My idea of Latin America at the start of the course has been mainly focused on Ecuador and Costa Rica because I lived in both countries for a short period of time. When I hear the word Latin America, it reminds me of the happy memories I had when I was in Ecuador and Costa Rica. I also tend to heavily focus on countries that speak Spanish and often forget that Brazil speaks Portuguese and a few other countries speak Dutch, English and much more. However, Latin America does remind me of the Amazon Forest, the Andes Mountains, the long coastlines on the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, and the Indigenous people. However, I also often associate Latin America with its economic capabilities and the many issues it brings along. For example, Latin America is blessed with natural resources including copper, oil, coca leaves and much more. However, this has also caused huge socio-political issues including corruption, gang-violence and deforestation. Previously, I also took some classes at Davidson related to Latin America, and I learned the history of the Aztecs, Mayans, Incas and much more. We also touched on US influence in Latin America, and the US government created many dictatorships in Latin America in order to stop them from creating relations with the USSR.
My learning goals associated with LAS101 include learning more about the root causes of today’s political and economic problems in Latin America. I am particularly interested in the reason why COVID-19 affected Latin America so badly and how its issues with poverty, education and corruption have led to the current state of Latin America. The news talked a lot about high death tolls in Latin America, and how many countries’ healthcare systems collapsed. It would be interesting to tie in different concepts and topics to unravel the core issues that caused COVID-19 to spread so quickly in Latin America. Moreover, I want to learn more about the future of Latin America, and how its important role in trade, culture, and conservation will impact our future world. The Amazon Forest, or the Lungs of the Earth are located across multiple Latin American countries, and it would be interesting to learn about sustainability, climate change, and balancing economic and conservation objectives in the Amazon.
