History | Race and Racism in Latin American History
F300 | 16884 | Gould

Above class for undergraduates and Education MA's only
A portion of the above class reserved for majors
Above class meets with LTAM-L426

This course will examine the significant, if understudied, role of
racial ideologies and practices in modern Latin American social and
political history. First, we will discuss specific case studies in
which Indian-Ladino (non-Indian) relations played a dominant role,
in particular, in Bolivia, El Salvador and Guatemala.  We will also
examine the discourse and historical practice of mestizaje (a
nationalist ideology of race mixture) in Nicaragua and Mexico,
probing their role in the construction of hegemony in Latin America.
Then, we will attempt to understand both how racism and racialized
ideologies of nationalism function in societies in which African-
descended peoples form a major component: Brazil, Cuba, the
Dominican Republic and Haiti. Here, we will also familiarize
ourselves with the theoretical advances in critical race theory. We
will also focus on several racially motivated massacres: Cuba,
(1912), El Salvador (1932), and the Dominican Republic (1937).
Readings and discussions will be supplemented by documentary films.