Subject Area: History
This course can also be studied in the following specialisations: Americas Studies; Development Studies; Hispanic Studies

This is a core course in the Americas Studies Minor and an elective course in the History Major. It also serves as a fundamental building block for those who wish to do an honours degree in Spanish and Latin American history, or in the comparative history of empires and colonial societies. An understanding of the colonial heritage is crucial for any understanding of contemporary Latin America. This course analyses the ways in which Spanish and Portuguese religion, cultures and peoples meshed with indigenous American cultures (such as the Aztec, Maya, and Inca) and free and slave African-Americans within a context of colonial subjugation, over more than three centuries. It will emphasize close analysis of primary sources and introduce students to interdisciplinary techniques of in historical research.