This is a historical survey of the Latin American continent, organized around instances of encounter, disruption, exchange and creativity. Major themes to be dealt with comprise : colonial encounters and legacies, including especially the Columbian Exchange; the dynamics of slavery and slave societies; post-independence processes of nation-building; Latin America's post-/neo-colonial relationship to the United States; the 20th century predicaments of the region, ranging from dictatorships to genocide, from racism to modern day slavery and police violence. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the course surveys the literature as well as the film, music, literature and policy produced within the region, students will be exposed to ways of thinking about Latin American culture and society, as well as to how Latin American artists, writers and intellectuals represent their nations and cultures to themselves and to the world