Latinization of U.S. Cities

Catalog description

This course examines the historical and contemporary Latino transformation of American cities. We begin with early 20th century Latino migrations to N.Y.C. and L.A., move onto the rise of barrio politics in the 1960s and 70s, recent urban transnational ties in a late 20th century global era, and end with the exponential rise and geographic expansion of Latino populations in various urban and suburban cities across the U.S. A study of these shifts in the Latinization of cities is of particular relevance today as professionals in creative, policy, and academic fields grapple with the fast-growing U.S. Latina/o population. Because of the multi-faceted and urgent nature of this ethnic specific urban process, this course understands that the verb "Latinizing" is enacted by multiple actors with various political and economic interests, and considers the resulting Latinized urban process to be an always contested and evolving intersection of culture, class, gender, sexuality, and race. The course draws from texts in anthropology, sociology, history, cultural studies, and geography, all of which are augmented with various films. By reading multi-disciplinary texts that cover various cities and Latino national groups across the United States, students in this course will gain a rich theoretical and analytical background on the pressing issues and main individuals and communities that have shaped and continue to shape Latina/o urban America.