(Harvard, 3 Nov 07)

The Casta Paintings, Theories of Human Diversity, and the Inferiority
of Life in America
November 3, 2007
Harvard University

This one-day Workshop will concentrate on the widespread theoretical
discussions and bitter disputes in early modern Europe and America
over the environment's influence on the human body, the hierarchical
view of human nature, and the social controls implicit in human
classification. The vivid Spanish American casta paintings will be
studied as documents in the theory of human "temperament," a central
concept of Hippocratic-Galenic medicine, and as a common form of
racial arithmetic. Discussion will include the ways this widely
accepted ordering of types was ultimately inverted. Scholars with an
expert knowledge of the field will discuss aspects of the topic; each
of their presentations will be followed by general discussion. Lunch
will be provided, and a reception will follow the final session.

PROGRAM

9:30-10:00 a.m.
Bernard Bailyn, Harvard University
Introduction

10:00-11:00 a.m.
Ilona Katzew, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
"Classifying Colonial Mexico: The Case of Joaquín Antonio de Basarás"

11:00-11:15 a.m. Break

11:15-12:15 a.m.
Carlos López Beltrán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
"Blood and Temperament; Purity and Mestizaje in Castas Society"

12:30-2:00 p.m. Lunch

2:00-3:00 p.m.
Joyce Chaplin, Harvard University
"Race in British America: Reality and Appearance"

3:00-4:00 p.m.
Magali Carrera, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
"Mapping the Territory of the Body in the Visual Practices of New Spain"

4:00-4:15 p.m. Break

4:15-5:15 p.m.
Nicolás Wey-Gómez, Brown University
"Nature, Place, and Political Hierarchy in Columbus's Invention of
the Amerindian Tropics"

5:30-7:00 p.m. Reception

Attendance at the Workshop and participation in the discussion are
open to the academic community. Historians at the beginning of their
careers are especially encouraged to attend. Pre-registration is
required. For a registration form and additional information, please
see our Web site, http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~atlantic/casta.html or
contact the Seminar office via pdenaultfas.harvard.edu.