Indigeneity in Latin America
This module combines anthropological, historical, archaeological, and sociological perspectives to explore major concepts and practices of indigeneity in Latin America. Taking us from the colonial period to contemporary issues, the module will examine questions of mestizaje, race, resistance, migration, dispossession, identity re-creation, cultural heritage, shamanism, alterity and childhood. Emphasis will be placed, when possible, on Indigenous voices and readings from a number of countries and regions across urban and rural Latin America.
Teaching will take the form of open-discussion seminars at which students are asked to give short presentations. Required texts and materials are listed for each seminar. Students will be expected to have read/watched all of them for each seminar, and to actively discuss them in class after the short presentations.
All readings and materials will be uploaded to Moodle to help students familiarise themselves with the subject prior to the beginning of the module. Additional material will be made available as PDFs to download from Moodle. Students may use the key issues of each seminar session to guide their short presentations, as well as their choice of topic for one or two essays.
A good reading knowledge of Spanish is required (usually degree-level), as well as a basic level of Portuguese. Students with a lower level of Spanish and Portuguese have successfully taken this module in the past, and translations will be made available, when possible, to facilitate that.