This course examines the environmental history of Latin America through the lens of
water. From pre-Columbian irrigation canals and sacred lakes, to colonial drainage
projects, sugar mills, hydraulic mining, hurricanes, hydroelectric dams, and contemporary
water wars, the course emphasizes the centrality of water to power, technology, labor, and
environmental justice. Readings will combine classic environmental history texts with
newer scholarship, while films and digital projects will highlight lived experiences and
applied approaches to environmental history. This course will challenge History majors
and minors to apply analytical skills to ecological topics. Students will refine writing,
research, and presentation abilities, and practice integrating environmental history with
interdisciplinary perspectives, including ethics, political ecology, and digital humanities.
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- Precolonial
- Conquest/Early Colonial
- Late colonial/Independence Era
- Nineteenth Century
- Twentieth Century
- Twenty-First Century/Contemporary