Black Central America

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This seminar will examine the history of settler colonialism and the interwoven politics of race, gender, culture, and nation in Central America. Focusing on the social, cultural, and political mobilization of Afro-Central Americans, in particular, we will discuss the historical process by which these communities were formed during the colonial era, the emergence of anti-Black mestizx nationalism in the post-independence period, and historical struggles for Black autonomy and liberation in the contemporary moment. Students will learn how Black populations in the region have historically struggled against racial, gender, and economic oppression and the racialized and gendered limits of Central American citizenship. By engaging historical and ethnographic scholarship on Black populations in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama, as well as cultural productions by and about Afro-Central Americans, the course will provide students with a foundation for understanding larger racial formation patterns in the isthmus.