The Purpose:  To provide you with the opportunity for some focused research on one Latin American country and to introduce our study of this region within a workshop format.

The Procedure:  We will divide up the class with a small groups of you assigned to one of the nations listed above.  Use the links provided above as possible starting places for your investigation but then push beyond these with your own independent on-line research.  Do the following:

1)  Provide a very basic sketch of the history of your nation since 1945.  What are the most important events and themes that can help you to make some sense of the path traveled by the citizens of this country since World War II?

2)  Identify the most important contemporary issues confronting the nation today.  Try to place these within an historical context.

3)  Highlight at least two themes of interest that you stumble upon during your research.  Find a minimum of three news stories and/or web resources about each of these themes.  Provide background detail and description about each theme; assess its significance and place it in historical context; and offer your own analysis and commentary about what you find most interesting about each topic.