Humanities and Fine Arts 191HFA4 - FYS-OyeComoVa:Music&LitPR/Mex

This course will feature music, short stories, and poetry written by Chicanos/as (Mexican-Americans) and Puerto Ricans living off the island, especially in New York City. We will discuss the different motivations authors and lyricists might have for choosing to use the language(s) they do, and the ways in which those choices help us understand the negotiation of Latino/a identities in the U.S. Similarly, we will explore the ways in which the music of Salsa, rock en espa?ol, corridos and reggaeton, for example, are artistically and politically important in these communities. Our explorations of music and writing will provide a window into the ways that these sometimes beautiful, sometimes gritty, art forms have had a political function while allowing us to engage with historical and current Latino/a, yet also more broadly American, issues.

Open to first-year Humanities and Fine Arts Exploratory Track students and first-year HFA Majors.