Seats still available in ANTH Regional Course!

ANTH-E 321 Peoples of Mexico                                      

T TH, 9:30-10:45, SB 150

Anya Peterson Royce

 

COLL (CASE) S&H Breadth of Inquiry credit

COLL (CASE) Global Civilization & Culture credit

No prerequisites

 

Mexico: After Canada, Mexico is the United States’ most important

trading partner in terms of exports and imports; After Tokyo, Mexico

City is the biggest city in the world with more than 21 million

people; Mexico, with 112 plus million people, ranks #eleven in the

most populated countries in the world.  Before the Spanish came to the

New World, Mexico had three of the world’s greatest civilizations--the

Maya, the Aztec, and the Zapotec, a population of about 25 million

living in cities and rural areas, with trade networks that connected

the entire country, arts, astronomy and mathematics, a complex

calendrical system, religions and a priesthood, sophisticated laws,

courts and judges. Mexico’s indigenous population today is 11% of the

total and represents some 60 different groups.

 

Behind these facts, lie the stories of Mexico’s people--who they are,

what they do, what their dreams are. We will learn about the lives of

Mexicans living in the second largest city in the world. We will

follow the story of the Zapatistas as they seek justice and land and

we will look at similar movements of resistance and strategies for

political reform. We will examine how the Day of the Dead is celebrated

here in southern Indiana.

 

The old stories of indigenous belief, art, and survival will teach us about Mexico’s indigenous

peoples. Individual stories of emigrating to El Norte will help us understand better the

realities of immigration and its effect on people of both countries.

Stories of ingenuity and imagination, of change and continuity, of

family and community, of becoming an active partner in globalization

while recognizing ancient roots--these are the paradoxes of

contemporary Mexico.

 

Course requirements will include:

·         three in-class examinations (multiple choice and short answers, non-cumulative)

·         a written (3-5 pages) field project on the Day of the Dead

·         attendance and class participation

 

Readings will be selected from the following and available on Oncourse  :

·         The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics (The Latin America Readers).  Gilbert M. Joseph (Editor), Timothy J. Henderson (Editor)

·         Sons of the Shaking Earth: The People of Mexico and Guatemala--Their Land, History, and Culture.  Eric Wolf.

·         Zapatistas: Rebellion from the Grassroots to the Global, Alex Khasnabish

·         Becoming an Ancestor: The Isthmus Zapotec Way of Death. 2011.  Anya Peterson Royce

·         Additional short readings from guest lecturers