Social Justice Issues in Latin America

3 Units

This course explores ethnicity, gender, and religion in Latin American politics and society, and then tackles revolution, democracy, and populism. Throughout, the region's history, geography, and culture are taken into account--for example, the European and indigenous legacies in Mexico and Perú, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador; the Asian presence in Perú and Brazil; the African contributions to Cuba and Brazil; female heads of state, such as Nicaragua's Violeta Chamorro, Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Argentina's Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Costa Rica's Laura Chinchilla, and Brazil's Dilma Rousseff. Liberation Theology and the current Pope's worries about the declining number of Catholics in the region are also addressed. Today's multiparty democracy in Mexico, Hugo Chávez's legacy in Venezuela, and Cuba's international humanitarian aid and ideological aims would not be possible without revolution(s) and populism. They are inevitably intertwined with ethnicity, gender, and religion. This course aims to encourage a better understanding of Latin America and its relation to the rest of the world. Offered as ETHS 369 , POSC 369 and POSC 469 . Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.