Modern Latin America, 1808-Present: Revolution, Dictatorship, Democracy
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this survey of Latin American history from the early twentieth century to the present. The course examines Latin America's place in the global economy, its shifting relationship with the United States, and the region's swings between dictatorship and democracy across the twentieth century. Topics include the Mexican, Cuban, and Central American revolutions, African and Indigenous cultural contributions, and debates over Latin American identity, with gender and feminism treated as one thread among many rather than the organizing theme. Materials include a syllabus, readings, and assignments developed for MIT undergraduates, free to access online with no certificate offered. The approach favors primary documents and case studies over textbook summary, tracing how national histories in Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, and elsewhere connect to broader hemispheric patterns of economic dependency and political upheaval.