CAS 366. Contemporary Indigenous Peoples of Central America (3)

Preparatory: Completion of lower division writing requirement; either CAS 100, CAS 102 or permission of the instructor. This interdisciplinary course examines the new socioeconomic, political and religious conditions that contemporary Indigenous people of Central America are facing in their daily quest for self-determination. In the last two decades, the study of Indigenous practices has challenged the traditional notion that portrays native peoples as passive subjects of the modern forces of assimilation. This course explores the transnational spaces occupied by Indigenous associations and the challenges that this Indigenous movement represents to the Central American nation/states, the participation of women in defining the future of Indigenous communities and resistance to the imposing sociocultural and political paradigms. Emphasis will be placed on contemporary Indigenous culture, identity, movements, rights, media, gender and migratory issues.