Honor, Status, and Power: Women in Colonial Lat America, 1490-1825

Catalog description

This course explores the lived world of colonial Latin America with a particular focus on gender and women. Colonial Latin American society was governed by strict hierarchical ideas about gender, race, and class. White elite men held positions of power over their households and communities. In fact, in the eyes of the laws that governed colonial Latin American societies, women, children, Indigenous people, Black people, and enslaved people were seen as "legal minors." However, power was dialogical, and people who could be considered "legal minors" demonstrated legal savviness, shaping the systems around them to eke out unexpected opportunities and existences. This course will offer a foundational introduction to colonial Latin American law, culture, and society and offer surprising exceptions to the norms.