About

LAST100, “Introduction to Latin American Studies” provides an overview of the culture and society of Latin America from ancient to contemporary times, and from Argentina to Mexico. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which the region is constructed and represented, and to the cultural politics of race, gender, and class.

For UBC students in 2022, please note that this website is NOT used by the current instructor. You should feel free to click around here to view videos and supplementary materials, but we will not use this website for the 2022 Winter Term 1 course.

In the meantime, however, we hope that this website will be of use and interest to anybody interested in learning about Latin America and Latin American Studies.

For any queries, feel free to contact Jon Beasley-Murray jon.beasley-murray@ubc.ca.

Readings

Readings are available online (from this website). Many of them are taken from Alec Dawson, Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources (2nd Edition. London: Routledge, 2014). This textbook also has a companion website.

Further Study and Reading

You are strongly advised to keep up to date with news from Latin America. You are also encouraged to read in your own time on Latin American history and culture. The following are overviews that also indicate further directions for study:

  • Galeano, Eduardo. Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. Trans. Cedric Belfrege. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974.
  • Green, Duncan. Faces of Latin America. London: Latin America Bureau, 1991.
  • Munck, Ronaldo. Contemporary Latin America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
  • Swanson, Philip, ed. The Companion to Latin American Studies. London: Arnold, 2003.
  • Winn, Peter. Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.