ASRC 2950 - The African Diaspora in Contemporary Latin America

(crosslisted) LATA 2950
(GB) (CA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

D. Terrazas Williams.

The course explores the many contributions of the African Diaspora in contemporary Latin America. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries offered new opportunities and equally daunting challenges for Latin America. In many countries, African-descended people fought in the wars of Independence but found that they rarely reaped the benefits that newly established freedom from a European metropole offered to others. And yet, attempts at marginalization and disenfranchisement could not stifle the impact of the African Diaspora in Latin America. From music and film to social movements and religious expression, we examine how African-descended people made long-lasting and significant changes to the social, cultural, political, and economic landscapes of Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and the Andean region.