Through a wide range of discourses (historical, sociological, literary, psychoanalytical and cinematographic), this course will examine the multiple roles played by food from Pre-Columbian times to the present in Latin America. Focusing primarily on Mexico and Cuba, we will learn about the significance of corn and chocolate for the Aztecs, the culinary experimentations and innovations carried out in convents during the colonial period, the connection between cuisines and national identity, the sugar plantations in Cuba and the slave trade in the nineteenth century, and the resources used by hungry Cubans during the so-called “Special Period.” Readings include selections from: Mariano de Cárcer y Disdier, Apuntes para la historia de la transculturación indoespañola; Jeffrey M. Pilcher, ¡Que vivan los tamales! Food and the Making of Mexican Identity ; Sidney W. Mintz, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History; Antonio José Ponte, Las comidas profundas.