Students will select a popular revolutionary or resistance leader or figure (including by not limited to Camilo Torres, Father Romero, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Victor Jara, Salvador Allende, Silvia Quintela, and Rigoberta Menchú). They will be expected to prepare a 10 minute presentation on their chosen figure including an analysis of the society that they were rebelling against. The major events of their lives, cause of death, and popular media made memorializing them should all be included in their presentation.

During the neocolonial period, a few Latin American authors and artists, some of whom were mestizo, gained fame for their literary and artistic talents. Choose one famous example, such as Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis, Ruben Dario, Jose Martí, Juan Rulfo, Mario Vargas Llosa, Octavio Paz, Julio Cortázar, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes, Victor Jara, Oswaldo Guayasamin, or anyone that interests you in your research and investigate his/her life and accomplishments. Using this information, write an approximately 4 page biography about the author, making sure to include his background, examples of themes or topics covered in his/ her work, and an explanation of why the artists' work was significant. Consider the author’s impact on national identity and esteem in your discussion. Include a works cited page.

Choose an ongoing specific battle over indigenous land rights happening in any of the countries in the Americas. You can choose to focus on ongoing battles over oil drilling in the Yasuni in Ecuador, the deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil, the Standing Rock protests, the rise of the Zapatistas in Chiapas, or any other land rights battle you can find on your own. You should write a detailed analysis of this dispute, making reference to what is at stake and who the major actors are. There should be a nuanced look at the indigenous group involved, including specific histories of their relationship to the land in question. You should make clear what is at stake and who is the ultimate judicial arbiter. Your paper should include a good deal of independent research and reference to the anthropological schools studied throughout the year. The paper should be 10-15 pages and include a bibliography.