CENTRE for LATIN AMERICAN
RESEARCH and DOCUMENTATION

Introduction to Latin American Studies

prof. dr. J.M. Baud
dr. Dana Brablec (coordinator)
dr. F. de Castro
dr. B.B. Hogenboom
dr. C. Klaufus
prof. dr. C.G. Koonings
dr. N. Rodríguez Idarraga
dr. JHJ Weegels

This course introduces key themes and leading approaches and theoretical debates in contemporary Latin American Studies. As the region has recently entered a phase of aggravated economic, social and political conditions, we conceptualize crisis both as a barrier and a driver of transformation. Problems, tensions and polarization may enhance (latent) conflicts and power relations as much as they can trigger new forms of resistance, adaptation and collaboration, according to the social, cultural, historical, spatial and institutional context. The course is built around the different disciplines of the Social Sciences and Humanities, and how they relate to one another. It builds on the current research of CEDLA's staff as well as CEDLA's broader research orientation on social transformation . It provides students with new knowledge on Latin America and with a range of approaches and perspectives to study the continent. The course is built around important texts which are discussed in the weekly reading assignments. 

Approaches to Popular Culture in Latin America: Researching Heritage and Worldmaking

dr. Nicolás Rodríguez Idarraga (coordinator)
dr. Julienne Weegels
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This course discusses different ways to study popular culture. Far from being inclusive to all varieties, the following approaches are being privileged: cultural history, visual culture, material culture, memory studies and cultural anthropology. The term popular culture is nineteenth-century and was used to discuss — or in fact: dismiss — non-elite culture. A key issue in the discussions has been the (re)production of narratives of who people are and what they want to be, thereby acknowledging that their 'being-in-the-world' is defined by heritage and histories of a birth place, hometown, ancestors, lifestyles, violence or journeys. In people’s testimonies over time, new elements are woven into existing storyworlds, creating innovative ways of worldmaking. These are created in the streets of Latin American urban centers, using films, street art, epitaphs in cemeteries, and in digital and analogue media on a daily basis. Because of these roots, special attention will be given to the role of heritage, popular religion and material and visual culture in Latin American popular culture. 

Challenges and Struggles for Sustainable Development in Latin America

dr. Dana Brablec (coordinator)
prof. dr. Barbara Hogenboom
 

This course critically examines key challenges and struggles shaping the development landscape in Latin America today. Moving beyond simplistic or technocratic models, we explore development as a deeply political and contested process, shaped by competing worldviews, historical inequalities, and resistance from below. Each week focuses on a different thematic struggle—from Indigenous alternatives and water justice to extractivism and urban inequality—offering students a grounded understanding of development’s multifaceted dimensions. The course emphasizes both theoretical and empirical perspectives, equipping students with tools to understand and evaluate the complex dynamics at play in rural and urban development debates across the region.