Special Topics Seminar - Spring of 2010

Eva Perón

Latin American Icons

Learn about Latin America through personalities that have shaped the region’s history. The course will examine the relationship between these iconic individuals and several political movements and conflicts, including nationalism, populism, feminism, and revolution.

COMM 281-01

Instructor: Mauro P. Porto

Che Guevara

Hugo Chávez

What do Hugo Chávez, Che Guevara, Eva Perón and Simón Bolívar have in common? They are some of the most powerful and controversial political icons of Latin America. This course will examine these individuals in terms of the symbols and narratives that have contributed to create, maintain, and challenge their mythic status.

Fun readings: Required texts will include novels, travel books, and biographies, including: Gabriel Garcia Márquez’ The General in his Labyrinth; Tomáz Eloy Martínez’s Santa Evita; Patrick Symmes’ Chasing Che; and Richard Gott’s Hugo Chávez.

Simón Bolívar

The course emphasizes the role of the mass media and symbolic representations in shaping global and local understandings of political myths. We will analyze, in particular, how portraits, photography, literature, film, radio, and television have been mobilized to create and sustain Latin American political icons.