LAS 245 - Race and Ethnicity in Latin America

Race and ethnicity are among the principal concepts through which difference is explained and enacted throughout Latin America. Though they have no grounding in biological sciences, these socially constructed realities play an outsized role in how we envision national, regional, and temporal spaces. In Latin America these discourses often frame race in terms of blending (harmoniously or not) of African, Indigenous, and European peoples, and the construction of a new racial identity. This course will explore constructions of race and ethnicity in Latin America through a comparative approach, juxtaposing distinct constructions from particular contexts within Latin America to each other and examining their relationship to global discourses about race, ethnicity, and difference.

Satisfies Latin American Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.