This course will offer a broad overview of modern Latin America since independence but with a primary focus on the twentieth century to the present. Collectively, we will explore the socioeconomic, cultural, and political processes that shape life in Latin America. Among the key issues to be discussed will be colonialism, populism, socialism, feminism, and neoliberalism. The course will raise the following questions: How does colonialism shape the life conditions of Latin Americans in the present? How have people historically coped with economic inequality, austerity, and political conflict? What kind of political projects and cultural imaginaries have resulted out of processes of revolution and counter-revolution in Latin America and the Caribbean? Authors will include political theorists, historians, social scientists, novelists, and activists, such as Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, José Carlos Mariátegui, Verónica Gago, Eden Medina, and René Zavaleta. The class will also explore various sources: monographs, declarations of independence, art manifestos, magazines, literature, films, and songs.