OSHER 504 - Don't Cry for Me, Argentina-- Argentine Democracy and Populism

This class describes the problems and successes of recent Argentine democracy, with some attention given to three important political leaders: Evita and Isabelita Peron , the second and third wives of populist leader and President Juan Domingo Peron (1946-55, 1973-75), and the current Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (2006-present). All of these women are associated with the Peronist Party, still dominant in Argentina today. The class will be based on active student discussion of life in one of Latin America's most important countries and particularly in the capital of Buenos Aires, probably the most sophisticated city in the region.