CLHUMHI017 - Mexico: Highlights of Cultural and Political History
This lecture series examines seven key topics in the evolution of modern Mexico. We begin with Indigenous civilizations prior to European invasion and the Spanish-Aztec war, which led to Spanish domination of what now forms modern Mexico and much of southwestern United States. We also study Mexican colonial life and culture, Mexico’s tortuous route to independence, the country’s efforts to create a liberal modern nation, and the accomplishments and failures of Mexico under Porfirio Díaz. Other central topics include the Mexican Revolution’s causes, ideologies and aftermath; the 70 years that Mexico was ruled by a single party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (the PRI); the problems and promises of contemporary Mexico; and its evolution since the PRI was voted out of power in 2000. The course concludes with a look at present-day Mexico, including the rise of Morena, a new political party founded by the hard-to-define-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Course Details
Nicolas Shumway, Ph.D., is the Frances Moody Newman Professor Emeritus of Spanish at Rice University. Before retiring, he served as dean of humanities from 2010 to 2018. Previously, he taught at Yale University, where he chaired the Latin American Studies program for three years and directed the Yale Spanish language program for eight years. Later in his career, Dr. Shumway served as director of The University of Texas at Austin (UT) Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies for 11 years and chair of the UT Department of Spanish and Portuguese for three years. Dr. Shumway has published and lectured widely on Latin American literature and intellectual history throughout the Americas and in Europe. His book “The Invention of Argentina” was chosen as “a notable book of the year” by The New York Times. Dr. Shumway holds a doctoral degree in Hispanic languages and literatures from the University of California, Los Angeles.
On Campus
This course will be delivered on campus / in person. Parking and room information will be sent prior to the class start date.
- Pre-Conquest Meso-America, The Spanish-Aztec War, Occupation and the Construction of a
- Colonial System
- Colonial Life and Culture
- Independence, The Rise of Liberalism, The Mexican-U.S. War, The Porfiriato
- The End of the Porfiriato, The Mexican Revolution, The Origins of the PRI
- The Rise and Fall of the PRI, Dependency Theory, From Developmentalism to Neoliberalism
- Mexican Democracy Since 2000, The Drug Trade, Immigration, Relations with the USA in the 21st Century
- The Rise and Nature of Morena and the AMLO Presidency
Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures, Rice University