LACS Seniors Explore Indo-American Themes in D.C.
Several seniors in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program recently visited Washington to explore exhibitions and archives about their capstone seminar topic, Indo-America.
During the term, seniors have examined the cultural connections among indigenous peoples of the Americas. Jeff Barnett, professor of Spanish and head of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, said that one aim of the program “is to lead students to make connections beyond political and linguistic borders and see the Americas as a whole. We want them to arrive at interdisciplinary conclusions that transcend a single country or sub-culture. By examining a hemispheric view of indigenous traditions and legacies, they have had to consider the Americas from a different perspective.”
While in Washington, the students visited the Library of Congress and the Hispanic Reading Room, where they received exceptional opportunities to view rare books, manuscripts, codices and pictographs related to the conquest and colonization of the Americas. In addition to touring the library’s “Exploring Early America” exhibit, which illustrates many of the works that the seminar studies, the students also visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
