Course overview

Ahead of travel, you will be trained in regional history and archival research in preparation for a week of intensive historical research, material gathering and reproduction of maps and other materials. During spring break, you will visit the Archivo Nacional de Bolivia (ABNB) in Sucre, Bolivia, to examine a series of government land grants to the Ava-Guarani peoples in southeastern Bolivia’s Chaco region — documents that have been largely forgotten and rendered inaccessible to the communities they concern.

After spring break, you will organize the material into reports for individual communities. At the end of the semester, the class returns to Bolivia to present those reports to Ava-Guarani leaders in southeastern Bolivia, who will now have the documentary evidence needed to claim the royalties they are legally owed from oil and gas companies operating on their land. These efforts will also help communities develop their own histories and culture through systematic documentation copied from the ABNB.

Learning outcomes

Upon completing the course, you will have acquired the following skills and knowledge:

• An appreciation of the needs of Indigenous peoples in Latin America
• A stronger understanding of Latin American history
• Practical experience helping Indigenous communities reclaim their land rights and the historical records to support them

Itinerary highlights

During spring break, you will meet with Indigenous leaders in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, before traveling to Sucre, where the Bolivian National Archives are located. There, you will recoup and copy material on Ava-Guarani land claims during a week of intensive historical research. At the end of the semester (late May), you will return to Santa Cruz to visit Ava-Guarani territory and offer formal presentations of your reports to Indigenous leaders.

Professor information

Professor Erick Langer

Erick D. Langer is Professor of History at the School of Foreign Service. He teaches courses on Latin American History. He is the author, co-author and editor of eight books and author or co-author of more than 50 articles in journals and book chapters. Dr. Langer is the U.S. History Representative of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History. He is presently working on three projects: a history of frontiers in the Chaco region of South America, a book on the economic development of the south-central Andes, and the diary of Francis Burdett O’Connor, an independence hero who fought with Bolivar and became one of the largest landlords in Spanish America during the 19th century.