Race, Indigeneity, and Cultural Heritage in Latin America

This course introduces students to the anthropological study of social difference and inequality in contemporary Latin America. It focuses on the intersections of race, Indigeneity, and cultural heritage. Since European contact, race has been a key category for governing heterogenous populations across the region. In recent decades, institutions have established cultural heritage formation - particularly the cultural heritages of Black and Indigenous peoples - as central to the development of the modern nation-state. At the same time, Black and Indigenous peoples have mobilized around civil and human rights to decolonize racial hierarchies and transform colonial structures of power. Students will first engage current approaches to race, Indigeneity, and cultural heritage. Students will then explore how racial and Indigenous formations converge with the following cultural heritage forms: museums, tourism, archaeological sites, and language.