[Aztlan] Help with course title "The Architecture of ..."

[David Hixson]

Dear Diane,

The main obstacle you must overcome is that the
geographical area you wish to cover has been
canonically termed "Mesoamerica" yet you clearly
intend to cover colonial and 20th century architecture,
when the term does not always apply.

As you probably know, Kirchoff established Mesoamerica
as a cultural / geographical unit of study in his 1952
study of pre-Columbian traits (including architectural traits).
His work solidified the notion of a cultural region that
spans central and southern Mexico, through northern
Central America.  Further publications supported this
grouping, which is why his original publication has been
reprinted in all core "reader" volumes on the topic, and
is mandatory reading for any "Intro to Mesoamerica" class.

Yet, as you pointed out, there is not a one-to-one
overlap with the Spanish and Portuguese colonies
(i.e., "Latin America").  The colonial history (and later
modern history) of Latin America certainly was influenced
by Mesoamerica, but was much larger geographically,
and influenced by many other traditions.

"Mesoamerica" is therefore not only situated in space,
but limited in time, as certain forces (especially evident
in architecture) came from outside following the conquest.

So, with those caveats, my suggestion would be...

"The Architecture of Mesoamerica, from Pre-Columbian
to Modern Times"

May I also suggest... if you had a theme of the class that
traced Pre-Columbian architectural traits through the
colonial period to the 20th century (Frank Lloyd Wright,
etc.).  Then I would title it "The Influence of Mesoamerican
Architecture in the Modern World".

I would certainly sign up for that class.

Hope this helps,

-Dave