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Your research question: What type of society had the Tainos created
in Puerto Rico at the moment of the so-called discovery? In 1492, when
Europeans arrived, indigenous people inhabited the Caribbean islands. The
two largest groups were the Caribes and the Tainos. What
was the social structure and belief system of the Tainos? How their
social and political organization was different to that of the Cairibe
Indians? What kind of society and economy the Tainos had developed
in Puerto Rico at that time? You can use the studies of Ricardo Alegria
or Eugenio Fernandez Mendez on the Tainos in Puerto Rico or the
excellent book The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted
Columbus by Irving Rouse. There is also the unpublished doctoral dissertation
of Francisco Moscoso, The Development of Tribal Society in the Caribbean
available at the Centro Library. There is short essay on Taínos
by Moscoso in The Puerto Ricans: their History, Culture and Society
(edited by Adalberto Lopez).
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 4.
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Your research question: What social, economic, political and cultural
factors explain the development of slavery in Puerto Rico? African slavery
was introduced in the island early in the 16th century. However, the consolidation
of an expanded productive system based on slave labor came to light relatively
late, after the mid-18th century. In your paper explain how slavery developed
in the island by focusing on the complex relationship between slavery and
sugar production. Why black slavery in Puerto Rico did not develop to the
same extend that it did in the French, British and Dutch colonies in other
parts of the West Indies? An excellent book that you can use is Francisco
Scarano, Sugar and Slavery in Puerto Rico (1984), or the studies
of Jose Curet and Christopher Schmidt-Nowara on slavery in Puerto Rico
and the Caribbean.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 4.
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Your research question: How the processes of immigration to the island
during the 19th century played a significant role in the development
of the Haciendas in Puerto Rico? The bases for Puerto Rican national society
were built during the 19th century. The island experienced a series of
migrations from former Spanish colonies in Latin American and places like
Corsica and Majorca in the Mediterranean. How this process of "colonization"
of the interior (the mountains) reshaped the local economy of the Spanish
colony? How the socioeconomic system of the Haciendas was developed
during that century? What kind of social and economic relations characterized
the Haciendas? For this question you can read Laird Bergad, Coffee
and Growth of Agrarian Capitalism in 19th Century Puerto Rico, or some
of the essays of Angel Quintero Rivera (in journals).
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 7.
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Your research question: Why the United States decided to invade Puerto
Rico at the end of the 19th century? The US took over Puerto
Rico in 1898. Some researchers conceptualize the military occupation and
further incorporation of the island into the American Empire was part of
the process of territorial expansion that the United States started earlier
in the 19th century under the ideology of the Manifest Destiny.
In your paper analyze the American imperialist policy vis-à-vis
Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. Why the US took over Puerto Rico
but granted independence to Cuba (in 1904)? How Puerto Ricans reacted in
front of the new Metropolis? Why the US did not concede "home rule" to
the new colony and instead kept the island under a direct colonial system
at that time? For this question you can use the new book Constructing
a Colonial People: Puerto Rico and the United States 1898-1932 by Pedro
Caban. In addition, there are plenty of academic articles in journals that
deal with this subject. A classic study of this period is Edward Berbusse,
The
United States in Puerto Rico, 1898-1900.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 11.
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Your research question: Can you explain how the capitalist sugar cane
plantations transformed Puerto Rico’s economy during the first part of
the 20th century? Under the US domination the previously hegemonic
Hacienda
socioeconomic system was replaced by a new capitalist system based on sugar
plantations oriented toward the American market. Around 60% of the agricultural
lands were owned by foreign capital. Can you explain the process of development
of agrarian capitalism in the island? How the plantation system transformed
traditional pre-capitalist labor relations? Why the Puerto Rico’s economy
became more dependent and more dominated by American corporations? For
this question you can use James Dietz’s book
Economic History of Puerto
Rico and the excellent historical studies of Angel Quintero Rivera
or the new book by Cesar Ayala, American Sugar Kingdom. Another
source of relevant information is the Centro journal. In addition, there
are relevant sources in the edited book The Puerto Ricans: their History,
Culture and Society (edited by Adalberto Lopez).
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 11.
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Your research question: What type of nationalist movement was developed
in Puerto Rico under the leadership of Pedro Albizu Campos? During the
late 1920s and 1930s a nationalist movement was organized in Puerto Rico.
The nationalist opposed American political colonialism and economic imperialism
over the island. Can you explain the peculiar conditions that facilitated
the emergence of radical nationalism in Puerto Rico? What was the ideology
of Puerto Rican nationalism at that time? Why nationalism failed to achieve
its political objectives? For this question you can use Maldonado Denis,
Puerto
Rico: A Socio-Historical Interpretation, some of the articles on nationalism
written by Juan Manuel Carrión (published in edited books). A controversial
view on Puerto Rican nationalism can be found in
Puerto Rico: Freedom
and Power in the Caribbean by Gordon Lewis.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 18.
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Your research question: What are the major criticisms against the Hispanophile
interpretations of Puerto Rican culture? During the 1930s the University
of Puerto Rico became a important intellectual center where a controversial
view on the essence of Puerto Rican-ness was manufactured by scholars like
Antonio S. Pedreira. His book Insularismo has never been translated
but there are dissertations and essays on this book (in English). For instance,
Juan Flores wrote one of the most severe critiques to Pedreida’s views
("The Insular vision: Pedreira and the Puerto Rican Misère", in
Divided Borders: Essays on Puerto Rican Identity). In your paper discuss
why this intellectual cultural current initiated by Pedreira has been criticized
as a form of Hispanophila? Why Puerto Rican culture was seen as an extension
of the Spanish civilization? Why the pro-Spanish intellectuals tended to
overlook the black and African roots of the Puerto Rican culture? For your
paper you can use some of the essays published in the book Hispanophilia
(edited by Enrrique Vivoni and Silvia Alvarez-Curbelo). In this book the
essays by Angel Quintero Rivera and Malena Rodriguez Castro ("Hispanophilia
in Puerto Rican Culture") are the most relevant for this question. In addition,
there are several doctoral dissertations on the subject available at the
Centro library.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 21.
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Your research question: Why some social analysts are reconsidering the
cultural meaning and significance of the Jibaro in Puerto Rico?
In the late part of the 19th century the Jibaro became
a national symbol and the embodiment of Puerto Rican-ness in the national
literature. In her essay Maria T. Babin, glorifies this character in the
same way many other "jibarista" writers had done under the influences
of Pedreira. In your paper discuss how the new cultural analysts have challenged
the Jibaro as Puerto Rican main national symbol. Why writers like
Arlene Davila and Lillian Guerra reject the idealized image of the Jibaro?
Discuss in your paper the major criticisms addressed by the new cultural
analyses against the Jibaro and how it has been represented in Puerto
Rican literature. How the image of the Jibaro has been "deconstructed"
by the new interpretations of Puerto Rican culture? For your paper the
best source is Lillian Guerra, Popular Expression and National Identity
in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, there are several dissertations that deal
with this subject that are available at the Centro library.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 25.
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Your research question: Can you explain the social, ideological and
political characteristics of the Partido Popular Democrático
(PPD)? In 1940 a populist party led by Luis Muñoz Marín came
to power in Puerto Rico. The PPD governed the island for almost 3 decades
until the victory of the PNP in 1968. In your paper discuss the emergence
of the PPD in the 1940s and its political program. What the PPD wanted
to do in order to reform the colony? To what extend the PPD achieved its
goals? What factors explain the decline of the PPD in the 1960s and the
coming to power of a pro-statehood party? For your paper you can use Puerto
Rico: Freedom and Power in the Caribbean by Gordon Lewis. In addition,
there are many books on Puerto Rican politics that deal with this subject.
For example, Robert Anderson’s book (Party Politics in Puerto Rico)
explains how the PPD was created.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 25.
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Your research question: What kind of economic model of development was
implemented in Puerto Rico between the mid-1940s and the late1960s? The
island’s economy was transformed after the mid-1940s. From agrarian capitalism
the island developed an industrial economy oriented toward the American
market. In your paper examine the so-called Operation Bootstraps,
that opened the door to rapid capitalist industrialization. Why the Puerto
Rican government embarked in this process that made the island more and
not less dependent of US capital? What was the ideology behind this particular
model of dependent economic development? For your paper the best book published
in Development Strategies as Ideology: Puerto Rico’s Export Led Industrialization
Experience by Emilio Pantojas-Garcia. There is a chapter on Operation
Bootstraps in James Dietz’s book Economic History of Puerto Rico.
In addition, on this subject there are several dissertations available
at the Centro library and many other academic sources.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for March 28.
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Your research question: What economic, social and political factors
explain the large Puerto Rico migration to the US after the 1940s? As
part of the new economic model established in Puerto Rico by the PPD, the
policy-makers in the local government decided that the island needed to
export part of its population. Between 1947 and 1967 Puerto Ricans migrated
to the US by the thousands. In 1970 there were around one million Puerto
Ricans in New York and in 2000 there were more than 3 million Puerto Ricans
in the US. In your paper explain the complex relationship between dependent
economic development and emigration to the mainland. What social, political,
and economic factors explain this process? Why Puerto Rican workers were
push out from the island while the country was experiencing a rapid process
of industrialization and economic change? For your paper there are plenty
of academic sources since this is a subject well researched. You can start
by reading relevant chapters from The Commuter Nation: Perspectives
on Puerto Rican Migration edited by Carlos Antonio Torres. I also recommend
Carmen Whalen's book on Puerto Rican migration to Philadelphia.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 1.
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Your research question: Did the Commonwealth end the colonial
regime in Puerto Rico? In 1952 Puerto Rico was granted a new political
status called Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) ?in English wrongly translated
as Commonwealth?. According to some American and Puerto Rican politicians
and policy-makers involved in this process of political rearrangement the
ELA changed the colonial regime that the US had imposed over the island
since 1898. Since the 1960s more and more Puerto Ricans (and some Americans
too) have been arguing that Puerto Rico remained a colony of the United
States after 1952. In your paper examine the political process leading
to the establishment of the ELA in Puerto Rico. According to what you read
in your research, answer the following question. After 1952 did Puerto
Rico become an autonomous territory or it remained a colony of the US?
You have to support your analysis with evidence not just your personal
opinion. For this question I will strongly recommend that you read the
recently published book Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony
in the World by the former president of the Puerto Rican Supreme Court,
Jose Trias Monges. He was an active participant in the process of creating
the ELA and now he takes a very critical position regarding this political
formula.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 4.
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Your research question: What are the main social, political and ideological
characteristics of the new pro-statehood movement in Puerto Rico? After
the establishment of the ELA, during the 1950s and 1960s the political
dynamic of the island changed. The pro-statehood forces increased their
electoral support and in 1967 a new pro-statehood party was created (Partido
Nuevo Progresista, PNP). In your paper you must discuss the development
of the pro-statehood movement in Puerto Rico. According to most analysis
the new pro-statehood movement is different to the old Republican Party
(PER) that was founded by Barbosa in 1899. What are the social, political
and ideological characteristics of the new annexationism that emerged in
the early 1960s? What are the main differences between the old PER and
the new PNP? For this paper you need to read the book by Edgardo Melendez,
Puerto
Rico’s Statehood Movement available at the Centro library. In addition
there are other relevant sources in The Puerto Ricans: their History,
Culture and Society (edited by Adalberto Lopez).
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 8.
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Your research question: Is statehood feasible and attainable for Puerto
Rico? There has been a long debate regarding the economic and cultural
effects of statehood over Puerto Rico. To what extend statehood may be
compatible with the maintenance of Puerto Rican culture and language? On
the other hand, can the Puerto Rican economy supports the costs of statehood
after the full integration of the island into the Federal fiscal system?
Is the grating of statehood to Puerto Rico politically feasible? Some critics
claim that statehood is not feasible because of economic, political and
cultural reasons while others argue that the island can cope with the demands
of full political integration and keep its culture and identity. In your
paper discuss those issues. I don’t want to hear personal opinions but
sound arguments based on evidence. You need to ground your ideas on the
materials that you read. For your paper you can use "Island in Limbo The
Case against Puerto Rican Statehood" by Alvin Z. Rubinstein published in
the journal Orbis (available on-line) or some of the essays that appear
in the book Time For Decision, The United States and Puerto Rico
edited by Jorge Heine.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 8.
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Your research question: What are the main issues behind the controversy
regarding language (Spanish versus English) in Puerto Rico? In your paper
you should focus on this historical controversy sine 1898. Why for most
Puerto Ricans the maintenance of the Spanish language has been so important.
Do you think this has been an impediment for the "Americanization" of the
island? Why the American policy-makers sought to replace Spanish with their
language? Why during the 1990s, when the pro-statehood party PNP return
to power, the issue of the Spanish language reemerged as a theme for debate
in the political arena? You can use the new book of Amilcar Barreto, The
Politics of Language in Puerto Rico, and some of the many essays and
articles published on this subject.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 11.
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Your research question: Can you explain the development of the new pro-independence
movement during the 1960s and 1970s? After a decline in the electoral support
for independence since 1952, in the late 1960s and early 1970s a new movement
for independence re-gained some social and political space in the island.
(And in some cities of the US where the Young Lord Party was involved in
social and political struggles). What were the characteristics of this
new movement led by left-wing organizations? How the new discourse for
political independence sought to articulate a pro-socialist project? Why
national independence was conceived as the first step toward a different
type of non-capitalist society? How this political process had an impact
on the strengthening of a stronger national identity among Puerto Ricans?
For this question you can read some of the articles published in the book
Colonial
Dilemma: Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Puerto Rico edited by
Edwin and Edgardo Melendez. In addition you can check out The Puerto
Ricans: their History, Culture and Society (edited by Adalberto Lopez).
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 11.
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Your research question: How racial identities are being conceptualized
in the new interpretations on Puerto Rican culture and society? After the
publication of José Luis González’s essay (The Four Storeyed
Country) the questions of race and blackness in Puerto Rico have become
significant issues that researchers need to face when dealing with the
nature of the island’s culture and historicity. How race, ethnicity and
nationality are articulated in these new cultural interpretations? Why
race is a contested terrain where contending interpretations present different
views on Puerto Rican-ness? For you paper you can use the work of Arlene
Torres (her essay published in Blackness in Latin American and The Caribbean
Vol II, edited by A. Torres and Norman E. Whitten, presents an interesting
perspective. In addition, the Centro journal has a number dedicated to
the question of race and racial identities where you can find some relevant
sources.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 29.
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Your research question: What are the principal issues discussed in the
current debates regarding the overdue decolonization of Puerto Rico? Since
1967 Puerto Rico has had several plebiscites regarding its political status?
During the past decades a new consensus has emerged among Puerto Ricans
on the need to change the current Commonwealth. For some the full
incorporation of the island into the Federal system as the fifty-one state
is the way to achieve real political equality. Others claim that only national
independence is the legitimate route toward decolonization while defenders
of the ELA are asking for more political autonomy and cultural rights without
breaking the existing juridical ties between Puerto Rico and the United
States. In your paper discuss the different alternatives and the possible
paths to decolonization being considered. For your paper you can use Puerto
Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World by Jose Trias Monges.
In addition there are some articles on the subject published in a new book
Islands
at the Crossroads: Politics in the Non-Independent Caribbean edited
by Aarón G. Ramos and Angel Israel Rivera.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for April 29.
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Your research question: Why during the past two decades Puerto Rico
has experienced a significant increase of cultural nationalism? Many researchers
(Morris, Dávila, Duany) mention the increasing sentiments of cultural
nationalism among Puerto Ricans both in the island and in the mainland.
Although most Puerto Ricans have strong sense of their nationality and
cultural identity, only a minority supports political nationalism and the
independence of the island. The question of cultural nationalism has created
a debate among Puerto Rican intellectuals and supporters of different political
alternatives. Discuss in your paper the different perspectives and views
vis-à-vis
the question of Puerto Rico’s cultural nationalism. Regarding this phenomenon
you can read the essay by Juan Flores "The lite Colonial" published in
his new book From Bomba to Hip-Hop (there are two copies at the
Centro Library). In addition there are some essays published in Puerto
Rican Jam: Essays on Culture and Politics edited by F. Negron-Muntaner
and R. Grosfoguel.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for May 2.
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Your research question: What are the characteristics that distinguish
the so-called Nuyorican popular culture? As you know, almost fifty
percent of the Puerto Ricans live in the US. In this context they have
sought to recreate their national culture, their island traditions and
their symbolic representations of Puerto Rican-ness. How the Puerto Ricans
culturally represent themselves in the context of the US? Have they developed
a hybrid cultural identity or have they remained an "uncontaminated" cultural
minority group? Why so many Puerto Ricans living in the island are reluctant
to accept the Nuyorican cultural expressions as part of their national
culture? For this paper you can read some of the essays of Juan Flores
(published in Divided Borders: Essays on Puerto Rican Identity and
From
Bomba to Hip-Hop). He has published extensively on this subject. In
addition, there are other sources in journals and books on Puerto Ricans
in the US.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for May 2.
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According to Jorge Duany (and others) Puerto Ricans have developed a
transnational cultural identity. Research question: How this concept termed
transnational
cultural identity seeks to incorporate both the islanders and the US-born
Puerto Ricans as part of the same nation? To what extend this theoretical
approach is different to traditional interpretations grounded on territory,
language and geography? What are the basic assumptions of this new interpretation
of national and cultural identities? For this paper you can read David
Hernández, & Janet Scheff. "Puerto Rican Geographic Mobility:
The Making of a Deterritorialized Nationality." In
The Latino Review
of Books Vol. 2 (3):2-8 1996-1997.(I have copies of this essay on reserve
for Puerto Rican Culture BLPR 243)
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for May 6.
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According to Ana Celia Zentella there is a significant relationship
between language and cultural identities. Research question: How Puerto
Ricans in the US relate to the Spanish and the English Languages? Why is
highly problematic to reduce Puerto Rican-ness (puertorriqueñidad)
to
the Spanish Language? What kind of bi-cultural and hybrid identities are
constructed by those Puerto Ricans who are bilingual or don't speak fluent
Spanish? For this paper you can check out Zentella's book (Growing-up
Bilingual) and some of her many academic articles on the subject. In
addition, there is the work by Bonnie Urciuoli on language and Puerto Ricans
in the US. Furthermore, on this subject there are several dissertations
available at the Centro library and many other academic sources.
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for May 6.
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According to empirical research in the late 1960s some earlier Puerto
Rican immigrants returned to the island and during the 1970s a process
of circular migration developed between Puerto Rico and the US. The first
important study on this subject was done by José Hernández
(Return
Migration to Puerto Rico, 1967) and since then, many other studies
have appeared. Research question: How this process of circular migration
(that Jorge Duany calls vaivén) has changed the migratory
dynamics of the Puerto Ricans? Why they have developed strong social and
cultural attachments to both places (Island and mainland) simultaneously?
What factors explain this process of circular migration? For this paper
you can Clara Rodriguez, Puerto Ricans and the Circular Migration Thesis
published in Journal of Hispanic Policy Vol. 3: 5-9 (1988-89).
Research Paper and Presentation is scheduled for May 9.