SID - Moodle Platform

This survey course in Belizean Studies encompasses various aspects of Belize’s social, economic, political and religious history from pre-Hispanic to contemporary Belize.  It entails critical reviews on various topics of interest including Maya occupation, contact between Maya and European colonizers, European colonization, the Nationalist Movement and the struggle for independence, and current systems which have contributed (and those which have deterred) development.  Far from being a narrative of Belizean history, the course, in line with the critical approach characteristic of the Humanities, seeks to examine the principles and causes that keep shaping (and retarding) the nation-state of Belize.  In this regard, key historical writings will comprise the list of required reading to better understand the cause, the origin and development throughout the distinct epochs in Belize’s history.  Concepts such as sovereignty, acquisitive prescription, and the right to self-determination will be studied throughout in the context of the territorial claim by Guatemala to Belize.