The history of Latino culture in the Americas is much bigger and broader than we often realize. In this place, where the Old World and the New clashed and merged in spectacular fashion over the course of several centuries, we see a microcosm of world history with all its facets and complexities.

In the six lectures of Great Figures of Latino Heritage, art historian and anthropologist Dr. Khristin Montes will introduce you to many of the people that have shaped Latino culture and identity on scales both global and local. Your journey begins with the great empires of the Aztecs and the Inka in pre-Colombian Latin America and continues through the centuries to arrive in the political and social realities of the 21st century. You will meet emperors and laborers, revolutionaries and artists, organizers and athletes—influential and fascinating people from all walks of life that created, inspired, and reshaped the Americas as we know them today. Some of those you will meet include:

• The emperors Motecuhzoma II (“Montezuma”) of the Aztecs and Atahualpa of the Inka, as well as Malinzin or “La Malinche”—the slave girl who helped bring down an empire.
• Revolutionaries and military leaders including Simon Bolivar, Emiliano Zapata Salazar, and Manuela Sáenz.
• World-renowned artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.
• Labor and human rights activists including Cesar Chavez, Rodolfo Gonzales, and Dolores Huerta.
• Contemporary political and community organizers such as Sophie Cruz, Faith Florez, and Ramon Contreras.

As you meet these figures and others and witness their impact, you’ll see that Latino history, like all history, is not merely a static recording of the past. Rather, it is a rich and diverse narrative that is still being written.