MW 2:00-3:15
Dr. Michael Donoghue
This course examines the history of the Caribbean from pre-colonial times to the 21st century. As such, we will explore major topics such as colonialism, slavery, race, gender, and state formation. But our main emphasis will be on the notion of “crossing borders” and diasporic world-making, how people on the move from South America to the Caribbean, from Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Caribbean, and of course, from the Caribbean to Central America and the United States, played a central role in constructing new social, cultural, and political environments, largely in conflict with preexisting ones. Students will examine this process from a multitude of perspectives: that of pre-Colombian indigenous hunter-gatherers, Africans kidnapped and enslaved, migrant workers journeying from Caribbean islands to work on railroad and canal projects, and immigrants from the islands seeking economic and political opportunities in Latin America, Europe and the United States. The neglected story of Asian immigrants who replaced slaves as a labor force from the mid-19th century onwards will also be addressed. The efforts of these “border crossers” besides creating continuing waves of in- and-out migration, reshaped established notions of race, class, and gender on the islands and forged unique diasporic world-making to survive against great odds in an increasingly globalized environment. These topics and processes will be analyzed in a multi-disciplinary fashion though the approaches of anthropology, race studies, political science, history, and cultural studies. Students will be introduced to a broad range of methodologies and theories to better understand how reconstructions of race, identity, and culture broke down the borders of colonialism and racial exploitation to forge increased opportunities and renewed communities in a wide range of geographical spaces. Students will write two short papers on these themes and have a midterm and final exam as well.