Course Description
Taught in Spanish, presents an historical and cultural overview of Hispanic Latin America from its pre-Columbian origins to the present through works of literature, art, music, and videos. Taught in Spanish. (Prereq: SPAN 202: Intermediate Spanish II and SPAN 213)
Course Summary
In this course under the instruction of Dr. Christine Fernandez we learned about the development of Latin America after colonization. We held interesting class debates about whether or not colonization was good as well as analyzed literature that expressed the tragic end of the Aztec empire. Also of equal importance we learned about Christopher Columbus's arrival to the Americas in 1492 and in the 16th century Fray Bartolome de las Casas advocated for the first time in writing that natives should be treated equally and be provided with basic human rights. Many historical developments were reviewed during the course and we were expected to be familiar with all reviewed content. Returning to the beginning of the course I recall learning about the the geology and landscape of Latin America and being able to identify which locations that held specific topography, geographic characteristics and resources. Meanwhile it was natural that we would be tested on being able to name each country pertaining to Latin America. Afterwards we moved on with topics regarding colonization of the Aztec and Incan empire while also learning about the origins of the first native people known as the Olmec. Later on we moved on to topics of revolution and wars for independence from Spain. Such action was influenced by the French revolution and by other factors that cause mestizos to desire change and independence. We also learned about dictatorships, wars, significant historical figures and alliances between countries as they struggled to create borders amongst each other. A significant historical figure to mention is Simon Bolivar whom liberated many of these countries and attempted to unite the American republics. Unfortunately this failed and countries continued to segregate themselves. Another topic of significance is the U.S involvement in Latin American wars and dictatorships to preserve their hold over natural resources and exploitation.
MLO's Satisfied
MLO 1-3
Work Samples
N/A