Movies such as “Blow,” “Traffic,” and “City of God,” as well as TV shows like “Narcos,” have shaped U.S. popular conceptions about drugs, drug use, and the drug trade. In many ways, popular culture has glamorized and romanticized the violence and tensions of the trade itself. This course seeks to explore the history of the drug trade, focusing on the trade between the U.S. and Latin America in order to understand perceptions of trafficking and U.S. drug consumption from both sides of the border. The class will start in the seventeenth century, exploring how certain drugs, such as marijuana, became viewed as dangerous. The course will continue exploring the relationship between U.S. demand and Latin American production. Students will learn the history of U.S. drug policy, and the effects this policy has had on Latin American producing nations. Finally, students will be asked to explore current policy and implications of current policy on countries such as Mexico, where U.S. policy and consumption, combined with Mexico’s political situation, have wreaked havoc on stability in that country. Credit hours: 4. (CI, HE)
- Teacher: Nichole Sanders