Critical Social Inquiry 0246 - Afro-Latin America

In this course we will shift the way we see Latin America in two important ways. First, we will approach it as the heart of the New World African Diaspora since colonial times. For this reason, we will study black presence in Latin America by examining the historical and contemporary contributions of afrodescendants to the region's nations, cultures and societies. However, we will not limit our analysis of the African Diaspora to the national borders of Latin American nation-states. Instead, the course will highlight the ties that bind "Afro-Latin America" to the rest of the diaspora, and in particular to the United States. As such, the course will explore the specificities of blackness in Latin America while emphasizing the shared historical experiences of the African Diaspora. Our main object of analysis will be the struggles over the meanings of blackness in Latin America: as a subordinate category produced by structures of inequality and as a foundation for liberatory projects for social justice.

Power, Community and Social Justice Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.