ENROLL

Pedro Quijada

Modern Latin American history is marked by both violent divisions and creative cooperation, nationalist proclamations and imperialist incursions, and democratic pursuits and dictatorial repression. This course offers a survey of this complex regional history from independence movements at the beginning of the nineteenth century through globalization in the twenty-first century. It addresses methodological issues that include the significance of multiple historical perspectives and the interpretation of sources. It considers the relationship between individuals and larger social contexts with an emphasis on race, ethnicity, class, citizenship status, and gender. It places Latin American culture and politics in regional and global contexts. 

Pedro Quijada

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, civil war and political violence swept the Central American isthmus. The impact of these conflicts is still felt in the region as well as in the United States. This course examines the regional as well as the international factors that contributed to the rise of these armed conflicts. Through the examination of print and audio-visual primary sources as well as scholarship students will learn about the origins, development, and legacies of these revolutions. We will examine the colonial legacies, capitalist development, ethnic and racial conflict, foreign intervention, civil wars, and, finally, the consequential waves of migration to the U.S. and to other parts of the world.