English 239bc - Topics in Multi-Ethnic American Literature: Borders and Border Crossings

What terrain—physically, culturally and emotionally—do American writers inhabit when they write about borders? How might thinking about borders, whether literal or metaphorical ones, complicate the way race, class and gender inform matters of belonging and citizenship? Using literary and cultural analysis, this course explores what it means to be, become or refuse to be “American.” Major course themes include ethnic subjects and the American Dream, internment and detainment, and the disputed ownership of land, resources and persons. Texts studied include fiction and poetry written by a broad range of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian American writers. Restrictions: Not open to first years.

[CE] No FY