This course meets the curricular goals of the program in Latin American Studies, adding not only the comprehensive study of a particular region and country (the Andes and Peru), from before the Spanish conquest to the present day, but also enabling students (Latin American Studies majors and others) an immersive experience within the region and a deeper understanding of contemporary Latin America in all its complexity.
Moreover, more broadly, this course directly addresses questions of Indigeneity in the Americas, allowing students to reflect on differences and similarities between the construction and negotiation of Indigeneity, and Indigenous struggles, in Latin America and elsewhere in the world, not least Canada and the United States. The history of Indigeneity in the Andes is of course different from that in Canada, but it is not altogether dissimilar, and the differences themselves bring our local situation into sharp relief.
Finally, the course will also enable deeper and broader contacts between UBC researchers and academics in Peru, building on and expanding decades of collaboration in the areas of cultural theory, political history, and democratization.
