HILA 2001

This class offers a strong overview of pre-independence Latin American history: background on the Aztec/Inca/Maya, brief history of Iberia before 1492, a discussion of the "conquest" and conquistadores, some time on colonial Spanish society and how indigenous peoples interacted with the Spanish, a history of the slave trade, and finally it wraps up with Latin American independence from Spain/Portugal. Professor Klubock's lecture style can be polarizing, but I really enjoy it: he tends to go in depth on a few particular topics from the lecture slides. I recommend going to office hours, especially before exams, since Klubock knows his stuff and wants to see everyone in the class succeed.

The readings for the class aren't bad and offer some really interesting historical perspectives. My two favorites were Religion and Empire, which essentially explains the fall of the Aztec and Inca as a product of internal political strife resulting from various policy choices, and Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, which offers an Afro-centric history of the Atlantic world & slave trade. The books introduce some controversial ideas (which Klubock acknowledges) but are great to critically engage with.

I heard some bad things about one of the other discussion sections, but my section was excellent. Met some chill people & we always had a solid discussion going. Hector did a good job. And by the way, this class is really easy. Two exams and a final are the ONLY assignments you actually have to do all semester and they're really easy. You choose 5 keywords (10 for the final) from a list of 15 or so and write about their historical significance. The keywords always align with the focuses of the class. Would strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in Latin American history at all.

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