HIST 262-01, Contemporary Latin America, Spring 2010

Abstract

This introduction to Latin American history exposes you to broad social, cultural, religious, and economic currents in the modern period, roughly covering independence from Spain (1810-1824) to today. The course challenges you to address a number of fundamental questions: How do newly independent nations form a unique identity after three centuries of Spanish colonialism? Who speaks for the nation – the majority indigenous groups (in Peru and Mexico, for example), women and children, or “white” men of European descent? Why has violence, poverty, and extreme inequality seemingly characterized much of the history of Latin America? And what role has Europe and the United States played in perpetuating a state of “backwardness” and underdevelopment – at least relative to the Western “model.” To address these questions we will examine a wide variety of historical texts, fictional accounts, and films. Assignments challenge you to form sophisticated historical arguments using primary and secondary sources.