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Academic Year 2003/2004

The Caribbean: Past and Present
LAST 236 FA
Crosslistings:
ANTH 236
AFAM 226

This course offers comparative historical and anthropological perspectives on the Caribbean as a geopolitical and sociocultural region and on contemporary Caribbean diaspora cultures. We will examine how the region's long and diverse colonial history has structured relationships between race, ethnicity, class, gender and power, as well as how people have challenged these structures. As a region in which there have been massive transportations of peoples and their cultures from Africa, Asia, and Europe, and upon which the United States has exerted considerable influence, we will question the processes by which the meeting and mixing of peoples and cultures have occurred. Course readings include material on family and community life, religious beliefs and practices, gender roles and ideologies, and the differing ways national, ethnic, and racial identities are expressed on the islands and throughout the Caribbean.

MAJOR READINGS

Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A CONTINENT OF ISLANDS: SEARCHING FOR THE CARIBBEAN DESTINY. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Price, Richard. 1998. THE CONVICT AND THE COLONEL: A STORY OF COLONIALISM AND RESISTANCE IN THE CARIBBEAN. Boston: Beacon.
Gmelch, George and Susan. 1997. THE PARISH BEHIND GOD'S BACK: THE CHANGING CULTURE OF RURAL BARBARDOS. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Pessar, Patricia. 1996. A VISA FOR A DREAM: DOMINICANS IN THE UNITED STATES. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Davila, Arlene. 1997. SPONSORED IDENTITIES: CULTURAL POLITICS IN PUERTO RICO. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Sutton, Contance and Elsa Chaney (Eds.). 1992. CARIBBEAN LIFE IN NEW YORK CITY: SOCIOCULTURAL DIMENSIONS. Staten Isla nd: Center for Migration Studies.
Danticat, Edwidge. 1998. THE FARMING OF BONES. New York: Penguin.
Alvarez, Julia. 1994. IN THE TIME OF BUTTERFLIES. New York: Penguin.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS LAST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2004

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