Cuaderno Latinoamericano - The Latin American Notebook

This blog is an effort to explore and comment upon that world region known as Latin America. The contributors to this blog are students at Tulane University who are interested in Latin American Studies through a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts. The first group of student bloggers came from my "Introduction to Latin American Studies" course and my "Latin American International Relations" course in the Spring of 2005. Students in nearly all of my courses since then have participated in the exercise.

The goal of this blog, which is also an experiment in educational pedagogy, is threefold: (1) to develop an intellectual community of student scholars on the region of Latin America; (2) to foster communication and conversation among students who are studying the same region and whose intellectual paths may never otherwise cross; (3) and to serve as a provocative and public clearinghouse of information and opinion on all things Latin American.

It is my hope, as the moderator of this blog and as the instructor of the relevant, participating courses, that this experiment will result in a lasting and continued conversation about Latin America -- a conversation that will involve not only current and future students at Tulane interested in Latin American Studies, but anyone who has a passion for and an interest in Latin America. It is also my hope that students will continue to contribute to this blog long after their obligations to it as students in my courses end.

I invite anyone interested in Latin American Studies to also join in the discussion by adding your comments in the comments section at the end of each individual posting. I hope you will visit the site often.