Module Convenor: Dr Rosie Doyle

Office: FAB3.77

Office Hours: Thursdays 15:00-16:00 and Fridays 11:00-12:00

Lecture Time: Thursdays 2-3pm FAB4.79

Seminar Times: Fridays 4-5pm, FAB4.79. Please sign up on Tabula

Over the two past centuries, Mexicans have endured a an independence movement, dozens of foreign invasions (mostly but not exclusively by the United States) revolutionary civil war, four major (and countless minor) religious uprisings, a vicious Cold War counter-insurgency, nearly fifty years of authoritarian government, countless devaluations, and nearly a decade of violent confrontations between drug cartels. Yet Mexicans have also experienced far-reaching social reforms, unparalleled levels of economic growth, rapid rates of industrialization and urbanization, and seventy years of relative political stability. They also elected an indigenous president of Mexico in 1858. This module seeks to understand these contradictions and the ways in which they have affected Mexicans’ everyday lives.

Students will be asked to examine at a range of subjects including the Spanish and U.S. imperialism; Catholic belief systems; ideologies of revolutionary leaders, like Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, and Subcomandante Marcos; the politics of the world’s longest running one party state; the long struggle for indigenous rights; the experiences of Mexico’s urban poor; and the machinations of the country’s cartels.

Student Feedback

"Highly engaging and interesting lectures, readings and seminars provides good motivation."

"The seminar tutor is clearly interested in the topic and her enthusiasm rubs off."

"Engagement with different primary sources each seminar really helps to tie in the knowledge from the seminar and the secondary readings all together to fully understand the topic for the week."

• Aims and Assessment
• Bibliography
• Syllabus

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