Women and Gender in Latin America and th

This course examines women’s experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean from colonial times to current days. We will investigate debates on class, race, religion and ethnicity while looking at major historical events. We will rely on several primary and secondary sources such as archival documents, oral histories, arts and visual resources that will help us understand how gender shaped the political, social, and economic structures of Latin America and the Caribbean.

We will also learn about important women, such as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Chica da Silva, examine the role of women warriors and spies in the Wars of Independence and the Haitian Revolution, and discuss how multiple gender-based issues are deeply tied to the history of Latin America and the Caribbean, such as indigenous gender systems, Catholicism and education, female suffrage, feminism and populism, conservatism, the ideology of separate spheres, the politicization of motherhood, among others.