Critical Social Inquiry 0101 - Remapping las Americas

There are close to 54 million Latin@s residing within the United States, accounting for the largest "minority majority" within the United States. This rise in numbers is largely caused by economic, political and other social policies, prompting Latin@s to reside into new regions, cities, and towns that were once hostile to them, accounting for new demographic shifts and thus, Remapping las Americas. In the process, Latin@s have undeniably emerged as a significant political, cultural, economic and social force. Utilizing an interdisciplinary, Critical Ethnic Studies and transnational framework, this course is designed as an introductory foray to studying Latin@ communities in the United States, focusing on their historical, social, political, cultural and economic formations and practices. Some issues and topics to be discussed include: the history of Latin@ Studies, inter-Latin@ and transnational formations, Latin@ identities and their attendant discourses; social and cultural movements; labor policies and (im)migrant labor migration; past and current xenophobic policies and practices against Latin@ communities; and the forms of resistance employed by Latin@s against historical and current-day imperial projects and ethnically/racially intolerant policies.

Power, Community and Social Justice Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research