Llama herders and urban elites: Interdisciplinary readings of early colonial narratives in the Americas

Abstract

We argue for an interdisciplinary pedagogical approach that we call the Integration of Research and Education in the Classroom, which highlights and crosses disciplinary boundaries to challenge each field’s assumptions, limitations, conceptual and interpretive purview. We use a set of examples that center on problematizing various aspects of the concept of indigeneity in the Spanish Colonial Period of Latin America. These examples draw explicitly on material from literary and culture studies, archaeology and anthropology, and foster students’ critical thinking about the works of early indigenous authors such as the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala. We show how an Integration of Research and Education in the Classroom approach provides rich fodder for classroom discussions as well as scholarship.