Approaches to Latinx Studies

Catalog description

This course introduces students to the study of the Latinx diaspora and Latinx experience in the United States as a step toward a more holistic understanding of the region we call Latin America. Latin America and the US have long shared porous borders that blur easy division between histories and identities. This class looks at the United States’ historical relationship with Latin America to explore push and pull factors of Latinx immigration, regimes of migration and citizenship, borders and border cultures and emergent forms of political and social action. It introduces students to key theories on Latinx politics, culture and identity, introducing canonical texts in the field. Students will become familiar with interdisciplinary approaches and discipline-based theories of identity, assimilation, transnationalism, and citizenship, and other issues that contribute to the field of Latinx studies.