Indigenous Empires and Peoples in Latin American History, 1250-1800

3 credits · Undergraduate

(3 hrs Lecture/Seminar) This course examines how Indigenous empires and peoples shaped Latin American history from the rise of the Aztec Empire in thirteenth-century Mesoamerica until the Indigenous rebellions in the Andes region in the late eighteenth century. Topics may include the Spanish invasion of the Indigenous Caribbean, the rise and fall of the Aztec and Inca empires, Maya persistence, Indigenous peoples in colonial Brazil and the Amazon, the Guarani missions, the Church campaigns against 'idolatry', Black-Indigenous relations, and Indigenous women and gender. Attention is also paid to the critical examination of primary sources, including those produced by Indigenous peoples.