Critical Social Inquiry 0225 - Race & Religion in Latin Amer

In this course, we will consider the complex intersection of race and religion in Latin America. We will begin by investigating the hybrid proto-racial and religious categories through which the Spanish and Portuguese conceived of human difference during the the early modern era. From there, we will trace how these notions were re-conceptualized in the centuries following the encounter between Europeans and the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. As we examine this history-including the emergence of slavery, rebellions and revolutions, mestizaje, immigration, Liberation Theology, and neoliberalism, and other topics-we will pay particular attention to how interwoven racial and religious hierarchies were both constructed and resisted. The final section of the course will take up a series of ethnographies that explore the contemporary entanglements of race and religion in Latin America.

Power, Community and Social Justice Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.