Latin America in the 1960s: A Digital History Course
Latin America was at the center of the Cold War in the 1960s. U.S. intervention and military repression contrasted with Marxist and other utopian visions for peace and social justice. This seminar will explore these tensions by examining critical political, economic, and cultural watersheds of the era. We will study the influence of personalities such as Franz Fanon, Che Guevara, Elena Poniatowska and movements that challenged the status quo of the post World War II era. We will explore the tensions between nationalism and transnationalism, as well as the dissonance between class and racial utopian ideals and migration and exile. The class will work on digital projects and exercises that allow us to recreate the past and analyze specific case studies. We will immerse ourselves in the new revolutionary and the countercultural aesthetics in art, film, and music in movements such as tropicália, black consciousness, and liberation theology. We will also uncover the links with the historical dynamics in the United States and Europe. 3 hrs. sem.