Blood in the Streets: Political Protest in Latin America

What would it take for you to march in the streets, risking arrest, injury, or worse, in order to make your political views known? This course takes the region of Latin America as a lens to study how politics have emerged outside of traditional government and electoral systems. The course opens with a famous late colonial example (the Tupac Amaru Rebellion in Peru) of oppressed groups protesting colonial rule. We use this historical example to create working definitions of politics, political discourse, political action, and political protest. The course jumps ahead to the past thirty years where we will use texts, films, photographs, music and other sources to consider the student movement in Chile, the so-called "water wars" in Bolivia, the Mexican protests of 2015 around the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, and the Nicaragua protest movement of 2018. We study the existing political frameworks in modern Latin American nations as we analyze how and why people use protests, strikes, marches, and other tactics to make their politics known. After studying the Latin American cases in-depth, we conclude with a comparative discussion of race and class in protest politics throughout the Americas. Students participating in July Experience take one morning class and one afternoon class each day, Monday through Friday. Classes meet for 90 minutes, with the possibility of additional laboratory sessions in selected courses. July Experience courses although taught with college-level rigor, do not carry any secondary school or college credit. This allows students to take risks and explore curriculum without the pressure of impacting his or her permanent record. Courses are graded on an Honors/Pass/Fail basis and a detailed written letter to parents/guardians is provided by each professor after the conclusion of the program. Students will have the opportunity to select their class preferences after they have been admitted to the program. To ensure small class sizes, students may be assigned second or third choices. The total cost of July Experience 2019 is $4,000. Tuition covers the following areas: Room and board (all meals and self-service laundry), Textbook(s) for use during the duration of the program, and Scheduled activity costs/fees. Tuition does not include travel expenses and personal spending money. Application process includes: online application, transcript, school profile, counselor recommendation form, teacher recommendation form, essay. Students must complete the Online Application in its entirety and submit it in one online session. Financial aid is available with the completion of an additional scholarship application.