LAPRS Noticias

Fall 2001

Newsletter of the Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program at Lehman College, City University of New York

Professor Milagros Ricourt Publishes Two Books on the Latino Community in the U.S.

Professor Milagros Ricourt has completed two book manuscripts on the Latino community here in the United States, and both manuscripts have been accepted for publication. One study will be published by Routledge under the title: Dominicans in New York City: Power from the Margins. The work examines the growing population of Dominicans in New York City, focusing on how Dominicans shape their identity and how they “incorporate” themselves into the political life of the United States. Professor Ricourt argues persuasively that recent immigrants to the United States, such as Dominicans, have a more complex route to incorporating themselves into the cultural, social, and political life of the United States than was the case with earlier immigrants to the country. Perhaps paradoxically, the political system of the United States is likely to reward Dominicans more who retain an identity as Dominican–Americans than it will Dominicans who fully integrate themselves into American society. Political incentives shape the identity of Dominicans. Incorporation into American society is also shaped, too, by gender and household structure. Professor Ricourt explores the puzzle of why Dominican women are quicker than Dominican men to incorporate themselves—at least politically—into American society. Professor Ricourt’s book on the Dominican community here will be welcome by all those interested in better understanding New York. It is fitting, too, that Lehman College has a professor studying and publishing her research on the Dominican community—perhaps as many as a fifth of our students here are Dominican.

Professor Ricourt’s second book is a co–authored study with Ruby Danta that will be published by Cornell University Press under the title: The Creation of Latino Panethnicity. The Hispanic population of the United States is now enormous—at 35 million it now exceeds the entire population of Canada. And the Hispanic population of the United States is now larger than the population of many countries of Latin America. But the Hispanic population of the United States is diverse, with identity profoundly shaped by national origin. What happens when Hispanics of diverse national origin reside together in the United States? This important question is addressed by Professor Ricourt and her co–author by using the case of New York to generate and test hypotheses. The book is sure to generate considerable discussion and debate.

Professor Milagros Ricourt’s colleagues in the Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies salute her on her impressive scholarly accomplishments.

Laird W. Bergad is working full time as Director of the Graduate Center’s recently-established Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies. The Center was officially inaugurated in October 2001 and held a one-day conference titled “Latino New York” to mark the event. One of the Center’s main objectives is to encourage graduating CUNY students to pursue the study of Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the U.S. in the Ph.D. programs at the CUNY Graduate Center. For information contact Professor Bergad at lbergad@gc.cuny.edu or visit the Center’s WEB site at http://web.gc.cuny.edu/lastudies

Professor Bergad delivered a paper this past June titled “American Slave Markets during the 1850s: Slave Price Rises in the U.S., Cuba, and Brazil in Comparative Perspective” at a conference honoring Stanley Engerman held at the University of Rochester. It will be published in an anthology of the proceedings by Cambridge University Press next year. He is also writing a book on the comparative histories of slavery in the U.S., Cuba, and Brazil for Cambridge.

Forrest D. Colburn, chair of the Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies, has a book forthcoming from Princeton University Press: Latin America at the End of Politics. The book will be released in March. Another book, one co–authored with Fernando Sánchez, has been published by the publishing press of a consortium of universities in Central America, the Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana (EDUCA). The work is titled Individuos versus instituciones en las democracias centroamericanas. It draws on interviews with political leaders in all five countries of Central America and includes a commentary by Oscar Arias.

Professor Colburn has also recently published an article titled “Ponchos from Ecuador,” in the English magazine HALI and another article titled “Big Fox, Little Village” in Dissent.

This past summer Professor Colburn was a visiting professor at INCAE, where he taught in seminars and worked on sponsored research projects. For a project with the Harvard Business School he wrote a case about the reintroduction of indigo production in El Salvador. In July, Professor Colburn gave a lecture to business leaders in Guatemala City, Guatemala. In October, Professor Colburn gave lectures to business leaders in Caracas, Venezuela.

Xavier Totti was named editor of Centro: Journal, published by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies. Centro: Journal is a multidisciplinary refereed journal that focuses on all aspects of the different Puerto Rican realities, both island and mainland. The journal also publishes comparative essays on Latinos in the U.S. It is the premier journal of Puerto Rican Studies in the U.S., and one of the principal journals on Latino Studies. Now on its 13th year of uninterrupted publication, Centro Journal is indexed by the Cambridge Sociological Abstracts and the MLA International Index. In August the journal signed a contract with the online library company EBSCO to make the journal available full–text online to participating libraries across the U.S. The next number of Centro: Journal, due out by this December, will focus exclusively on the Puerto Rican community of Chicago. It has seven essays by anthropologists and sociologists focusing on gentrification, inter–ethnic and racial relations, community organizing, female labor force participation, plus a photo essay documenting the history of Chicago's Puerto Rican community.

Oscar Montero recently published, "Do Latins Make Lousy Lovers? A reputation revisited." Hopscotch 2.1 (2000), on the uses and misuses of stereotypes. This article appeared in Spanish in Cuba's Revolución y Cultura 2 (marzo-abril 2001). He has also published "Casal en la tienda habanera." El sol en la nieve: Julián del Casal (1863-1893). Ed. Luisa Campuzano. La Habana: Casa de las Américas, 1999.

At the Latin American Studies Association International Congress in Washington, D.C., Sept 6-8, 2001, he presented a paper in a panel titled The Queer vs. the Nationalist Discourses of Latin American and Latino/a Cultures. He is currently working on a book on José Martí. His fall 2001 course at the Graduate Center is titled José Martí: from Broadway to Dos Ríos, 1880-1895.

Marlene Gottlieb published an article and delivered two lectures. The article "Estructura rítmica de Hay un país en el mundo de Pedro Mir" appeared in CiberLetras, vol. 4. 2000. (http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ciberletras).

The paper "El monólogo dramático en la poesía de Patricio Lerzundi" was presented at Simposio Internacional: Presencia hispánica en los Estados Unidos," St. John’s University, N.Y., May 19, 2001. A second lecture, "Pedro Mir: Poeta de la colectividad," was presented at Homenaje a Pedro Mir, Dec. 2, 2000, an activity sponsored by La Asociación de Escritores Latinoamericanos de Newark, El Instituto Dominicano de Seton Hall University, and La Casa de la Cultura Dominicana de Nueva York, and the Newark Public Library.

Visiting Scholars: Prof. Angel Israel Rivera was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies at Lehman College through the CUNY-University of Puerto Rico Exchange Program in 1996-97. Prof. Aarón Gamaliel Ramos, also from the University of Puerto Rico, worked in our Department during academic year 1999-2000. They have jointly edited a book: Islands at the Crossroads: Politics in the Non-Independent Caribbean. (London: Lynne Riener Publishers, 2001). Prof Rivera published, in addition, Poder social versus poder electoral en la autodeterminación nacional de Puerto Rico (San Juan, Editorial Nueva Aurora, 2001). Both books acknowledge the contribution of theirs research leaves at Lehman College through the CUNY-UPR Exchange Program to the completion of both book manuscripts.

César Ayala published “Del latifundio azucarero al latifundio militar: Las expropiaciones de la Marina de Guerra en la década de 1940 en Vieques, Puerto Rico” in Revista de Ciencias Sociales (San Juan, Puerto Rico): (New Series) No. 10, January 2001: 1–33. Ayala also published an English–language version of this paper entitled “From Sugar Plantations to Military Bases: The U.S. Navy’s Expropriations in Vieques, Puerto Rico, 1940–1945,” in Centro: Journal (Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies), vol. 13, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 22–44. His PSC–CUNY grant to carry out this research was renewed this year: "Vieques, Puerto Rico: the Social Structure of the Navy's Expropriations During World War II" (July 1, 2001–June 30, 2002, $3,000). An updated report on this research, which is now taking place jointly with Prof. Vivian Carro of the University of Puerto Rico, who conducted dozens of interviews in 1979–81 with residents of Vieques who lived through the Navy’s expropriations, is located at the following site in the internet: http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/depts/latinampuertorican/vieques/

Ayala presented a paper at the Latin American Studies Association Conference in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 2001, entitled “Land Tenure and Social Structure in Colonial Puerto Rico Revisited: 1898–1934.” The paper is part of a larger, book–length project in progress jointly with Prof. Laird Bergad of LAPRS–Lehman, who is currently heading the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Latin American Art

This spring semester the Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies, in collaboration with the Department of Art, will offer the course: “Introduction to Latin American Art.” The course will be taught by Claudia Calirman, a Brazilian scholar and curator. She is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Ms. Calirman is also working at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, including collaborating with the current exhibition: “Brazil: Body and Soul.” Ms. Calirman has also worked for the Brazil–U.S. Council, Bloomberg TV, and the Journal do Brazil.

New Department Secretary

Aracelis Diamantis is the new Secretary for the Latin American & Puerto Rican Studies department. She previously worked in the office of Continuing Education and helps out with the web site for Adult Degree. Aracelis is Puerto Rican, and happily resides in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Her husband Eddy, of Dominican/Greek descent works for the NYPD, Internal Affairs Bureau. Her 8 year old son, Eddy Jr., loves to visit Davis Hall and look at all the biology models. Aracelis is bilingual in Spanish and English, and welcomes visitors to the department at any time. She is enrolled in the Adult Degree program, and says she is “extremely honored” to be working for the Latin American & Puerto Rican Studies Department.

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES

SPRING 2002 COURSE LISTINGS

LAC143 Introduction to Latin American Art

A study of the principles of art applied to visual forms with emphasis on modern art of the 19^th and 20^th centuries in Latin America.

XM81 M 6–8:40 p.m. Calirman

(Meets with ARH143.XM81 & HUM255.XM81)

LAC169 Literature of the Caribbean

A comparative survey of the Caribbean, of common themes and approaches to literary texts.

M01 M 4–5:40 p.m. W 4–5:40 p.m. Esteves

(Meets with PRS214.M01)

XW81 W 6 – 8:40 p.m. Esteves

(Meets with PRS214.XW81. This course is taught in Spanish.)

LAC210 Women in Latin America

This course explores the relationship between the socioeconomic position of women and their power in domestic and public spheres in different historical contexts, such as in Inca society, as well as contemporary rural and urban settings, making use of historical, ethnographic, and autobiographical sources.

H01 M 12:30–1:45 p.m. W 12:30–1:45 p.m. Ricourt

(Meets with ANT210.H01 & WST210.H01)

XM81 M 6–8:40 p.m. Ricourt

(Meets with ANT210.XM81 & WST210.XM81)

LAC231 Latinos in the United States

A comparative study of the social, political, and economic processes affecting Latino groups in the United States. Discussion will focus on the variable adaptations made by Puerto Ricans, Chicanos, Dominicans, Cubans, Colombians, and other Latinos in their migration and settlement within American society.

P01 M 2–4:30 p.m. Ricourt

XW81 W 6–8:40 p.m. Ricourt

LAC233 Latin American Literature in Translation

The poetry, novel and essay of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

H01 M 12:30–1:45 p.m. W 12:30–1:45 p.m. Esteves

(Meets with SPA233.H01)

LAC235 Afro–Caribbean Societies

A comparative study of Afro–Caribbean societies and cultures with emphasis on the persistence and change of African cultures, social organizations, racial and cultural patterns, religion, and folklore, literary and artistic forms, and economic and political development.

C01 T 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m. TH 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Jervis

(Meets with BLS235.C01)

LAC238 Society & Culture of Latin America

Description and analysis of Latin America’s distinctive ecological, economic, socio–political, and ideological systems.

F01 M 9:30–10:45 a.m. W 9:30–10:45 a.m. Lagos

(Meets with ANT238.F01)

LAC241 Afro–Caribbean Literature

The study and analysis of the literary works of Afro–Caribbean writers in the English–and French–speaking areas. Poetry, the novel, drama, and other literary forms of important authors will be examined within the context of Afro–Caribbean society and culture. All literature will be read in English.

G01 M 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m. W 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m. James

(Meets with BLS241.G01)

LAC266 Introduction to Latin American Caribbean I

Survey of the people and civilizations of the Pre–Columbian America, and of the institutions, economy, history, and culture of Latin America and the Caribbean from the European conquest to the early 19^th century. (1492–1808).

Q01 T 2–4:30 p.m. Beltran

(Meets with HIS250.Q01)

XT81 T 6–8:40 p.m. Beltran

(Meets with HIS250.XT81)

ZL01 S 9:15–11:45 a.m. Calirman

(Meets with HIS250.ZL01)

LAC267 Introduction to Latin American Caribbean II

Survey of the nations and cultures, history, economy, and politics of Latin America and the Caribbean from the early 19^th century to the present.

H01 M 12:30–1:45 p.m. W 12:30–1:45 p.m. Rénique

(Meets with HIS250.H01)

P01 M 2–4:30 p.m. Rénique

(Meets with HIS250.P01)

LAC331 Reform & Revolution: Latin America in the Twentieth Century

Examination of how the strategies of “reform” and “revolution” are applied to the process of development in the twentieth–century Latin America and the Caribbean.

XM81 M 6–8:40 p.m. Rénique

(Meets with HIW331.XM81 & HIS767.XM81)

LAC332 Political Systems in Latin America

Domestic institutions and foreign policies of selected Latin American republics.

XH81 Th 6–8:40 p.m. Colburn

(Meets with POL332.XH81)

LAC334 The Musical Experience of Caribbean Cultures and Societies

Analysis of music and performance in Caribbean cultures with respect to national identity, ethnicity, gender, race, and social class.

ZM01 S 12–2:30 p.m. Cyrille

(Meets with BLS334.ZM01)

LAC352 Evolución de la Prosa Femenina en Hispanoamérica

Study of literature written by women in Latin America.

XH81 Th 6–8:40 p.m. Guiñazú

(Meets with SPA352.XH81)

LAC360 Latino Identity through Film

Examines how film is used to communicate the different Latino experiences in the U.S. Will focus on the differences between outsider and insider perspectives on Latino culture and the ways they emerge in film. Among the films that we will study are: Mi Familia, Girlfight, West Side Story, Born in East LA, La Ciudad, La Bamba, Salt of the Earth, I Like It Like That, Nueba Yol, Like Water for Chocolate, Selena, and others.

XT81 T 6–8:40 p.m. Totti

(Meets with PRS360.XT81)

LAC360 Latin American Music

This course is an introduction to the wide variety of music in Latin America.

P01 M 2–4:30 p.m. Lervold

(Meets with PRS360.P01. This course is taught in Spanish)

PUERTO RICAN STUDIES

SPRING 2002 COURSE LISTINGS

PRS212 History of Puerto Rico

Survey of the history of Puerto Rico from the mid–18th century to the present.

R01 Th 2–4:30 p.m. Ayala

XH81 Th 6–8:40 p.m. Ayala

PRS213 Puerto Rican Culture

Study of the historical evolution of Puerto Rican culture as compared with other Caribbean cultures. Introduction to the concepts, methods, and theories of cultural studies.

B01 T 9:30–10:45 a.m. Th 9:30–10:45 a.m. Totti

Q01 T 2–4:30 p.m. Totti

PRS214 Literature of the Caribbean

A comparative survey of the Caribbean, of common themes and approaches to literary texts.

M01 M 4–5:40 p.m. W 4–5:40 p.m. Esteves

(Meets with LAC169.M01)

XW81 W 6 – 8:40 p.m. Esteves

(Meets with LAC169.XW81. This course is taught in Spanish.)

PRS236 Puerto Rican Music

A survey of folk, popular, and classical music forms in Puerto Rican culture, and the study of the main composers of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

XT81 T 6–8:40 p.m. Lervold

(This course is taught in Spanish.)

PRS307 Puerto Rico in the Twentieth Century: 1898–Present

Intensive study of socioeconomic and political changes in 20th–century Puerto Rico.

XW81 W 6–8:40 p.m. Ayala

PRS360 Latino Identity through Film

XT81 T 6–8:40 p.m. Totti

(Meets with LAC360.XT81)

PRS360 Latin American Music

This course is an introduction to the wide variety of music in Latin America.

P01 M 2–4:30 p.m. Lervold

(Meets with LAC360.P01. This course is taught in Spanish.)