FGSS 4123 - Archipelagoes: Cartographies of Race, Sound, and Sexuality

(crosslisted) AAS 4123, AMST 4123, ASRC 4123, ENGL 4923, SHUM 4123
(CA-AS, ALC-AS)

Fall or Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with FGSS 6123.

T. Goffe.

Considering the archipelagic turn, this course takes a transnational approach to geographies, ecologies, literatures, and cultures of island chains. How are archipelagoes understood in relations of power to the mainland? Taking up Michelle Stephens and Brian Roberts “Archipelagic American Studies” students will depart from the conventional and continental definition of the United States and center a hemispheric approach to the Americas. Students will also consider the soundscapes of island cartographies and how gender and sexuality is mapped onto the land. How do island formations provide a framework for understanding militarization, Indigenous sovereignty, creolization, extractive capitalism, and imperialism? Archival analysis as well as experimentation with digital cartography and DJ’ing tools to produce original research theorizing islands will be part of the final project.