Imagining Latin American

Imagining Latin American is a Social Science tutorial taught by Carollee Bengelsdorf.

Course Description
This course will center upon Latin America in the western imaginary, in both historical and contemporary contexts. Its premise is that western, and particularly U.S "knowledge" about Latin America has shaped, disastrously, the cultural context within which policy towards the continent's peoples has been made, thereby supporting the currently popular notion that major conflicts in the international arena represent clashes between "us: and "fundamentally different" civilizations. Our materials of study will include literary texts, travel literature, diaries and popular culture. We will examine the "discovery" (Columbus, Cortez and las Casas), the 19th century reopening of Latin America to the west (Humboldt) and, in the 20th and 21st centuries, .revolution (Mexico and Cuba), tourism (Cuba) and immigration, both legal and illegal (Mexico).

Learning Goals

 * Multi-Cultural
 * Presenting
 * Reading
 * Writing