This class covers content almost exclusively between the United States and Latin America, though Canada will emerge by the time of NAFTA and there will be some cursory attention to English, Dutch, and French former colonial holdings. We will survey quite a large expanse of time, but most of the class is focused on the 19th and 20th centuries.

We will utilize both primary and secondary source texts in class as well as a travel diary of 19th century Cuba.There will be films, non-traditional assignments, in-class and online discussion, and short writing assignments.

We will also investigate more non-traditional sources of information related to social and cultural interaction between regions and nations. By the end of the course, the student should have a better understanding of the complexities of U.S.-Latin American affairs and a solid grasp of the chronology leading to "first world" and "third world" statuses and the post-Cold War situation in the Western Hemisphere.