LAS380.36 History of Colonial Latin America

Taught in Spanish at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and may not be offered every semester. Students will analyze and interpret the social, economic, political and cultural processes that were key in the historical configuration of Latin America during the colonial period in the preferential viceregal regions Mexico and Peru) during the period from the end of the 16th century until the beginning of the 19th century. The course will pay special attention to the processes of constructing colonial societies, from rural to urban, and will review:

  • Material conditions (agriculture, mining, and trade) and economic and demographic dynamics
  • Spanish, indigenous, and African actors
  • Social and interethnic relations
  • Biological and cultural interbreeding
  • Forms of life
  • The introduction of Catholicism, its relationship to indigenous cults, and the forms and practices that religiousness acquired
  • The experiences of spatial and social mobility
  • The administrative order and the impact of the Bourbon reforms during the eighteenth century.

Attention will also be given to the forms and practices of power, at both the imperial and viceregal levels. Along with acquainting students with the historical development of colonial Latin America, the course seeks to understand the various historiographic approaches to the period, to apply current conceptual tools to the study of the colonial history of the continent, and to analyze the sources of the era. (PUC #IHI0222)

May also be registered as HST 380.36.

(PUC #IHI0222)

Department: Latino-Latin American Studies

Location: Santiago

Credits: 3