Latin Immigration to the USA: Perspectives on the United States' Largest Ethnic Minority

Catalog description

This course uses the analytical frameworks of Latin American Studies and Latin American Literature in Translation to examine the phenomenon of recent Latin American immigration to the USA. The life ways of Latinos, today the USA’s largest ethnic minority, will also be studied. The class will use US Census statistical documents complemented by literary accounts to examine the following issues: Why do people emigrate from Latin America to the US; how do they participate politically in the host country? What, on the whole, are the characteristics of their living standards occupations, housing, and communities? How have these immigrants continued to relate to the “madre patria” or home country. How well have they “blended in” within US society? Among Hispanic immigrants, those from the following “sending countries” will receive special attention: Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Central America. This course will be of interests to all seeking understanding of the phenomenon of immigration, the demographics of Latino immigrants, and the sociology/anthropology of ethnic minorities in the USA today.