Course Syllabus
HL 90: Race and Empire in the Americas
Fall 2024, Harvard University
Thursdays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Image credits: Madsen Mompremier, “Dessalines Ripping the White from the Flag,” 1955; Pepe Gómez, “La Dualidad del Tio Sam,” Bogotá, Peru, June 1916; José Espert Arcos, Mexican Tourism Association poster, 1945; Peg Hunter, Border Encuentro, November 15, 2017; World Vision worker with schoolchildren, Colombia, 2015
Professor: Hannah Waits
How to Contact Me: I check email on weekdays after 4 pm and respond in 24-48 hours
- email: hwaits@fas.harvard.edu
Office Hours: Thursdays 12-2 EST and by appointment
Office Hours Locations:
- Office: Barker Center 039
- Zoom: by appointment
Course Description:
This course explores the culture and politics of imperialism in the Americas from the early 19th century to the present, with particular attention to race and ethnicity. We will ask how formal and informal imperial relationships developed by looking at French, British, and especially United States imperialism across the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Focusing on topics like revolution, migration, military occupation, tourism, climate change, and humanitarianism, we will examine how empire functioned on the ground for those who imposed it and those who resisted, appropriated, or accommodated it. Course texts will include theory from Frantz Fanon and Gloria Anzaldúa, fiction by Jamaica Kincaid, films like Aftershocks of Disaster and West Side Story, and primary sources like political cartoons, tourism posters, international adoption applications, and humanitarian aid commercials.
Course Requirements:
The requirements for this course are attendance and informed participation in each week’s discussion, one week of discussion leadership, weekly reading responses (1 page each), two shorter essays (5-6 pages each, due Week 4 and Week 6), one public engagement project (2-3 pages, due Week 8), and one final paper (10-12 pages, proposal and bibliography (2 pages) due Week 9, first draft due Week 12, final draft due during final exam period).
Weekly Reading Responses: 8 out of 10 weeks (two free weeks off)
Each week, students will post critical analyses of the week’s readings in our #readingresponses Slack channel by 11:59 pm EST on the night before class. Response posts should be 200-300 words long and should analyze the week’s readings via the “3 Cs” = (1) address the central claims of the readings, (2) put the readings into conversation, (3) provide commentary (evaluation, criticisms, connections) about the readings. Response posts form part of your participation grade and help you sharpen your writing skills in a low-stakes environment, facilitate discussion, and raise questions that you may have about the readings. I will provide feedback about the writing and analysis in your response posts before the first essay assignment in order to help you prepare to write longer and more formal papers.
Attendance and Participation:
This course meets once each week, with meetings devoted to a combination of interactive discussion, group work with texts, and short lectures. Students who complete the weekly course readings will be prepared to engage in class activities and earn high marks in participation.
Every week, one student will provide five comprehensive questions with which to begin class discussion. The goal of this exercise is for the student to place the texts in conversation with one another. Students will sign up for their discussion leadership date at the beginning of class in Week 2.
Since students’ regular attendance and active participation is essential to the success of the course, response posts, in-class discussion, in-class group activities, and discussion leadership together comprise 25% of the course grade. Students who miss more than two classes or who come to class unprepared to discuss the week’s readings do so at the expense of their final grade. Contact me in advance if, for some appropriate reason, you must miss a class so we can discuss any assignments due and/or make-up work.
Essays One and Two:
For the first essay, students will draw on readings from the course to respond to one of several essay prompts. For the second essay, students will conduct a close reading of a primary source and construct an argument about the source’s significance in content, form, and production in historical and cultural context. Writing guidelines and prompts will be distributed a few weeks before each paper’s due date.
Public Engagement Project:
Public engagement projects take scholarly knowledge and redesign it for engagement with and education of a public audience, thereby moving scholarly conversations outside of the college classroom and connecting those discussions to present-day issues. Drawing on themes and topics from the course, students will design and execute a project of public engagement and/or education (e.g. lesson plans, op-ed for hometown newspaper, advocacy letter). Examples of projects and writing guidelines will be distributed prior to the project’s due date.
Final Paper:
Students will choose one of several options for a 10-12-page final paper. Those options include: a traditional paper (a research paper drawing on primary and secondary sources), an oral history interview and scholarly introduction, or a creative production (screenplay, historical fiction, online museum exhibit) with scholarly introduction. All students will produce a research proposal (1-2 pages), preliminary bibliography, and rough draft as a part of the writing process, and evidence of editing and revision will be required for the final paper. You are encouraged to discuss paper ideas with me beforehand in office hours, and I am happy to suggest potential primary and secondary sources.
Course Grading:
Participation 25%
Essay One 15%
Essay Two 15%
Public Engagement Project 5%
Final paper proposal and bibliography 10%
Final paper 30%
Course Policies:
In-Class Items: Food and Digital Distractions:
We will take a brief half-time break during each class, and during the break you can step outside to have a snack. Food is not allowed during our class meeting.
Try to take notes by hand and bring hard copies of course readings that can be printed; it is to your advantage as a learner to limit digital distractions and as a reader to mark up readings. Most of our class time will be spent in discussion, and I encourage you to think of class as a space to generate questions and conversation, rather than notes. If using a laptop or tablet, close all windows except for those relevant to class (e.g. pdf reader and notes document). At the half-time break during each class, you can check your phone and look at all of the other interesting digital distractions available to you.
Statement of Student Support
I welcome students into this course from all backgrounds, including students with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ students, students of color, and immigrant, refugee, and undocumented students. This classroom is a space for everyone, and we will create community agreements during the first weeks of the course to ensure an environment of respect, openness, and collaboration.
Work-life balance during this time is tremendously challenging for everyone. My hope is that this course will provide a space for intellectual community, stability, and normalcy amid ongoing crises. If outside issues begin to affect your performance in this course, please let me know so that I can connect you with available resources and support.
Pronouns:
Preferred gender pronouns will be respected by everyone in class. I will default to the pronouns you have selected on my.harvard, but if you have other preferences please let me know. Please address your fellow students directly by name or “you” when responding to a point made by your classmates, with whom you are in conversation during our discussions.
Subject material:
Our subject matter can be divisive and offensive and is certainly worthy of scrutiny and critique. However, I encourage you to approach the material as an important (if often difficult) part of history and culture, meant to spark lively discussion about its past and its present significance. You are welcome to come speak with me if you have any concerns.
Email and Canvas:
I will sometimes provide email updates about readings, assignments, and other course matters. While I am always happy to talk during office hours, you are also welcome to email me with any questions. I try to respond to all emails within a 48-hour period; please read and respond to your email regularly. Please also check the course Canvas site frequently for any changes to the readings and assignments.
Late Assignments:
Everyone will start with 3 "grace days" to be used at your discretion. You need not ask for an extension, but rather use these days as necessary. Your 3 days may be used in any permutation (e.g. 1 day on the first, 2 days for the second), but once you have used all three, no more will be granted, so plan accordingly. After all days are used, papers will be deducted a step for each late day (an A becomes an A–, etc.).
Students who must miss class assignment due dates due to religious observation or family, personal, or medical emergencies should contact the instructor as soon as possible before the due date.
Collaboration Policy and Academic Honesty:
Discussion and the exchange of ideas are essential to academic work. For assignments in this course, you are encouraged to consult with your classmates on the choice of paper topics and to share sources. You may find it useful to discuss your chosen topic with your peers, particularly if you are working on the same topic as a classmate. However, you should ensure that any written work you submit for evaluation is the result of your own research and writing and that it reflects your own approach to the topic. You must also adhere to standard citation practices in this discipline and properly cite any books, articles, websites, lectures, etc. that have helped you with your work. If you received any help with your writing (feedback on drafts, etc.), you must also acknowledge this assistance. In accordance with the Honor Code, plagiarism is a serious offense and must be reported to the Honor Council. If you are unsure of what constitutes plagiarism, please be sure to consult the Harvard Guide to Using Sources or come speak with me during office hours.
ChatGPT and Generative AI: A Form of Collaboration You Must Disclose
You may use Generative AI programs (e.g. ChatGPT) to help generate ideas and brainstorm. However, you should note that the material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise problematic. Beware that use may also stifle your own independent thinking and creativity.
When using AI tools on assignments, you must add an appendix showing (1) the entire exchange – all of your prompts as well as all generative AI outputs – with underlining of the sections that most influenced your thinking; (2) a description of which AI tools you used (e.g. ChatGPT private subscription version or DALL-E free version), (3) an explanation of how you used the AI tools (e.g. to generate ideas, turns of phrase, elements of text, lines of argument, pieces of evidence, maps of conceptual territory, illustrations of key concepts, etc.); (4) an account of why you used AI tools (e.g. to save time, to surmount writer’s block, to stimulate thinking, to handle mounting stress, to clarify prose, to translate text, to experiment for fun, etc.).
You may not submit any work generated by an AI program as your own. If you include material generated by an AI program, you must cite it like any other reference material, with due consideration for the quality of the reference, which may be poor.
Students with Disabilities:
If you need academic adjustments or accommodations in this course, please speak with me and present your letter from the Accessible Education Office (AEO), which is a resource for students with disabilities and temporary health conditions who may require accommodations to fully participate in all aspects of Harvard student life. If you wish to notify me, please do so by the end of the second week of the term so that I may respond in a timely manner, since accommodations are not retroactive. The AEO consults with any student who experiences barriers related to physical or mental health, or learning disabilities, and works collaboratively with students and their faculty. Students are not required to share their diagnoses or clinical documentation with anyone outside of the AEO, but you may wish to notify me if there are potentially inaccessible elements of this course. All discussions will remain as confidential as possible within the parameters of FERPA; I may consult AEO to discuss appropriate implementation. Please be in touch with the AEO directly if you are not yet registered.
Course Readings:
- Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (1988, any later publication date is fine as well)
- free options: library reserves + available online through Internet Archive (archive.org)
All other course readings are on Canvas in the Files section.
Schedule of Classes:
NOTE: The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the professor may be necessary. Upon notification, amendments will take effect immediately.
Week 1 Introductions – Hurricanes and Representations of Race and Empire
- Yarimar Bonilla, documentary follow-up to edited collection Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm (Haymarket Books, 2019), released Aug 2020: “Aftershocks of Disaster Film”
- In Class Video: WGBH (Hartford, CT) PBS Documentary, aired Sept 2018 (one year later): “The Island Next Door”
- In Class Video: University of Michigan Office of Academic Innovation (investigative journalist professor and assistants), Summer 2018 (one year later, released late Aug 2018): “Searching for Answers: Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria”
--------------------- Unit 1: Nineteenth-Century Empires and Resistances -------------------
Week 2 The Haitian Revolution
- Michel-Rolph Trouillot, “The Three Faces of Sans Souci,” in Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1997)
- Haitian Declaration of Independence (1804), in Laurent Dubois and John Garrigus, Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789-1804: A Brief History with Documents (2006)
- Frantz Fanon, “The Lived Experience of the Black Man,” in Black Skin, White Masks (1952)
Week 3 Settler Colonialism in North America
- K. Tsianina Lomawaima, “‘You’re a Woman, You’re Going to Be a Wife,’” in They Called It Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco Indian School (1996)
- Zitkala-Ša, “School Days of an Indian Girl,” Atlantic Monthly (Feb 1900)
- Laura Tohe, “Our Tongues Slapped into Silence,” “Dick and Jane Subdue the Navajos,” and “The Names,” in No Parole Today (1999)
Week 4 Black Internationalisms
- Christina Davidson, “An Organic Union: Theorizing Race, Nation, and Imperialism within the Black Church,” Journal of African American History 106, no. 4 (Fall 2021): 577-600
- Universal Negro Improvement Association, “Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World” (1920)
- Claude McKay, Harlem Shadows (1922), selected poems
** Essay One due Friday, Sept 27, by 11:59 pm EST
----------------- Unit 2: Twentieth-Century US Militarism, Business, and Law --------------
Week 5 The Spanish-American War
- Amy Kaplan, “Black and Blue on San Juan Hill,” in Cultures of United States Imperialism (1993), 219-236
- US political cartoons about the Spanish-American War (1898-1902), selected
- Judith Ortiz Cofer, “The Latin Deli” and “American History” in The Latin Deli: Prose and Poetry (1995)
Week 6 US Occupation and Interventions in the Caribbean
- Laura Briggs, “Sex and Citizenship: The Politics of Prostitution in Puerto Rico, 1898-1918” in Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science and US Imperialism in Puerto Rico (2002)
- Piri Thomas, Down These Mean Streets (1967), chs 2, 4, 5, and 11
- In-Class Film: West Side Story (Steven Spielberg, 2021), selected scene
** Essay Two due Friday, Oct 11, by 11:59 pm EST
Week 7 Migration I – The Politics of Exclusion and Categorization
- Mae Ngai, “The Johnson Reed Act of 1924 and the Reconstruction of Race in Immigration Law,” in Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (2004)
- “Quota Areas, Immigration Act of 1924” (April 1940) in Maps of Foreign Areas, 1941 – 1944 (General Records of the Department of State, National Archives)
- Gloria Anzaldúa, “La Prieta,” in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981)
Week 8 Migration II – Borders, Citizenship Status, and Social Movements
- Kelly Lytle Hernandez, “The Crimes and Consequences of Illegal Immigration: A Cross-Border Examination of Operation Wetback, 1943 to 1954,” Western Historical Quarterly Vol. 37, No. 4 (Winter, 2006): 421-444.
- Virginia Espino, “‘Woman Sterilized as Gives Birth’: Forced Sterilization and Chicana Resistance in the 1970s,” in Las Obreras: Chicana Politics of Work and Family, ed. Vicki L. Ruiz (UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Publications, 2000), 65-82.
- In Class Activity: Visit to Harvard Art Museums (during second half of class): analyzing works by Graciela Iturbide, Adál Maldonado, Purvis Young, and Richard Misrach
** Public Engagement Project due Friday, Oct 25, by 11:59 pm EST
--------------- Unit 3: Imperial Forms of “Having Fun” and “Helping Others” ---------------
Week 9 Tourism
- Paul Vanderwood, “Playground of the Hemisphere,” in Satan’s Playground: Mobsters and Movie Stars at America’s Greatest Gaming Resort (2010)
- Association for Mexican Tourism, selected tourism posters (1945): Poster 1, Poster 2, Poster 3
- Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (1988)
** Final Paper Proposal and Bibliography due Fri, Nov 1, by 11:59 pm EST
Week 10 Humanitarianism and International Development
- Arturo Escobar, “The Problematization of Poverty: The Tale of Three Worlds and Development,” in Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (1994)
- Liisa Malkki, “Figurations of the Human: Children, Humanity, and the Infantilization of Peace,” in The Need to Help: The Domestic Arts of International Humanitarianism (2015)
- World Vision commercials to US donors for Haiti earthquake aid (2010) and child sponsorships in Haiti (2015), and El Salvador (2018)
Week 11 Transnational and Transracial Adoption
- Laura Briggs, “Latin American Family Values,” in Somebody’s Children: The Politics of Transracial and Transnational Adoption (2012)
- Lifeline Adoption Agency, Columbia adoption information packet and testimonials (2021)
- Abby Forero-Hilty, “How A Pancake Restaurant Taught Me about Race,” in Decoding Our Origins: The Lived Experiences of Colombian Adoptees (2017)
Week 12 Conclusions – Student Presentations and Research Reviews
In-Class Final Paper Peer Reviews, Final Reflections
**Final Paper First Draft due in class
**Final Papers Due = Thursday, December 12 by 11:59 pm EST**