ILAC 142N: Mexico in Ten Images

Course Description

This course takes students on a tour through the culture, literature, and history of Mexico guided by 10 emblematic images. From the mythical foundation of "Aztec" Tenochtitlan to the Mexican Revolution to today, Mexico has sustained strikingly beautiful and complex visual cultures. They include the painted books of the Mexica (“Aztecs”) known as codices; the feather mosaics of Indigenous amanteca; costumbrista paintings of typically Mexican customs; maps that sustained Indigenous struggles for land rights; photos of the brave soldaderas (women soldiers) in the Mexican Revolution; Diego Rivera’s sweeping murals and Frida Kahlo’s striking self-portraits; and the “moving images” of Mexican Golden Age Cinema. Each week features a lecture and a discussion session on one emblematic image to be studied alongside secondary images and short literary and historical texts. Beginners are welcome. Taught in Spanish.