1. Afro-Colombian History:
This course, taught at both a 400-500 level, explores the roots of African diaspora throughout Colombia – with a particular focus on Afro-Colombian communities living along the Caribbean Coast. Beginning with a macro-level historical analysis of Colombia’s connection to the Atlantic slave trade and the colonial systems that created and perpetuated it, the course then narrows its focus on individual Afro-Colombian communities spread throughout the country. Some of the themes that will be explored throughout this course in connection to Afro-Colombian communities are: historicity and its effects on diaspora, cultural/ethnic tourism on the Caribbean Coast, environmental remediation as social justice, and sustainable development on Colombia’s Pacific Coastal regions.
The main filed site for this course is focused on Cartagena, departamento Bolivar, located along Colombia’s Caribbean Coast. Fieldtrips include: traveling to San Basilio de Palenque, the first free slave town in South America, created by cimarrones – slave refugees – between 1655-74, and a day-trip into the mangroves that once dominated Cartagena’s coastal environment and which are stilled fished daily by local Afro-Colombian communities for fish and mud crab. Depending on the duration of time in the filed site, there is a wide range of other historical sites to visit and connect with course material such as: the Inquisition Palace (museum), Castle San Felipe de Barajas, and Cartagena’s Old Town and its 22-kilometer wall built entirely from quarried coral blocks.
The main filed site for this course is focused on Cartagena, departamento Bolivar, located along Colombia’s Caribbean Coast. Fieldtrips include: traveling to San Basilio de Palenque, the first free slave town in South America, created by cimarrones – slave refugees – between 1655-74, and a day-trip into the mangroves that once dominated Cartagena’s coastal environment and which are stilled fished daily by local Afro-Colombian communities for fish and mud crab. Depending on the duration of time in the filed site, there is a wide range of other historical sites to visit and connect with course material such as: the Inquisition Palace (museum), Castle San Felipe de Barajas, and Cartagena’s Old Town and its 22-kilometer wall built entirely from quarried coral blocks.
2. The Path to Peace - Reconciliation in a Post-Conflict Nation:
This course, taught at both a 400-500 level, focuses on both the historical perspective as well as the personal experiences of the Colombian people in connection to the nation’s time of internal conflict known as La Violencia. Using a mixture of macro (historical) and micro (personal narratives) sources, the course examines previous and contemporary attempts and initiatives by both private and government to create a lasting peace between guerilla forces and military forces. The course covers three distinct periods in Colombian history: (1) the historical antecedents which created the environment for La Violencia to occur, (2) La Violencia - a time of extreme political violence that began in 1946 and ended in 1958, (3) and the timespan between the end of La Violencia and current-day Colombia.
The main field site for this course is located in beautiful Medellin, Antioquia, one of the three main Colombian cities that suffered the bulk of violence following La Violencia. Field trips include: the Museum of Remeberance – a powerful and moving homage to those lives lost during the height of narco and paramilitary violence following la violencia, Comuna 13 – one of Medellin’s most notorious barrios in connection to gurella narco-trafficking and military cleansing operations that left hundreds forcibly disappeared, as well as Plaza Botero – where sculptures and paintings made by Fernadno Botero are on display, offering insights through artistic cultural representations of key moments and places in Colombian history.
The main field site for this course is located in beautiful Medellin, Antioquia, one of the three main Colombian cities that suffered the bulk of violence following La Violencia. Field trips include: the Museum of Remeberance – a powerful and moving homage to those lives lost during the height of narco and paramilitary violence following la violencia, Comuna 13 – one of Medellin’s most notorious barrios in connection to gurella narco-trafficking and military cleansing operations that left hundreds forcibly disappeared, as well as Plaza Botero – where sculptures and paintings made by Fernadno Botero are on display, offering insights through artistic cultural representations of key moments and places in Colombian history.
3. Social Justice through Environmental Remidiation:
This course, taught at both a 400-500 level, focuses on the delicate and often obscured ecotones between nature and culture – where infrastructure meets ecosystem, the mixture of both, and life on the fringes where ecosystem becomes infrastructure in the absence of infrastructure. Using specific examples, this course examines how environmental remediations, in some cases, offers the clearest and most sustainable path towards reconciliation in areas throughout Colombia that have been – and continue to be – affected by the aftereffects of La Violencia and the following narco activities that continue to be operational in certain regions. This course asks the question: how is the health of a nation reflected in its natural landscapes? Is it possible to heal scars left by violence through healing the land where it happened? How is identity constructed in natural landscapes that have been destroyed or marked by violence?
The filed site component to this course is focused in Chinchina, Caldas, where students will have a number of activities connected to the course content. The first being a local community huerta, where community leaders have connected with local agricultural experts to build a community food garden that advocates: education for community members connected to food sovereignty, food security, indigenous food practices and the beliefs that inform them. Depending on the student’s personal interests, there is also placements to work besides local coffee producers, visit cacao fincas, and work with local foundations connected to ecological tourism focused on Colombia’s prolific an unmatched biodiversity in birds.
The filed site component to this course is focused in Chinchina, Caldas, where students will have a number of activities connected to the course content. The first being a local community huerta, where community leaders have connected with local agricultural experts to build a community food garden that advocates: education for community members connected to food sovereignty, food security, indigenous food practices and the beliefs that inform them. Depending on the student’s personal interests, there is also placements to work besides local coffee producers, visit cacao fincas, and work with local foundations connected to ecological tourism focused on Colombia’s prolific an unmatched biodiversity in birds.