Marc Becker, Professor
mbecker@ilstu.edu

Class Schedule

On this page you will find updates to the class schedule as well as links to lecture outlines, lists of terms from the textbook, assignment instructions, study guides, and lists of other relevant web pages and Internet resources. For your convenience, you will also be able to access the current lecture outline and current assignment instructions directly from the main page of this site. Many of these items will be placed here without graphics or special formating so that you can more easily print them out if you wish and use them for study guides.

Important note on the lecture outlines: Normally I plan to post the lecture outlines previous to class so that you can print them out and bring them to class if you wish. Everything I have on the overheads (sans the maps and graphics) will be in these outlines. The lecture outlines included here in no way represent a substitute for attending class. They are designed merely to indicate the major themes and give the spellings of difficult words of items we discuss in class. For the exams and other written assignments, you will need to know the broader historical significance of the items listed in the outlines. Much of this information will be presented only in the lecture.

Week 1: Indians and Conquest

Monday, July 13: Introduction and Geography

Tuesday, July 14: Amerindian Societies

Read:

Keen, "Introduction" (xiii-xvi), ch. 1 ("Ancient America")
Galeano, "Introduction"
Jan Knippers Black, "Introduction: The Evolution of Latin American Studies," Latin America, Its Problems and Its Promise: A Multidisciplinary Introduction, 3rd ed (Boulder, Colo: Westview Press, 1998), 1-17 (Milner Reserve)
"The Writing of a Historical Essay or Research Paper" (Internet)

Assignment: Map quiz

Wednesday, July 15: Finish Ancient America

Read:

Keen, ch. 2 ("Hispanic Background")
Galeano, ch. 1 ("Lust for Gold, Lust for Silver")

Assignment: quiz

Video: The Burried Mirror: Conflict of the Gods

Thursday, July 16: European Exploration and Conquest

Read:

Keen, ch. 3 ("Conquest of America")
"Letter from Lope de Aguirre, to King Philip of Spain, 1561" (Internet)

Assignment: quiz

Video: Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Week 2: Colonial Structures

Monday, July 20: Class Structures and Slavery

Read:

Keen, ch. 4 ("Economic Foundations of Colonial Life")
Galeano, ch. 2 ("King Sugar")

Assignments:

Tuesday, July 21: The Mission

Read:

Keen, ch. 5 ("State, Church and Society")
James Schofield Saeger, "The Mission and Historical Missions: Film and the Writing of History," The Americas 51 (January 1995): 393-415 (Milner Reserve)

Assignment: quiz

Video: The Mission

Wednesday, July 22: Colonial Society and Class Structure

Read: