LALS 227 - Colonial Latin America

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as HISP 227) Studies in Latin American literary and cultural production from the European invasion to the crisis of the colonial system.

Topic for 2020/21a: Natural and Moral History of the Spanish Empire. This course explores the interrelated development of scientific observation, geographic mapping, writerly expression, artistic rendering, moral legitimization, and in the exploration and colonization of Spain’s transatlantic and transpacific empire. Readings and class discussion examine the epistemological and political challenges early modern Spanish and Latin American scientists, historians, and writers encountered in describing, classifying, understanding and assigning value to what was for them “new” scientific phenomena and civilizations. Course texts address such figures as Gonzálo Fernández de Oviedo, José de Acosta, El Inca Garcilaso, José Celestino Mutis, Alexander Von Humboldt, and Alejandro Malaspina, among others. Michael Aronna.

Prerequisite(s): One course above HISP 206.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS