This seminar examines the role of ruins (as both metaphors and material structures representative of antiquity) in the construction of an urban Modern Spanish World from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries. We will look at how architects, urban planners, imperial officials, philosophers, political writers and historians looked to classical and American antiquity (Rome, Inka, Aztec) as sources for the construction and legitimation of imperial and national histories (a deep past) and rule. And how ruins, as physical artifacts, became central in the creation of the modern (a future) Spanish World. The Spanish Philippines will be a test case for understanding the place of classical antiquity in American and Spanish European modernity.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 15

Prerequisites: Normally open to juniors and seniors who have taken a 200-level unit in history and/or a 200-level unit in a relevant area/subject.

Instructor: Osorio

Distribution Requirements: HS - Historical Studies

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered

Notes: