Ecuadorian Indigenous Culture

This three-week course (meeting two hours per day during the first three weeks of the 6-week session) will involve a comparative analysis between the historical periods and the present of the indigenous people of Spanish America. While it is true that there have been significant achievements in several fields of indigenous life, at the same time there are still enormous barriers to be overcome, such as racism, xenophobia, and the differentiation that translates into inequality. We will focus on the Ecuadorian indigenous movement, and the indigenous women’s movement as well, in order to analyze the principal advances in political, cultural, and educational arenas. However, we will also assess their stagnations, and their future challenges. We will analyze most specifically the contributions of Otavalo people, to analyze their achievements and failures to find themselves within the historical straight line, having achieved major victories but also still experiencing significant problems in cultural and human issues. A final research paper will be required, and will be submitted during the fourth week of the six-week session. (1 unit)

Required text: Material in coursepack form to be purchased at Middlebury.