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Carlos Contreras
Carlos A. Contreras

Carlos A. Contreras

Professor History


Department(s):

Contact Info:

Email:
Phone: 619-644-7758
Office: Bldg. 70, Room 218 (in the Tech Mall, second floor)
Office Hours: FALL 2019: MW 12:30-2; T,Th 12:30-1:30 and by appointment

 

Course(s):

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HIST 109  Modern American History

Course Notes:

History 109 Syllabus Spring 2018

HIST 114  Comparative History of the Early Americas

Course Notes:

History 114 satisfies Grossmont, CSU and UC General Education Requirement; also fulfills the American Institutions Requirement.   History 114 Syllabus.

Fall 2017: This class will be an 8 week Online course that begins October 16th. I'll post the syllabus a few days before. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. 

Sample topics the course covers:

  • Native Peoples of the Americas: the Toltec, Aztec, Inca, Maya, Iroquois, Huron, Guaraní, Taíno…
  • How could Guns, Germs and Steel decimate two continents?
  • 1492, the Conquest and Colonization of the Americas
  • The African Slave Trade and the African contribution to the formation of the Americas.
  • Music, art, culture and the formation of new societies in Latin America, the Caribbean, and all of the Americas.
  • Independence Movements and the Formation of New Countries and Governments in the Americas

Offered every semester on M,W mornings at 9:30

HIST 115  History of the Modern Americas

Course Notes:

Satisfies: Grossmont, CSU and UC General Education Requirement; also fulfills the American Institutions Requirement. Course Syllabus for face to face course: History 115 Syllabus Course Syallabus for online course: History 115 Syllabus-Online

Just a few of the topics the course covers:

  • Colonial Legacies: the Native, European and African formation of the Americas
  • The Age of Revolutions, Independence and the Establishment of New Nations
  • The U.S. and Latin America in the modern era (19th to 21st Centuries)
  • Oil, Copper and Bullets: The U.S. and Mexico during the Mexican Revolution
  • Bananas and Gunboats: the US and Latin America during the Age of Empire
  • Guerrillas, “Che” Guevara and Counterinsurgency: the U.S. and Latin America during the Cold War
  • Neoliberalism, NAFTA and Narcos: the U.S. and Latin America in the 21st Century

Offered every semester M,W 9:30 and 11am and T,Th 11am

HIST 126  History of Mexico

Course Notes:

Current History of Mexico Syllabus

Satisfies: Grossmont, CSU and UC General Education Requirement

Sample topics the course covers:

  • Pre Columbian Mexico: Olmec, Mixtec, Aztec, Maya
  • Colonial Legacies: the Native, European and African formation of Mexico
  • Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz, “La Malinche”, Soldaderas, and gender relations in Mexico
  • The Hidalgo Revolt and Mexican Independence
  • Porfirio Diaz and the Integration of Mexico to the World Economy
  • Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution
  • Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, the PRI, and the making of Modern Mexico
  • Oil, narcotrafficking, corruption and Politics
  • Neo-Liberalism, NAFTA and the Zapatista Uprising
  • The IMF, the WTO, “The Tequila Effect” and Globalization
  • Comic books, masked wrestlers, masked guerrillas and social change
  • Mexico in the 21st Century

Offered every Spring semester, T,Th, 9:30-10"45

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About Me

I'm a Professor of History at Grossmont College and I absolutely love my job.  Even if I won the lottery (which I don't play), I would still teach history here.  I have a Ph.D. in History from UCLA and a Black belt in TaeKwonDo (Korean martial arts).  I love the teaching history, telling stories, martial arts, music, reading and traveling the world with my family. Our next trip is Peru!

I believe that public education is vital to our democracy.

(My apologies for my out of date syllabi here- this system is very cumbersome to update. I'm happy to email you my latest course syllabi at my email above).

Follow me on Twitter: @ProfContreras1

Here is my full Curriculum Vitae (CV) with professional accomplishments

Select Publications:

“Unsettling U.S. History Courses: A Reflection of My Experiences with Bridging Cultures,” in AHA Today, a Blog of the American Historical Association (the AHA), 2016.

Exploring Gender, Class and Ethnicity in Nineteenth Century Latin America: Clorinda Matto de Turner's Torn from the Nest     Presented at the World History Association Conference, June 2006.  Published in World History Connected, Vol. 4, no. 3, 2007.

"Mexican Economic Policy Since Colonial Times."  Published in Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2004)

  • GCCCD
  • Grossmont
  • Cuyamaca
A Member of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District