Survey of Latin American and Latino History

Catalog description

This course provides an introduction to Latin American and U.S. Latino history. The course surveys how conquest, conversion, colonialism, nationalism, neocolonialism, and immigration affected Iberian cultures in the Americas and Europe from 1300 to 2000. Iberian colonialism initiated processes of Catholic conversion, labor exploitation, and cultural syncretism that continued into the 19th century, complicated by the development of U.S. and European informal empire in Latin America. Liberal oligarchies oversaw uneven development that led to social and political revolutions and the development of feminism and modern homosexuality. U.S. intervention in the political, social, and economic affairs of Latin America destabilized the region, prompted dictatorships and "dirty wars," and initiated migratory currents that expanded Latino populations in the U.S. The Mexican American and Puerto Rican experiences are surveyed. The course examines how hierarchies grounded in notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality have impacted the lives of people throughout the Americas. Offered Alternate Years.