History 1913: Dirty Wars, Peace Processes, and the Politics of History in Latin America

Professor Kirsten Weld. Latin America's "dirty wars" generated intense struggles over historical memory. Course focuses on Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and comparatively examines how societies reckon with bloody recent pasts that are anything but settled. Looks at both these countries' dictatorships and their fraught peace processes (including truth commissions, transitional justice, artistic representations, human rights activism, international law, foreign involvement, backlash) in order to probe the stakes and politics of historical interpretation.