Latin American Culture

Catalog description

Students will explore the history of Latin America from its civilizations at the time of European contact to the present. We will examine how Indigenous Latin American cultures influenced and adapted to European cultures as well as the role of African cultures in Latin America. The impact of European conquests and colonization on these groups will be traced through to modern times in order to examine their influence on contemporary Latin American society from North to South America. Political, economic and social factors will be considered alongside literature, theater, visual art, and music. Ultimately, this course will examine how music, art, movies, and literature are and have been instrumental to Latin American understandings of self and society. Classroom instruction takes place in English, though students may choose to read some texts in English or Spanish.