Whose “New World”?: Early Latin America after Eurocentrism

Colonialism in the so-called New World may have begun with Columbus in 1492, but its impact continues to be felt across the lands that some Indigenous groups call Abya Yala today. In this course we will study how Indigenous and Black communities and other human actors in the region spearheaded, since the late fifteenth century, the first global wave of decolonization in response to the catastrophic transformations brought about by early modern Spanish imperialism. We will consider oral and written testimonies, visual art, material artifacts, and cultural performances from pre-Hispanic times to the long eighteenth century. Our goal will be to re-imagine an early Latin American world beyond/outside/after Eurocentrism. (SPAN 0220 or by placement) 3 hrs. lect./disc.