The Sacred Landscape of Mesoamerica
Themes: Ancient Mesoamerica -- Olmecs -- Mayans -- Temples
Summary:
For the ancient Mesoamericans, the landscape was sacred and alive. Caves, mountains and cenotes (natural springs) connected humans to the underworld, and the color blue-green was considered divine. Following a lecture on the topic, I assign the students the task of exploring and photographing areas on our school's campus that they think the ancient Mesoamericans might have considered sacred (students often find grates, steam vents, our bio pond, stairs/doors leading underground, very tall trees, etc.).This lesson fits well in an introductory unit on pre-Columbian Latin America
Summary:
For the ancient Mesoamericans, the landscape was sacred and alive. Caves, mountains and cenotes (natural springs) connected humans to the underworld, and the color blue-green was considered divine. Following a lecture on the topic, I assign the students the task of exploring and photographing areas on our school's campus that they think the ancient Mesoamericans might have considered sacred (students often find grates, steam vents, our bio pond, stairs/doors leading underground, very tall trees, etc.).This lesson fits well in an introductory unit on pre-Columbian Latin America
The Art of the Baroque in Latin America
Themes: Colonial Latin America -- Baroque -- Counter-Reformation -- hegemony -- religious syncretism
Summary:
The power that the Catholic Church sought to project for the human eye during the Counter-Reformation is expressed in the art of the Baroque, an artistic style based on excess, and as Carlos Fuentes argues, desire. The visually dazzling golden retablos, sculptures, interiors, and facades of churches during this period in Latin America demonstrate how the Spanish used this European art form as a hegemonic tool to spread their faith in the Americas. In class, I show examples of Baroque art in Europe and Latin America for the students, and then examples of the folk baroque, created by indigenous artisans and integrating pre-Columbian religious symbolism into the art.
Sources: Miguel Rojas Mix (1987) "The Angel with the Arquebus", and Carlos Fuentes, "The Buried Mirror" video excerpt
Summary:
The power that the Catholic Church sought to project for the human eye during the Counter-Reformation is expressed in the art of the Baroque, an artistic style based on excess, and as Carlos Fuentes argues, desire. The visually dazzling golden retablos, sculptures, interiors, and facades of churches during this period in Latin America demonstrate how the Spanish used this European art form as a hegemonic tool to spread their faith in the Americas. In class, I show examples of Baroque art in Europe and Latin America for the students, and then examples of the folk baroque, created by indigenous artisans and integrating pre-Columbian religious symbolism into the art.
Sources: Miguel Rojas Mix (1987) "The Angel with the Arquebus", and Carlos Fuentes, "The Buried Mirror" video excerpt
Caste and Gender in Colonial Latin America: An 18th-Century Court Case
Themes: Colonial Latin America -- Race, Class, Gender -- Comparative history topics: American Revolution, the Enlightenment
Summary:
"Don Manuel Valdivieso y Carrión Protests the Marriage of His Daughter to Don Teodoro Jaramillo, a Person of Lower Social Standing" (1784) is a fascinating case representing the struggle to define class in a society caught between traditionalists wanting to preserving caste hierarchy and those sympathizing with enlightenment ideals. This is an opportunity to examine the Enlightenment in a global context and to discuss gender roles during the period. I have the students re-enact the court case in class, which allows us to better evaluate the competing ideas. Also, the decision of the actual court is not known, so students get to speculate the outcome.
Summary:
"Don Manuel Valdivieso y Carrión Protests the Marriage of His Daughter to Don Teodoro Jaramillo, a Person of Lower Social Standing" (1784) is a fascinating case representing the struggle to define class in a society caught between traditionalists wanting to preserving caste hierarchy and those sympathizing with enlightenment ideals. This is an opportunity to examine the Enlightenment in a global context and to discuss gender roles during the period. I have the students re-enact the court case in class, which allows us to better evaluate the competing ideas. Also, the decision of the actual court is not known, so students get to speculate the outcome.
Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed
Themes: Pedagogy of the Oppressed -- Brazil -- Protest theatre -- Social Action
Summary:
Augusto Boal (RIP), Brazilian and activist, innovated a type of theatre that involves audience/community members for the purpose of creating social change. In this form of theatre, spectators become actors and the subject is a problem of social concern that spect-actors try to work through. I have used this with my students to work through problems that they feel their student body is dealing with at school. Included in this unit is an overview of Paulo Freire's philosophy of education. The students really enjoy discussing why Freire critiqued the "banking model." No wonder!
Sources:
"We All Are Theater: An Interview with Augusto Boal"
Democracy Now! Interview with Boal on YouTube
Examples of T.O. workshops:
Legislative theatre - from France. A good example of spect-actors jumping in.
Forum theatre - from Israel. The students LOVE this (baby mama drama).
Candomble and Santeria: locating illness in the spiritual realm
Themes: Latin American culture -- religious syncretism -- Brazil -- Cuba -- Afro-Caribbean culture -- Trans-Atlantic slave trade
Summary:
West African religious traditions are vibrant in various places in Latin America: most notably in Brazil, coastal Colombia and Cuba, where large numbers of enslaved persons were brought to work on sugar plantations during the colonial era. Candomble and Santeria focus on the worship of Yoruba-derived intermediary deities called orishas, who can intervene in a person's life for help or harm. The principal belief that illness or catastrophe are caused by displeasing orishas guides much of the ritual practice of these traditions, which are pragmatically focused on the practice of ritual or trance worship and sacrifice to achieve results.
Activities:
In class, I like to introduce the orishas to the students and discuss how the slave trade impacted how the Yoruba traditions adapted to New World surroundings. Each orisha has personality traits, favorite colors and foods, so I like to ask the students to choose the one he/she likes the best. I place sheets of paper around the room with the names of the orishas on them, provide them with a handout listing each orisha and its traits, and have the students go stand by the name of their favorite orisha. They they have to discuss why they chose that particular one. The next activity is for the group members to develop a skit that presents a typical problem that might occur in a student's life on a typical day our school. The students have to decide how a ritual diviner (babalawo) in the Candomble tradition would advise them to deal with their problem, and which orisha(s) need to be placated. In addition to these activities, students also read a scholarly article on Santeria in the United States (link forthcoming). These lessons inform the theme of religious sycretism in Latin America, which is a major theme addressed in the course.
Source: Brenda Guevara, "Candomble Unit"
Summary:
West African religious traditions are vibrant in various places in Latin America: most notably in Brazil, coastal Colombia and Cuba, where large numbers of enslaved persons were brought to work on sugar plantations during the colonial era. Candomble and Santeria focus on the worship of Yoruba-derived intermediary deities called orishas, who can intervene in a person's life for help or harm. The principal belief that illness or catastrophe are caused by displeasing orishas guides much of the ritual practice of these traditions, which are pragmatically focused on the practice of ritual or trance worship and sacrifice to achieve results.
Activities:
In class, I like to introduce the orishas to the students and discuss how the slave trade impacted how the Yoruba traditions adapted to New World surroundings. Each orisha has personality traits, favorite colors and foods, so I like to ask the students to choose the one he/she likes the best. I place sheets of paper around the room with the names of the orishas on them, provide them with a handout listing each orisha and its traits, and have the students go stand by the name of their favorite orisha. They they have to discuss why they chose that particular one. The next activity is for the group members to develop a skit that presents a typical problem that might occur in a student's life on a typical day our school. The students have to decide how a ritual diviner (babalawo) in the Candomble tradition would advise them to deal with their problem, and which orisha(s) need to be placated. In addition to these activities, students also read a scholarly article on Santeria in the United States (link forthcoming). These lessons inform the theme of religious sycretism in Latin America, which is a major theme addressed in the course.
Source: Brenda Guevara, "Candomble Unit"
Personal Narratives from the El Salvadoran Civil War
The assignment requires students to write or film/audio record a fictional personal narrative of someone living during the El Salvadoran Civil War. They also have to include an element of magical realism, a major component of many 20th century Latin American works of literature. See video below for details.