LSP 2100 - [Introduction to Latina/o Studies]

(crosslisted) AMST 2106
(CA-AS)

Fall. Not offered 2016-2017. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

K. Jaime.

This course is an introduction to Latina/o Studies, a discipline that investigates the historical, socio-political and economic conditions and experiences of Latina/os in the United States, including but not limited to Mexican-Americans/ Chicana/os, Puerto Ricans/Nuyoricans, Cuban-Americans, Dominican-Americans, and Central and South Americans. The course examines the production and performance of Latina/o identity. We begin by asking the following? How is Latina/o identity defined? How is latinidad performed? We then focus on the politics of ethnic labels and segue into both the Chicana/o and Nuyorican movements as initial sites of Latina/o resistance. We continue by analyzing the immigration of other Latina/o groups such as Cubans and Dominicans, alongside Central and South Americans into the United States, by attending to current issues such as immigration policies and reform. In situating the class around “Latina/o” as both an umbrella term and an enacted social construction, we are then able to turn our attention to representations of latinidad within different genres of cultural expressions, such as music and literature alongside critical theory.