools to discuss the topics and readings of the week. Two 2½-hour workshops each week will be devoted to the study of Argentina’s pop culture, the historical context and the social and political movements related to them; one 2½-hour seminar per week will analyze texts and films based on recent theoretical developments with strong contextualization in historical, social and cultural circumstances. In addition, every week students will attend events, concerts, carry out interviews and/or participate in other social and cultural activities in order to integrate classroom-learned concepts with real life experience.

• Schedule: A typical week

Note: We will provide a schedule of outside-the-classroom activities closer to the starting date of the course.

• Credits
  Students will have classes for a total of 40 hours, plus out-of-the-classroom activities and assignments, which equals three or four credits.

Students will:

• Achieve a good understanding of Argentine social and cultural patterns through the analysis of pop culture examples.
• Acquire a working knowledge of twentieth century Argentine history.
• Analyze pop culture manifestations in relation to historical, political and social developments.

The course will be delivered in Spanish for students with an intermediate Spanish level or above. They will be able to take advantage of content classes to improve and consolidate their Spanish command, in particular for academic purposes. For students with a level below intermediate, content classes will be in English.

Each workshop will focus on a specific historical period. Students will be responsible for reading on the particular period and searching for extra information on particular points of interest.

Seminars will focus on the analysis of readings and films, enriched by the information provided in lectures and workshops. Students are expected to have achieved a thorough understanding of the material and provide further information for discussion.

Students will receive a syllabus for the quarter indicating which themes will be covered each week, as well as readings, written exercises and other activities. Students are required to read and fully understand the material, and to do all other assignments before class, in order to devote class time to the active application of new material and to clarify doubts.

Class participation and attendance are extremely important. Students are expected to contribute daily to all class activities. Tardiness and more than two absences will affect the final evaluation of their performance. If a student is unable to render any of the required assignments and/or activities due to sickness or any other justifiable reasons, s/he should notify the faculty verbally or by writing, prior to the deadline for the assigned work (at least 24 hours in advance).

If students have problems with any aspect of the program’s contents or activities, it is their responsibility to contact the faculty immediately in order to face difficulties squarely instead of letting them worsen.

All required texts and films will be made available to students at the beginning of the course. A reader will contain all required articles and chapters and will be given to students the first day of class.

Readings will include chapters and excerpts from the following books:
Criticism and theory
Baddeley, Oriana and Valerie Fraser (1989). Drawing the line: Art and Cultural Identity in Contemporary Latin America.
Clark, Walter (2002). From Tejano to Tango: Essays on Latin American Popular Music (Perspectives in Global Pop).
Delgado Celeste Fraser and José Esteban Muñoz, eds (1997). Everynight life: Culture and Dance in Latin/o America.
Fox, Elizabeth (1997). Latin American Broadcasting: from Tango to Telenovela.
Kaminsky, Amy (2008). Argentina: Stories for a Nation.
Pacini Hernández, Deborah et al. , eds. (2004) Rockin’ Las Americas: The Global Politics of Rock in Latin/o America.
Rowe William and Vivian Schelling (1991) Memory and modernity: Popular Culture in Latin America
Shaw, Lisa and Stephanie Denison (2005). Pop Culture Latin America: Media, Arts and Lifestyle.

Fiction and non-fiction local examples
Alabarces, Pablo. (2004) Crónicas del aguante: fútbol, violencia y política.
(1993) Entre gatos y violadores: Rock y cultura nacional.
Galeano, Eduardo (2003). Soccer in Sun and Shadow.
Puig, Manuel. Heartbreak tango (Boquitas pintadas)

Movies
Piñeyro, Marcelo (1993). Tango Feroz: La leyenda de tanguito.
Solanas, Pino (1986). El exilio de Gardel.
Torre Nilsson, Leopoldo (1974). Boquitas Pintadas

Arrangements have been made for students interested in doing extra-work on international economy and marketing through attendance in a class period to be held in addition to regular class schedule.

Assignments

Workshop and Seminar: The major assignments will be two essays around themes and concepts introduced in seminar and lectures. Their due date will be indicated in the syllabus. Every week, students will have in-class writing exercises and specific assignments to lead and enrich the discussion of films, texts and lectures.

If students have problems with any aspect of the program’s contents or activities, it is their responsibility to contact the faculty immediately in order to face difficulties squarely instead of letting them worsen.