Human Rights — Final Paper Guidelines
This whole semester we have been learning about Human Rights in 20th Century Latin America, especially how governments have violated human rights and the role the U.S. played in the region as it sought to impose its influence on the region. For this final paper I want you to focus on cultural production (art, literature, film, music, theatre) that challenged the Human Rights violations of a repressive government in 20th century Latin America. This is a research paper, so you are free to draw from both secondary and primary sources. You can draw from class readings, lectures, and films, academic articles, and books, and depending on the cultural production you are focusing on, this may include films, songs, art, plays, novels, poems.
Although the focus of this paper is the cultural production of pro-human rights and anti-dictatorship movements and artists, I do want you to provide a context for the subject matter. This context can be 250-300 words long. The context should cover when the human rights violations began, what type they were, who was violating the human rights, and what role did the cold war (U.S. and USSR) play in the conflict. If possible, also highlight the immediate context, the year the cultural production was made.
The rest of the paper should be dedicated to explaining what type of cultural artifacts were created, why this type of artifact seemed relevant, who created the cultural artifacts, and how it resonated within that country and abroad.
Your paper should have an introduction and a conclusion. Your argument will revolve around why this cultural production was used in that specific context and to what extent it was successful in challenging human rights violators and encouraging others to stand up and defend human rights.
Paper Requirements
- 1,250 – 1,750 words long (not counting the bibliography/reference section.)
- Cite your sources within the paper using either Chicago Style or MLA Format, the same for the bibliography/reference section.
- Your paper should have at least 5 paragraphs.
- All material you referenced and used to understand the subject matter and to write your paper should appear in your reference/bibliography section.