Global and Regional Studies: Afro-Latin American Agency

See Schedule of Courses for specific titles. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

Pre-req: GRS 1500; Special Topics courses cannot carry CC designations. PACE students by permission and override

Important: This course meets MWF 2:20-3:10 This course examines the racialization of global labor and migration while exploring the notion of citizenship, nativism, and power accumulation in the United States, Mexico, and Central America. At the core of the course will be the study of the American, Mexican, Central American, and South American racial hierarchy systems and technologies of racial power as they relate to the African diaspora in the Americas, with a focus being placed on the transnational identities of Afro-Latinx communities in the United States. Students will learn about the concept of epistemic violence and how the gate-keeping of history works on both a national and global scale. While exploring concepts of erasure, colorblindness, and nation building, students will engage in a study of counter-narratives that examine the political power, economic power, legal strategies, and the cultural production employed by African-Americans and Afro-Latin Americans to subvert structural discrimination in their countries. The notion of American exceptionalism (as applied to the US) will be investigated through the lens of racial hierarchy systems, political identity, global labor and migration, transnational identity, and national belonging.

During this course students will: develop an understanding of how racial hierarchical systems work in the United States and in Latin America; develop an understanding of how power operates in historical narrative production; investigate and analyze diverse types of written texts and cultural production including journalistic non-fiction, literature, academic articles, film, music, and music video production; deepen and strengthen critical thinking and academic writing skills; strengthen informative speaking skills on a variety of topics.

Evaluation will be based on participation, reading responses, cultural memory assignment, presentations, and a culminating interdisciplinary research paper.