Subject Area: Americas Studies
This course can also be studied in the following specialisation: History

This course focuses on the experiences of indigenous people of the Americas in the pre Columbian and post Columbian periods. Topics include the origins of the first nations, modes of production pre European contact (hunter gatherers, early agriculturalists), the formation of class societies, cities and empires (including the Maya, Aztecs and Incas), belief systems, responses to the European invasions (flight, resistance, adaption) both in the colonial and post colonial periods, indigenismo, and the contemporary strong movement of indianismo. Case studies are used from many areas of the Western hemisphere including North America, Mesoamerica and South America. A major aspect of the course consists of addressing the methodological difficulties of writing the histories of first nations. To this end, emphasis is placed on the analysis of first nations' texts.