CHASS Connect: 2008 - 2009 Sequences
REVOLUTIONS
The three courses which make up the Revolutions CHASS Connect compare the structures of historical and contemporary revolutions. When you have completed the sequence at the end of the year, you will have fulfilled 3 college breadth requirements; you will have assessed the causes for revolutions; you will have examined the ways people can effect change. The discussions of revolutions will allow you to reflect on the needs of different people and allow you to make informed decisions at UCR and beyond.
Fall 2008
Political Science, Farah Godrej
This course will examine the political philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, with a focus on his theory of nonviolence, investigating the moral and intellectual sources of his vision of nonviolent revolution. Although Gandhi is better known as a social reformer and leader of an independence movement than as a political theorist, an examination of his writings reveals him to be an extraordinary source of insight into the field of political philosophy. This course will call upon students to engage with Gandhi’s own political and philosophical vision, while simultaneously exploring the interplay between the indigenous and Western sources of that highly synthetic vision. Thus, we will occasionally refer to thinkers within the Western tradition of political thought.
Winter 2009
History, Catherine Allgor
Not only will the Revolution that began it all be explored but, more importantly, eighteenth and nineteenth century revolutions will be examined including the American Revolution and the revolutionary efforts of lower-class workers to obtain a living wage, of women of all races to achieve equality, and the revolutionary demands of enslaved African-Americans. We will explore how these movements, propelled by people of color and women of all races and classes, pushed the ideals and legacies of the Founding Fathers, creating what we think of as "American Freedom".
Spring 2009
Hispanic Studies, Marta Hernandez-Salvan
This course will focus on the eruption of different revolutionary movements in the history of Latin America. We will look at the way black slave revolts led to the Haitian Revolution in 1791. We will study the important role played by women and peasants in the Mexican Revolution. We will also focus on the warfare guerrilla movement in Cuba and how it continued the insurrection with the help of the rural sectors. Finally, we will look at the Nicaraguan case. By contrasting the cultural production and the history from the cultural production and the history from the early period of the Revolution, we will analyze the different ideological strategies used to identify or challenge the image of the revolutionary actors and explore their political effectiveness. Course material will be in relation to works by Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Che Guevara, Mariano Azuela and many more. Movies such as Vamonos con Pancho Villa and Las aventuras de Juan Quin Quin will be analyzed along with visual artworks of Diego Rivera.