Table of Contents
Class 2
Topic
- Indigenous cultures in Latin America
- Amerindian voices. Popol Vuh and náhuatl poetry
Homework to do before class
- Read: Selection from the Popol Vuh
- Complete: Reading guide and discussion prompts
Class materials
- Mayan civilization (OER, Khan Academy)
- Ancient Latin American objects in the archive (exhibition, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga)
Class 3
Topic
- Discourses about the Conquest and Chronicles of the “New World”
- Travel diaries
Homework to do before class
- Read:
- Christopher Columbus, “Letter to Luis De Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery“
- Zotigh, Dennis and Renee Gokey, “Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking American History,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 7, 2018.
- Complete: Reading guide and discussion prompts
Class materials
- Film: 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Ridley Scott, 1992)
- Supplementary reading: The True History of the Conquest of New Spain excerpt – Bernal Díaz del Castillo
- Supplementary reading: Clendinnen, Inga. “‘Fierce and Unnatural Cruelty:’ Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico,” Representations 33 (Winter 1991): 65-100.
Class 4
Topic
- Protests and turmoil in the Americas: Las Casas & the Valladolid Debate
Homework to do before class
- Read:
- Antonio de Montesinos, “Sermon Delivered in 1511”
- Bartolomé de las Casas, selection from The Destruction of the Indies
- Complete: Reading guide and discussion prompts
- Watch: film Aguirre, Wrath of God (W. Herzog, 1972) and prepare two discussion questions from the list
Class materials
- TBD
Class 5
Topic
- The Mestizo Population and the Construction of Race: El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
Homework to do before class
- Read:
- Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries (read only chapters IX & X)
- Augusto Monterroso, “The Eclipse”
- Complete: Reading guide and discussion prompts
Class materials
- Casta Paintings and Social Order in 18th-Century New Spain (Mexico):
- TBD
Class 6
Topic
- First African Slaves in the Americas
Homework to do before class
- Visit the First Blacks in the Americas website (Dominican Studies Institute, CUNY) and read:
- Complete: Reading guide and discussion prompts
Class materials
- Digitized versions of primary sources from the First Blacks in the Americas (please click on the translation and commentary tabs):
- Manuscript 026 (Theme: Around 1530 in Santo Domingo, a female Black slave was burned at the stake accused of poisoning her female mistress)
- Manuscript 062 (Theme: In 1553, residents of Santo Domingo still remembered how Black maroon leader Sebastián Lemba’s head was exhibited in the city’s public square)
Class 7
Topic
- Modern visions of the Conquest (part 1)
Homework to do before class
- Watch film También la lluvia (Even the Rain; dir. Icíar Bollaín, 2010) and prepare two discussion prompts from the list
Class materials
- TBD
Class 8
Topic
- Modern visions of the Conquest (part 2)
Homework to do before class
- Read:
- Julio Cortázar, “The Night Face Up”
- José María Arguedas, “The Pongo’s Dream“
- Elena Garro, “It’s the Fault of the Tlaxcaltecas”
- Complete: Reading guide and discussion prompts
Class materials
- TBD