LATINAM 210 Visual Cultures and Industries in Latin America - Course Outlines

Course Prescription

Follows transformations in Latin American visual cultures and culture industries since the 1930s, from the liberal to the neoliberal era. Throughout this history, who controls visual media production and how does this control relate to democracy? Have recent alliances between Indigenous groups and social movements to introduce new Media Laws successfully widened participation and challenged corporate media ownership?

Course Overview

This course focuses on the interaction and preeminence that various sectors of Latin American visual media production and culture industries have established from the 1930s to the present: state sponsored and independent media, politically committed social arts; social movements and their alternative media/visual outlets; corporate media; Indigenous media; and new social/citizens’ driven media. The objective is to trace the role they have fulfilled in their respective social and historical periods as they relate to the nation-state and the corporate/private sector. We will also trace the important transformations these media and their industries have experienced from the liberal and neo-colonial era of the early 1900s, the Responsible State initiated in the late 1930s, committed to supporting culture industries as part of a national-popular decolonization project, through the authoritarian and neoliberal eras, characterised by the repressive and neoliberal state and privatised corporate media. In the neoliberal era, information and media representation are managed, controlled and highly concentrated in the hands of few owners. In the twenty-first century, private media have become a clear target of popular movements which continue to find ways of representing themselves through a variety of visual media. Thus, the last part of the course will include movements engaged with social media and study the ways they are influencing new forms of “reporting”, from advocacy to citizens’ journalism. Alliances across these groups in recent years have led to the establishment of New Media Laws, which face new challenges. The focus throughout the course is on who controls visual media production, how information circulates and who has the right to representation, in order to determine what impact state and private media controls have on citizenship and democracy.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 45 points in BA courses or approval of Programme Coordinator Restriction: LATINAM 310

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Demonstrate a general understanding of the role of visual cultures and industries in controlling and defining the level and quality of citizenship and democracy. (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6)
Develop a critical understanding of the role of the arts and media in Latin American social and political processes and transformations since 1930s to the present. (Capability 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type	Percentage	Classification
4 Tests	40%	Individual Test
Participation	20%	Individual Coursework
2 Essays	40%	Individual Coursework
3 types	100%

Next Offered

Semester II, 2025

Teaching & Learning Methods

Teaching Sessions Overview

Each week includes a 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial.

Lectures

Weeks 1-6: Lectures will be pre-recorded and available on Panopto ( CANVAS) 3 days before your tutorial. The first recording will be available from July 18, 2025.

Weeks 7-12: Lectures will be delivered Mondays 4 to 6 pm on campus.

Tutorials

Week 1: This tutorial will be held on campus.

Weeks 2-6: Tutorials will be held via Zoom:

Participation is mandatory: please keep your camera on and actively engage. The coordinator will record these online tutorials for attendance and participation evaluation. You'll find the Zoom session links posted weekly in the Announcements section on Canvas.

Weeks 7-12: Tutorials will return to campus.

Learning Activities. A typical week's workload includes:

Reading and Tasks:

Approximately 3-4 hours dedicated to reading course materials and completing assigned tasks such as viewing recommended audiovisual resources . This material has to be studied and consulted BEFORE tutorial hours. This will ensure you succeed in the 8 Tutorial Disucssion Commententires ( 2.5% each) and the 4 Tutorial Tests ( 10% each) .

Readings signed with * are additional articles for 310 (Two articles per week)

Self-Directed Time:

The remaining 3-4 hours should be used for self-directed research and working on assignments. Assignment gidelines will be available at scheduled times ( see Assignement) .

Exam Mode

There is no final exam for this course

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience or Online

Delivery Mode

The course employs a hybrid modality: the first half of the semester (classes 1-6) will be delivered online, and the second half (classes 7-12) will be delivered on campus Mondays 4-6 pm.

All timetabled lectures will be recorded and available via Canvas.

Attendance is required at all scheduled tutorials (online and oncampus sessions), to receive credit for some components of the course.

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable ( See Modules in CANVAS).

Attendance and Participation

Lectures:

Please make a genuine attempt to attend all scheduled classes, whether by watching recordings or attending in person. Compulsory tutorials, which include participatory evaluations, are where the content of these lectures will be discussed. It is crucial to keep up with the material.

Tutorials:

Attendance at all tutorials (online or on-campus) is compulsory to qualify for both tests and assignment submission.

Active participation accounts for 20% of your final course grade. To achieve this, you must attend all tutorials (online and on-campus) and contribute to debates, questions, and comments during these sessions.

During tutorials, you'll be asked to answer prompted questions available on CANVAS ( Assignments) under "Active Participation Discussions". This activity will be graded and contributes to your 20% participation mark. For on-campus tutorials, you'll need to bring your portable device and be logged in to CANVAS during the session to complete this activity. There will be 8 "Active participation" entries ( 2.5 % of final mark each)

Absence and Exemptions

Should you be unwell or anticipate an absence from more than one tutorial session due to personal circumstances, please provide a medical certificate or other valid documentation to justify your non-attendance. Rescheduling of your 'Active Participation in Discussion' component or your test submission will only be permitted upon presentation of appropriate justification

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

There will be two SSCC meetings with Class repreesentatives: 19th August , 2pm via Zoom and 30th September 2pm via Zoom

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Capability 1:	People and Place
Capability 2:	Sustainability
Capability 3:	Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4:	Critical Thinking
Capability 6:	Communication
Capability 7:	Collaboration
Capability 8:	Ethics and Professionalism

LATINAM 210 : Visual Cultures and Industries in Latin America

Arts

2025 Semester Two (1255) (15 POINTS)