Wonders, clerics, and natives: The Construction of Mesoamerican Christianities. A political…

Catalog description

Drawing upon colonial and indigenous sources, this discussion-based seminar course considers the political implications of the Christianization of Mesoamerica, questioning: What version of Christianity spread among indigenous peoples? Who decided it? What were the effects of this process? How did changes in the pastoral methods and devotional culture during the Spanish domination reflect opposing visions of colonial society? The course explores how these imported religious expressions and their local variations served the different social groups that formed New Spain’s colonial society to negotiate their place in a fluctuating social order and legitimize their struggle for political, economic, and symbolic power. Although mainly focused on Indigenous agency and native conceptions of Christian religion, the course also addresses the agency of Afro-descendants, the emergence of afro-catholic identities, and the intersection between religious identities, race, and gender in daily life and public imagination.P