Leopoldo Rodríguez, associate professor of International Studies at Portland State University will be teaching two courses during the Fall of 2014 which examine current issues of polítical economics and international migration as they relate to Spain: Spain, the European Unión and Crisis & The Migratory Flows of Spain.
Leopoldo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and lived in Mexico City through high school. He earned a BA in Economics, M. in Public Affairs and PhD in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. His PhD dissertation was on the Mexican peso crisis of 1994-95. He has taught at Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus (1998-2001) and has been teaching at Portland State University since 2001. He coordinates the International Development Studies track of the International Studies Program at PSU and has led study abroad programs in Rosario, Argentina and San Pedro de Colalao, Argentina and in Oviedo in 2014. His research interests include the political economy of international development, international migration and political ecology.
Leopoldo describes himself as a gregarious person who enjoys teaching and has high expectations from his students. He adds; “My background in economics gives my courses a marked orientation; something that at times represents an unexpected challenge to students. I am passionate about what I teach and hope to get students fired up about the things that excite me. He w ill be teaching two courses in Oviedo during the Fall Semester of 2014:
Spain, the European Union, and Crisis
For most of the last two decades Spain flourished into one of the largest economies in the European Union. However, the global financial crisis of 2008 caused severe strains with disastrous consequences. We will explore the role of economic and political reforms, in particular those associated with Spain’s integration to the European Union, in search for an explanation to the boom of the Spanish economy, as well as its unforeseen implosion. We will study the liberalization of trade and economic activity associated with entry to the European Economic Community in 1986, followed by further reforms with the establishment of the European Union. Changes in trade patterns and capital flows, as well as the adoption of the Euro as the national currency, play a central role in this story. We conclude the course with an analysis of the causes and onset of the current crisis, and evaluate the measures that are being taken by Spain under the tutelage of the EU. Special attention will be given to the social impact of economic reforms and crisis.
The Migratory Flows of Spain
The territory we now know as Spain has seen large flows of people. From the Visigoth invasion of the 5th century, and the Moorish conquest between the 8th and the 15th century, to the more recent arrival of North Africans, Sub-Saharan Africans and South Americans, the ethnic, cultural and political make up of Spain has been strongly influenced by the arrival and settlement of people beyond its borders. Perhaps less known, at times Spain has also been the source of massive emigration, initially to the American continent during the colonial period, but more recently through the exodus of Civil War refugees to Latin American countries,or providing low cost labor for industrial growth in Western Europe during the 1950s and 1960s. This course sets out to explore the most salient migratory flows, their underlying causes and cultural and political relevance, with emphasis placed on the last century.
During the Fall term students will enjoy two overnight excursions of general interest as well as in relation to the visiting professors’s: Bilbao and San Sebastian and Santiago de Compostela.