Intro to Latin American Studies

Catalog description

This course is designed to introduce students to some of the most important problems and debates about Latin American history, society and culture. Latin America is a complex region full of contrasts. Its population is both racially and culturally heterogeneous. Its many countries share some common cultural roots and political origins, but also have distinct histories. National histories and individual societies did not always follow parallel paths. We will consider the general as well as the specific paths, and study the successes, failures, contrasts and future challenges facing the region. The structure of this course is primarily chronological but also thematic. We will start with the Conquest and its legacies and we will end with the problems that we experience today in big cities in Latin America. We will pay particular attention to the enduring legacies and challenges of some specific historical issues, such as slavery and the particular entrance of Latin America into global capitalism. The course favors a multi-disciplinary approach, and therefore we will use a different array of materials including films, letters, photographs and essays. We will emphasize first hand accounts of the topics we discuss.