Latin America: course outline

Sharon Academy / Autumn 1999

 

Introduction: Central and South America

I. Brutal Demise: the Fall of the Native American Empires

A. Mexico: the Aztecs

1. Conquistadores

2. Sacrifice and Splendor: the Aztec World

3. Strange Days: Cortes and Moctezuma

B. Andes: the Incas

1. Tupac, Atahualpa, and the Inca Empire

2. Pizzaro: the Rewards of Savagery

II. The Struggle for a Better World

A. the Jesuit Missions and the Encomiendas

B. Breaking the Colonial Yoke

1. Simón Bolívar

2. the Mexican Revolution

C. Marx in the Jungle, Bullets in the Night

1. Ché, Castro, and Cuba Libré

2. Nicaragua: Sandinistas, Contras, and the C.I.A.

III. Living with the Gringos

A. Overview of U.S.- Latin American Relations

B. Powder Gold: Columbia, Cocaine, and the Dirty War

C. Dreaming of El Norte: Issues in Latin American Emmigration

1. Rich Man, Poor Man: Tales of Economic Disparity

2. What is a Refugee?

3. Rio Grande: the Front Lines

C. Latino! Latina! Surviving in the Anglo World