Summer Abroad in Argentina

Reading at the Edge of the World: Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego

May 23—June 9, 2011

Instructor: Juvenal Acosta

Description

Argentina is a major literary power in Latin America. During the twentieth century alone, this country at the other end of our continent has managed to produce writers the likes of Roberto Arlt, Jorge Luis Borges, and Julio Cortázar, as well as other, lesser known fiction writers and poets who are just as meaningful for contemporary writing but have not yet reached the readership they deserve abroad.

One hundred years ago, Argentina was a world economic power and its monuments and architectural wonders are a testimony to that distant reality. Like the United States this is a nation comprised primarily of immigrants who tried (unsuccessfully) to rid themselves completely of the native populations. Lately, as the inhabitants of the world move yet again across borders, the Italian face of Buenos Aires has changed to include Bolivian, Peruvian, and Paraguayan features.

Best known abroad for its soccer players, gauchos, and national dance—the tango, Argentina is a cultural capital with a rich and contentious history and a complex identity. Argentina experienced major political upheavals for most of the last century, the reverberations of which are still felt to this day; it is a country of great unrest and of great contradictions, but it is also a country that has proven to be an incredibly fertile ground for several generations of highly talented and innovative poets, writers, intellectuals, and artists.

This course is designed to connect students with different aspects of life in Argentina and along the River Plate. Participants visit the plazas, museums, and streets of the bustling metropolis of Buenos Aires as they read the works of Ernesto Sabato, Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar. From the historic cemetery of Recoleta where they can see the tomb of Eva Perón, students move on to Café La Biela, then to the bohemian cobblestone streets of Palermo and San Telmo where cafes share the sidewalks with galleries, art vendors, and musicians. The class crosses the Rio de la Plata, one of the broadest rivers on earth, by ferry to the city of Montevideo, hometown of the greatest fiction writer of Uruguay, Juan Carlos Onetti.

During the second week the class travels to two important and breathtaking destinations of the southern hemisphere: Patagonia, where students visit the millenarian glaciers and experience first-hand the mythical land that many writers and scientists, seduced by one of the most exotic destinations on earth, have explored; and the Great Island of Tierra del Fuego, a favored place in the imagination of artists and adventurers from all over the world since its first recorded mention in Magellan’s 16th century travel journals.

Students spend a few days in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, and take short trips to such places as the Island of the Birds and the Lighthouse at the End of the World, where they find the very spot where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic.

Participants travel for eighteen days, eating the best meat on earth, tasting the famous Argentine wines,and reading and discussing the work of Argentine fiction writers and poets such as Roberto Arlt, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Luisa Valenzuela, Cesar Aira, Juan Gelman, and Ernesto Sabato, as well as one work by the Uruguayan Juan Carlos Onetti. Each student is required to read all the materials and to write an essay that reflects the reading and the discussions that take place during the course.

About the Instructor

Juvenal Acosta is a writer who has traveled to Buenos Aires and Patagonia since 1994. Author of two novels, The Tattoo Hunter and The Violence of Velvet, he has published fiction, journalism, and poetry.

Acosta has published three books in collaboration with artists: Paper of Live Flesh and Tango of the Scar (both limited edition artist books) and "Tauromaquia" (an essay on bullfighting).

He has edited anthologies of contemporary Mexican poetry published by City Lights Books. Acosta holds a PhD in Latin American literature from UC Davis.

Prerequisites

Undergraduates: completion of sophomore level by summer 2011 and instructor approval.
Graduates: instructor approval

In addition all students must be in good academic, conduct, and financial standing for the 2010–11 academic year

Course Satisfies

For undergraduates, this course satisfies either 3 credits of a Letters seminar, Diversity Studies seminar, Writing and Literature elective, or Humanities and Sciences elective. For graduate Writing students, this course satisfies a Graduate Writing seminar; for all other graduate students, this course satisfies a graduatewide elective.

Program Fee

$4,450 + $50 summer registration fee
Includes: 3 credits, housing, breakfast, local transportation, and field trips

Program fee does not include:
Airfare to and from Argentina, lunches and dinners, $130 visa fee (collected in Argentina and good for 10 years), travel insurance, medical or personal insurance (students must provide their own insurance)

Please make sure you read the related links in full:
Registration
Financial Aid
Passport, Visa, and Insurance
Code of Conduct

Registration begins on March 1 for all summer study abroad courses. Students should register by March 31, but may register on a space available basis after this date. Please contact the Office of Special Programs at 510.594.3710 if interested in registering after March 31.

Interested students should contact Juvenal Acosta, jacosta@cca.edu, right away to start the approval process for registration.