HIST 3603: Introduction to Latin America: Utopia to Autocracy

Course Description

What we call Latin America today, is a vast geographical region just as diverse as its people, its languages and its cultures. So, what does Latin America really mean? This course seeks to engage students in the interpretation of primary texts, cultural and historical artifacts (letters, chronicles, essays, news reports and films) that provides a glimpse into 500 years of a continent in the making. This course will address the fact that this identity construction comes from the stands of authority grounded in notions of race, religion, class and gender. But also, these discourses from power are in a constant struggle with the marginalized people and their faint voices to ultimately unveil a multifaceted perception of a cohesive continent. This course will explore 300 years of its Colonial period, the fracture of the territories into independent nations, and a tumultuous 20th century that led to autocratic discourses of the 21st century. (OC).