Spanish 350AT - Advanced Studies in Concepts and Practices of Power: 'The Agency of Things: Material Culture of Latin America, Spain, and the U.S. Border'

What is a thing? What is stuff? Water bottles, bread, trash, relics, photos, dirt, a broken printer, your favorite socks... Where do they come from and where are they going? In this course we'll gain an understanding of the political, historical, spatial, and affective agency of objects. We'll study how artists, writers, collectors, hoarders, migrants, and things of modern-day Latin America, Spain, and U.S.-border areas engage with the inanimate things around us. Our study will be enlightened by theoretical discussions on "object oriented ontology," environmental humanities, the Anthropocene, everyday life, and automation. Students will also have a chance to decipher the meaning and trajectories of their own "stuff."

Prereq: Two 200-level Spanish courses above SPAN-212.