History 346K is an upper-division history course that presents over 300 hundred years of colonial Latin American history in eleven lessons. Spanning from the 15th century until the early 19th century, this course seeks to answer the following questions: How and why did Iberians manage to conquer many indigenous societies? What kinds of changes occurred in Latin American societies as a result of conquest and, subsequently, colonization? What was life like for indigenous peoples and Africans under colonial rule? Who had authority in colonial Latin America, and what did power mean in this context? What kinds of divides existed within colonial society and how did these rifts ultimately lead to independence in the late 18th and early 19th centuries?

View syllabus.

This course is independent study and is self-paced. Students have five months upon registration in which to complete all coursework and exams.

Textbooks and Materials

• Matthew Restall and Kris Lane, Latin America in Colonial Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), ISBN: 9780521132602.
• Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman Johnson, Colonial Latin America, 9th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), ISBN: 9780199340484.
• Camilla Townsend, Malintzin's Choices: An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006), ISBN: 9780826334053.
• Kenneth Mills, William B. Taylor, and Sandra Lauderdale Graham, Colonial Spanish America: A Documentary History (SR Books: Lantham, MD, 2002), ISBN: 9780842029971. OR (either edition is acceptable) Kenneth Mills and William B. Taylor, Colonial Spanish America: A Documentary History (SR Books: Lantham, MD, 1998), ISBN: 9780842025737.

Technical Requirements

Students are required to use a laptop or desktop computer with a high-speed internet connection. Tablets and smartphones are not supported. The computer should have a modern and updated operating system, at least 2GB of RAM, a webcam, a microphone and also meet Honorlock's system requirements for online testing.