Notes regarding credits...

This course consists of 40 hours of instruction. However, students may earn 45 hours by attending supplemental sessions and completing additional coursework. Please check with your home university to find out whether you need 40 or 45 hours to earn course equivalents.

Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

High Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of five semesters (or seven quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

I. Introduction
The objective of this course is to study the American reality before and after the arrival of the Spaniards to the continent. The first part studies the Pre-Columbian cultures (Mesoamerican and Andean regions), focusing on their political, social, economic, and artistic aspects. The second part, which begins with Columbus's discovery in 1492, studies the colonization by Spain in America until independence emphasing: the model of imposed society, the complex relationships with the indigenous populations, the appearance of miscegenation, the economy, and cultural manifestations.

II. Course Content
1. The Aztec Confederation - Political and economic organization. - Society and religion. - Cultural and artistic characteristics.
2. The Mayan Culture - Historical evolution. - Social, political, and economic organization. - Art and religious thought.
3. The Incan Empire - Origins and territorial expansion. - Political, social, and economic structure. - Religion and art.
4. The age of discovery and conquest (1492-1550) - Motivations behind the discovery. - Christopher Columbus. - Consequences of the trips of discovery.
5. The legal institution of the American act- The justification of the conquest. - The criticism of the conquistadors: Bartolome de las Casas. The Black Legend.
6. Demography - The indigenous population. Causes of their demise. Spanish and African immigration. - Miscegenation.
7. Administrative organization of the Indies - The Chamber of Commerce and the Council of the Indies. - The Viceroyalties, the courts, and local administration.
8. The social structure: the Republic of the Indies - Social and legal consideration of the Indian. - The indigenous nobility. - Distribution of land and land holdings.
9. The social structure: the Spanish Republic - The basis of the social stratum. -Landowners, merchants, and miners. - The Creole.
10. The productive sectors - The commercial monopoly regime. - Agriculture and cattle-raising. - Mining.
11. The XVIII century. The age of the reforms. - The administrative reforms. - The fiscal reforms. - The military reforms.
12. Education, art, and culture. - Education in America. - The artistic styles. -
The Enlightment.

III. Activities
The student should follow the professor's instructions in class, as well as participate in the class discussions. Optionally, the student could complete a short paper or essay about a subject covered in the course.

IV. Evaluation
The student will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Attendance and participation in class, up to 20%.
- Completion of the optional work, up to 10%.
- Completion of the final exam, up to 70%.

V. Bibliography
LUCENA SALMORAL, M., La América Precolombina, Madrid,Anaya,1989.
NAVARRO GARCIA, L., Las claves de la Colonización Española en el Nuevo Mundo (1492-1824), Madrid, Planeta, 1991.
CÉSPEDES DEL CASTILLO, G., América Hispánica (1492-1989), Tomo VI de la Historia de España dirigida por Manuel Tuñón de Lara, Barcelona, Lábor, 1983.
PÉREZ MALLAINA, P. E., La Colonización, Biblioteca Iberoamericana, Madrid,Anaya, 1988.
MOLINA MARTíNEZ, M., La leyenda negra, Madrid, Nerea, 1991.