History 8A-B are general survey courses designed to introduce students to major themes in Latin American history. This course encompasses the crisis of colonial rule in the late eighteenth century, independence wars in the early nineteenth century, and the birth and transformations of independent republics from Mexico through the Caribbean to the Andes and the Southern Cone, into the twenty-first century. The course emphasizes the diversity of the Latin American experience with special attention to political processes and social transformations including revolutions, slavery and its legacies, and the struggle for citizenship and democracy, with particular attention to the working classes and ingenious movements.
5
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeNone
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeThis class would be amazing if another instructor teaches. Prof Mendez is very disorganized, unsympathetic, and a terrible instructor. Always tripping over herself lecture, guilt-tripping students, patrolling around about phones rather than actually lecturing, etc. Made me dread coming to class. TAs carry. Avoid this class (her) if possible!
I think the ratings are very harsh; I honestly thought this class was extremely interesting and mattered deeply to the current happenings of our world right now. Very reading heavy, but it was important for your midterm and final take-home projects. I suggest you engage and think about the material deeply to do well and get lucky with a nice TA
Some of these reviews are harsh but rooted in honesty. Your experience and grade will depend entirely on your TA. Prof Mendez is extremely passionate and knowledgeable but struggles with organization. Lectures can be rough and she LOVES to cold call. A fine GE class but very unstructured and content heavy. Not a hard class but your TA is everything
Professor Mendez is very knowledgeable about Latin American history, however, her methods in teaching are a bit disorganized. The TAs carried the class, filling in the context of the week's lectures (and explaining more than Mendez). We had weekly quizzes, weekly discussion posts, and 2 papers. Overall, it is manageable but become close to your TA!
The class is not that bad. It was pretty easy to do the assignments, it is just weekly quizzes (easy) and 2 opinion based responses on canvas. She is VERY strict about attendance, lecture and sections, and quite unorganized with the actual lecture content. She was very confusing, honestly the TAs carried, but depends on which one you get.
The class is actually really easy, I would suggest taking it for your GE. Just never show up to the lectures, and you'll be fine by doing the reading. All grading is based on papers so there is no need to show up for lectures. By far the worst lecturer I've ever had, please don't take this class if you don't like doing reading.
Erika Rappaport
3.9
Anthony Barbieri-Low
3.5
Debra Blumenthal
2.5
Salim Yaqub
4.5