Syllabus

Instructor Phone: 486-2814

In this seminar students will examine anthropological, historical and art history treatments of the Prehispanic Aztec Empire and the transition to colonial rule under Spain.  Students will examine approaches to the study of language, social structure, gender relations, cosmology, and material culture of the Aztec Empire and the transition to colonial rule from Aztec perspectives. Students are expected to create a research question from the topics examined in the course and prepare a structured research paper.

Schedule of Classes

Requirements
50 points Attendance / Participation and Meetings w/ Instructor
75 points One article review essay (5 pages), due by March 15th
75 points Aztec deities and iconography essay exam, February 22nd
200 points Research Paper (Required format (handout) and required meetings, see below)
400 points Total: Standard Grading Scale

Up to 25 points extra credit for Research Presentation at Latin American & Caribbean Studies Student Research Symposium: Friday, April 15th.

Attendance : This will be a small class and our time will be concentrated on the discussion and analysis of classroom readings. You need to come to class prepared with your readings completed. You are required to have two meetings with the instructor: 1) to discuss your research paper topic, meeting scheduled before Feb. 22nd; and 2) to discuss the progress on your research paper, meeting scheduled before March 29 th (for this meeting you should bring a draft of your research paper to review with the instructor). You are responsible for scheduling these meetings. Your prompt and consistent attendance is part of the course requirement. Missing even one class in this course is serious. Only a physician’s note will be accepted in order to retain attendance points. All assignments are expected when due, late assignments (except in the case of a medical emergency) will be discounted 20% points per day late.

Strong suggestion for Readings and Class Participation : Make a notebook in which you keep the photocopies of the required readings and your notes about each reading. You are expected to take notes which include at least the following format: 1) summarize the purpose or objective of the reading, 2) identify the perspective of the author (archaeology, history, art history, etc.); 3) identify at least three (3) main points of the reading; and 4) what is your critical opinion of the article. Bring your notebook to class with you for discussion. The notebook will be permitted for the in-class essay examination, but you will not be permitted to consult original readings.

There will be no final exam for this course, but the final research paper and presentation are due on Thursday, April 28 th. Handouts with guidelines will be provided for both the review essay and the research paper. The citation format for the research paper will follow the American Anthropological Association style found @ www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.htm

Required Text

Smith, Michael E.

• The Aztecs . 2 nd edition. Blackwell Publishing: Malden, MA.

Reading Packet : Whenever a reading is assigned from this packet the symbol will appear in your syllabus

Barber, Russell J. and Berdan, Francis F.
1998 The Emperor’s Mirror: Understanding Cultures through Primary Sources. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.
“The Scope of Ethnohistory,” pp. 1-32.
“ Formulating Research Topics and Research Designs,” pp. 279-292.

Boone, Elizabeth Hill
2000 Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztecs and Mixtecs. Austin, TX: The University of Texas Press.
“History and Historians,” pp. 13-27
“Writing in Images,” pp. 28-63
“Structures of History,” pp. 64-86

Brotherston, Gordon
1995 Painted Books from Mexico: Codices in UK Collections and the World they Represent. London, UK: British Museum Press.
“Reponses to Invasion,” pp. 21-44.

Brundrage, Burr Cartwright
1979 The Fifth Sun: Aztec Gods, Aztec World. Austin, TX: The University of Texas Press.

Carmack, Robert et al.
1996 The Legacy of Mesoamerica: History and Culture of a Native American Civilization. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
“Introduction,” pp. 5-21 and 40-48
“The Colonial Period in Mesoamerica,” pp. 154-195

Florescano, Enrique
1999 The Myth of Quetzalcoatl. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. “Introduction,” pp. 1-6 and “CeAcatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl,” pp. 34-58.

Gerhard, Peter
1972 A Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain. Cambridge: The University Press. “ New Spain in 1519,” pp. 3-27.

Kellogg, Susan
1997 “From Parallel and Equivalent to Separate but Unequal: Tenochca Mexica Women, 1500-1700,” pp. 123-143 in Indian Women of Early Mexico. edited by Susan Schroeder, Stephanie Wood and Robert Haskett, Norman, OK: The University of Oklahoma Press.

Klor de Alva, Jorge
1991 “Colonizing Souls: The Failure of the Indian Inquisition and the Rise of Penitential Discipline,” pp. 3-22 in Mary Elizabeth Perry and Anne Cruz (editors) Cultural Encounters: The Impact of the Inquisition in Spain and the New World. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Leon Portilla, Miguel
1992 Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World. Norman, OK: The University of Oklahoma Press. “Nezahualcoyotl of Tezcoco,” pp. 70-98

López Austin, Alfredo
1988 The Human Body and Ideology: Concepts of the Ancient Nahuas. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press.
“World View,” pp. 49-87.
"Panorama of the Human Body, Its Functions and Relationships,” pp. 161-201 + sample illustrations pp. 156-159.

Nicholson, Henry B.
1971 “Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico,” pp. 395-446 in The Handbook of Middle American Indians. Volume 10, Part I, edited by Gordon F. Ekholm and Ignacio Bernal. Austin, TX: The University of Texas Press.

Adobe Acrobat Files on the Class Website

Aveni, Anthony and Edward Calnek
1999 “Astronomical Considerations in the Aztec Expression of History: Eclipse Data,” Ancient Mesoamerica 10:87-98.

Boone, Elizabeth
1999 “The ‘Coatlicues’ at the Templo Mayor,” Ancient Mesoamerica, 10:189-206.

J. Douglas, Eduardo de
2003 Figures of speech: pictorial history in the Quinatzin Map of about 1542. The Art Bulletin 85(2): 281(29).

Klein, Cecilia
2000 “The Devil and the Skirt: An Iconographic Inquiry into the pre-Hispanic nature of the tzitzimime,” Ancient Mesoamerica, 11:1-26.

On-Line Readings

@ Netlibrary Netlibrary.com EBOOK @ the UCONN Library Research Database link http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/databases/

Carrasco, Pedro
1999 The Tenochca Empire of Ancient Mexico: The Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan .Civilization of the American Indian Series ; V. 234 . Norman, OK, The University of Oklahoma Press.

Additional Suggested Resources

Aveni – See Adobe Acrobat readings.

Boone, Elizabeth Hill and Walter Mignolo
1994 Writing Without Words: Alternative Literacies in Mesoamerica and the Andes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Carrasco, Davíd
1998 Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Davies, Nigel
1984 “Human Sacrifice in the Old World and the New: Some Similarities and Differences,” pp. 211-226 in Ritual Human Sacrifice in Mesoamerica, Elizabeth H. Boone (editor). Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.

Hodge, Mary G.
1988 “Archaeological Views of Aztec Culture, Journal of Archaeological Research 6(3):197-238. http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/1059-0161/contents

Miller, Mary Ellen
2001 The Art of Mesoamerica: From Olmec to Aztec. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson.

Umberger, Emily
1996 “Art and Imperial Strategy in Tenochtitlan,” pp. 85-106 in Aztec Imperial Strategies by Francis Berdan (et al.). Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.

Schedule of Classes

January 18: Introduction to Course: This is a lecture format class. Be prepared to take notes. Sources of Information: How will we approach the problem of understanding Aztec Civilization?

1. Science and Material Culture
2. Archaeology, Geology and Ecology
3. Art History and Iconography
4. History
5. Documentary Sources and Codices
6. Nahuatl and Related Languages

1. Understanding the physical context of Mesoamerica
2. Holocene Environmental Changes
3. Development of Agriculture

January 25: Understanding the Context and History of Mesoamerica

Before coming to class make sure that you have read

1. Smith, pp. 1-77

2. Carmack et al., Introduction to Mesoamerica

3. Requirements for Article Review Essay: Handout

4. Barber and Berdan, “The Scope of Ethnohistory,” pp. 1-32

5. Optional On-Line Reading:

White, Christine D., et al.
2004 “ Immigration, assimilation, and status in the ancient city of Teotihuacan: stable isotopic evidence from Tlajinga 33 ,” Latin American Antiquity, 15(2): 176(23).

February 1 Codices Workshop with Librarian Darlene Hull

Dodd Center Conference Room 169.

Before coming to class make sure that you have read

1. Elizabeth Hill Boone, Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztecs and Mixtecs,

“History and Historians,” pp. 13-27

“Writing in Images,” pp. 28-63

2. Smith, pp. 238-253

February 8 Religion & Empire

Before coming to class make sure that you have read

1. Nicholson, Henry B. “Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico,” pp. 395-446

2. Smith, pp. 192-211 & 147-171.

3. Barber and Berdan, “Formulating Research Topics and Research Designs,” pp. 279-292.

4. Research Paper Requirements Handout

February 15 Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl and Coatlicue

• Florescano, Enrique “Introduction,” pp. 1-6 and “CeAcatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl,” pp. 34-58.
• Brundrage, “Tezcatlipoca” and “Huitzilopochtli”
• Boone, “The ‘Coatlicues’ at the Templo Mayor”

February 22 One Hour Essay Exam on Aztec Deities and Iconography In-Class +

• Read Smith, 147-171

March 1 The Structure of the Aztec Empire

• Netlibrary.com EBOOK @ the UCONN Library Research Database link http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/databases/

Carrasco, Pedro 1999 The Tenochca Empire of Ancient Mexico: The Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan . Read Chapter 8: Types of Territorial Units, pp. 207-247.

• OPTIONAL READING: Umberger, Emily “Art and Imperial Strategy in Tenochtitlan,” pp. 85-106.
• Elizabeth Hill Boone, “Structures of History,” pp. 64-86

March 8 Spring Break

March 15 Aztec Worldviews

1. López Austin, Alfredo “World View,” pp. 49-87 and

“Panorama of the Human Body, Its Functions and Relationships,” pp. 161-201 + sample illustrations pp. 156-159.

2. Smith, 212-237

March 22 Nahuatl: An Introduction

1. Leon Portilla, Miguel

“Nezahualcoyotl of Tezcoco,” pp. 70-98

2. Worksheet Handouts and Lecture

March 29: Colonial Transition

1. Gerhard, Peter “ New Spain in 1519,” pp. 3-27.

2. Carmack, Robert “The Colonial Period in Mesoamerica,” pp. 154-195

3. Smith, pp. 268-287

April 5: Gender, Aztec Society and Spanish Colonialism

• Kellog, Susan “From Parallel and Equivalent to Separate but Unequal: Tenochca Mexica Women, 1500-1700,”
• Klein, Cecilia, “The Devil and the Skirt: An Iconographic Inquiry into the pre-Hispanic nature of the tzitzimime,”
• Smith, 125-146

April 12: The Impact of Spanish Institutions: Some Examples.

• Klor de Alva, “Colonizing Souls”
• Brotherston, Gordon “Reponses to Invasion,” pp. 21-44.
• In-Class Reviews of Research Papers and Research Paper Presentations on Friday, April 15 th.

April 19 Research Week

April 26 Discussion of Class Papers, Final Paper Due

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