Histories of the Caribbean

(4 Credits)

This course is an introductory survey of Caribbean colonial and postcolonial histories and cultures. It emphasizes the West Indies (English-speaking Caribbean), focusing on the relationship between the processes of development and the strategies of exploitation that have tied far-flung continents together, and which make the region what it is today. This course also explores ideas about race, class, and gender in the Caribbean, which are often connected to development and exploitation, justifying or challenging them. The books and articles we will be reading will include anthropology, history, and fiction.