Instructor: Prof. Sharrah Lane

This course seeks to explore the role the child plays in Latin American society from the end of the 19th Century through the 21st Century. Over the semester, the student will become familiar with the place the child has within the Latin American family and society, via texts that are intended for children as well as texts which represent them. Via the texts selected, we will take an intersectional approach to understanding childhood(s) across racial, gender, and class divisions in Latin America, considering how the child’s evolution into an active citizen has taken place over time. The student will explore global definitions of the child and better understand the social, economic, and historical elements that define the child. Students will be able to compare their own experience to that of the Latin American child via in-class opportunities to critically engage with and reflect upon similarities and differences between their own culture and those presented in class.

Prerequisite: SPAN 261 or 267

Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL

Spring 2023: SPAN 344.001 – Latin American Culture Topics: Nation and the Transnational: Borders, Immigration, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender.

Instructor: Prof. Alicia Rivero

The border and (im)migration–legal and undocumented–have become controversial issues. To understand why, we’ll explore not only some of the background surrounding this controversy and its impacts in Latin America and the US, but also intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, nation, and the transnational. We’ll use historical and current events, film and multimedia, lectures, some articles online, as well as selected 19th and 20th century literary works as sources to see how these polemical concepts have been defined in and outside of Latin America.  We’ll discuss such notions as: (post)colonialism, slavery, transculturation, hybridity, stereotypes, diaspora, criminalization of immigration in the US, labor practices, ethics, migrants sent to “sanctuary cities” in the US as political pawns, etc. Work for the course entails: two tests; a final exam; a presentation; a research paper; active class participation.

Spring 2023: SPAN 344.002 – Latin American Culture Topics: Latin American Futurisms

Instructor: Parker Brookie

This course is a panoramic and hemispheric approach, meaning an examination of Latin American culture throughout the Americas, through literature, film, music, photography and art produced in Latin America as well as Chicana and Latinx culture in the United States. This course approaches Latin America in an interdisciplinary and transnational manner to introduce students to Spanish-speaking as well as select Brazilian authors, filmmakers and artists, etc. It is divided into six units which include Afrofuturism, Indigenous futurism, Chicanafuturism, Environmental Futures, Present dystopias, and Gender and time. The course will provide students with a solid understanding of prominent works that address time, technology and race and of artistic futurist movements in Latin America. The varied course materials (literature, film, photography, performance and music) and the assigned projects and activities will promote the student’s critical thinking in the context of a variety of social and cultural contexts, challenging the students to reflect on the similarities and differences between different countries, ways of thinking, cultures and societies, including their own.

Spring 2023: SPAN 344.003 – Latin American Culture Topics: Living in the Hyphen – How Latinos are Defining and Re-defining their Identity in the US

Instructor: Prof. Lorna Avilés

As the Latino population in the United States continues to grow and diversify, the challenges of living in a hyphen, of living in between cultures, languages, and traditions have become more and more apparent. This Latinx population represents a culturally diverse group of people living and adapting to the U.S. that is on a quest to redefine themselves within this hyphenated context. Through comparative and critical analysis, this course will introduce students to works of Latinos/as in the United States focusing on the ways in which different Latinx groups and communities have used their shared or differing experiences to attempted to define their new cultural identity. Among the many topics discussed will be the creation and emergent redefinition of identity within the context of historical influences, cultural transmission, and traditions, artistic expression, family structure and expectations, language, class, race, gender, economic status, migration, power dynamics, and diaspora. To further the understanding of these topics we will study recent literary and artistic works as well as films, poetry, podcasts, and memoirs representing the largest Latinx communities in the U.S.

Fall 2022: SPAN 344.001 Latin American Culture Topics: Environment, Gender, Race, and Other Issues”

Instructor: Prof. Alicia Rivero

Studying how nature is represented in Latin(a) American texts will help us to better understand the peoples, cultures, environment, history, politics, economic development, and societies of the regions that we will explore. We’ll probe such topics as:

Environment, colonization, resistance, and survival of Native Americans.

Economic development and environmental destruction.

Environmental racism and justice.

Nature viewed as female and as Other; woman and minorities viewed as nature and as Other.

Traditional male and female gender roles in Spanish America (machismo and marianismo) and how they are changing.

Our authors come from several Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil, as well as a Chicana from the US: Menchú, Quiroga, Fuentes, Bombal, Burgos, Lispector, and Castillo, respectively. They criticize stereotypical views and racial prejudice, decry ecocide, as well as celebrate difference and nature as a protagonist in a testimonial narrative, short stories, poetry, and a novel. Texts may vary due to availability.

Work for the Course: (1) an oral presentation; (2) a research paper that either expands your presentation or is on another topic you choose; (3) a final exam; (4) two tests. Active class participation is expected.

Fall 2022: SPAN 344.003 Spanish Language and Culture through Documentaries and other Films

Instructor: Prof. Gosia Lee

Span 344 covers several exciting topics: like environment in Latin America. Students will view documentary about Latin America and the Caribbean titled: Riqueza Viva and will discuss biodiversity, sustainability and ecotourism in this region. Globalization will be covered by viewing the documentary: ¿Por qué quebró McDonald’s en Bolivia? and the movie También la lluvia (about water wars in Cochabamba Bolivia in 2000). This class will also discuss poverty, hopes, dreams and drugs through documentary like La mina del diablo and the movie María llena eres de gracia. Inmigration and economic, political and social aspects of it, will be discussed through documentary titled ¿Cuál es el camino a casa? and the movie El Norte. The final topic of the class will be feminism and the situation of women in Hispanic countries through documentary titled: Nosotras, centroamericanas.  In addition to cultural topics, movies, songs and readings, students will have an extensive review of major grammatical points in context. The class is taught in an interactive way with Lesson Tools posted on sakai and lots of audiovisual material in addition to a cultural textbooks and readings.  Each chapter will also include songs related to the topics discussed in each class.

Spring 2022 – SPAN 344.001 Street Culture in Latin America and Latinx communities

Instructor: Prof. Juan Carlos González-Espitia

The street. La calle. Eating, people-watching, window-shopping, protesting, partying, praying, recycling, bartering. Graffiti, statues, ads, stands, poems, pickpockets. When we think of the dynamism of Latin American and Latinx communities in the U.S., the images of public spaces come to our mind. Streets are central to economic transactions, social interactions, political gatherings, religious processions, festivals, spectacles, and public art. In this course we will study how the dynamism of the streets reveals nuanced knowledge about Latin American and Latinx culture. Taco trucks in Carrboro; conquistador statues falling down in Cali or Bogotá; soneros performing for tourists in Havana; Candombe drumming in Montevideo; a politician talking to a crowd in San Salvador; or Las tesis feminist activist group protesting in the front of a public building in Santiago are some of the examples we will discuss to understand how public space reveals intersections between gender, race, ethnicity, class, politics, and power in Latin America and in Latinx diaspora communities.

NOTE: This course is taught online and in Spanish

Prerequisite: SPAN 261 or 267

 

 

Spring 2022 – SPAN 344.002 Race and Ethnicity in Latin America

Instructor: Prof. Emil’ Keme

How do ideas of race and ethnicity originate in and have shaped Latin American societies since the second half of the 20th century? How do race and ethnicity intersect with nationhood, class and gender? How do Indigenous and Black writers and artists address and challenge ideas of race and ethnicity through their work? Using an intersectional framework, this course will address the answers to these questions by critically examining the social, cultural, and political constructions of race and ethnicity as they are represented in contemporary Indigenous and Black literatures, music, essays and film.

The course will be very dynamic and it will include lectures, discussions, critical responses to the course materials and guest speakers. To supplement lectures and assigned readings, students will also be exposed to other primary documents that include newspaper articles, essays, music, interviews, and visual materials in order to explore issues of race and ethnicity in their diverse and multiple manifestations.

Prerequisite: SPAN 261 or 267

 

Spring 2022 – SPAN 344.003 TransPacing: the Representation of the Chinese Diaspora and Migrations in Latin American Cultural Production

 

Instructor: Francisco Y Chen-López

 

This class aims to critically probe the representation of the transpacific intersections between China and its diasporic communities in Latin America in literature, film, visual arts, and culinary arts. Students will discuss various topics in this class, including (hybrid) identity, discrimination, narratives, race and ethnicity, popular culture, and violence, among others. Through these discussions, students will acquire a better understanding of the racial and cultural diversity in Spanish-speaking countries and regions as part of the preparation for gaining the necessary cultural intelligence and empathy to succeed in their future professions.

 

Prerequisite: SPAN 261 or 267

 

Fall 2021 – SPAN 344.001 Latino/a American Culture: Migration, Borders, and Hybrid Identities

 

Instructor: Prof. Oswaldo Estrada

 

The goal of this course is to critically examine Latin American migration, borders, and the construction of hybrid identities in the U.S. The course explores, among other themes and topics, coloniality, imperialism, discrimination, violence, race, religion, popular culture, and gender. The goals of the course are to broaden the understanding of Latin/o America; to be aware of its diversity and cultural wealth; to critically reflect on the formation and development of its cultural manifestations; to establish a dialogue between the students’ own culture and that of Latina/o immigrants, while questioning and revising current stereotypes; to grasp and critically analyze a variety of texts in Spanish and English from different origins and genres; and to relate texts and acquired knowledge with the historical moment and the cultural environment in which they have been produced.

 

Fall 2021 – SPAN 344.002 Nation and the Transnational: Borders, Immigration, Race, Ethnicity and Gender

 

Instructor: Prof. Alicia Rivero

 

Explore historical and current events, film and multimedia, as well as selected 19th and 20th century literary works to discover not only why the Mexico/US border, but also immigration have become controversial issues. To understand these, we’ll probe: (1) How they are defined in Spanish America and the US; (2) Intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, nation, and the transnational; (3) (Post-)colonialism, slavery, transculturation, hybridity, stereotypes, diaspora, criminalization of immigration in the US, labor practices, ethics, etc.

 

 

Spring 2021 – Race and Ethnicity in Latin America

 

How do ideas of race and ethnicity originate in and have shaped Latin American societies since the second half of the 20th century? How do race and ethnicity intersect with nationhood, class and gender? How do Indigenous and Black writers and artists’ address and challenge ideas of race and ethnicity in their work? Using an intersectional framework, this course will address the answers to these questions by critically examining the social, cultural, and political constructions of race and ethnicity and its consequences as they are represented in contemporary Indigenous and Black literatures, music and film. Some of the authors to be studied include: Domitila Barrios de Chungara (Aymara), Martín Tonalmeyotl (Nahuatl), Maya Cu Choc (Q’eq’chi Maya), Gladys Potosí (Kichwa), Victoria Santa Cruz, Lelia Gonzalez, Nancy Morejon, Shirley Campbell Barr, Manuel Zapata Olivella and Quince Duncan.

 

Note: This course is also part of the UNC Global’s Connecting Carolina Classrooms with the World initiative through Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). Students enrolled in this course will have the opportunity to interact and collaborate in research assignments with students from Universidad de San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador, during a five-week module.

 

Instructional mode: synchronous remote

 

 

Fall 2020 – Nation and the Transnational: Borders, Immigration, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

 

Explore historical and current events, film and multimedia, as well as selected 19th and 20th century literary works to discover not only why the Mexico/US border, but also immigration have become controversial issues.  To understand these, we’ll probe:

 

How they are defined in Spanish America and the US.

Intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, nation, and the transnational.

(Post)colonialism, slavery, transculturation, hybridity, stereotypes, diaspora, criminalization of immigration in the US, labor practices, ethics, etc.

 

 

Fall 2020 – Sex, Shame and Tears

 

This course will explore the representation of various types of intimate relationships in Mexican theatre, narrative, poetry, cinema, and pop culture. Although romantic relationships between men and women will be included, our investigation will beyond this obvious category to incorporate other kinds of romantic relationships, relationships with God, and the idealized self with the lived self. To this end, we will target the following goals:

 

To develop skills for the analysis of various types of artistic expression

To identify themes or patterns in the representation of various types of intimate relationships

To relate form and context to function

To communicate observations orally and in writing

To explore Mexican culture with a specific focus

 

 

Spring 2020 – Rolling into the Spanish Cuban American War: Labor, Race, and Gender in Three Transatlantic Tobacco Towns, 1886-1898

 

This course looks at the intersections of labor movements, race, and gender in locations on all three sides of the Spanish-Cuban-American war: Durham, NC, A Coruña, Spain, and Ybor City Florida. We will build connections and comparisons between the three sides, not to affix blame, but to complicate the narrative of the war and to deepen our understanding of this pivotal moment in cultural history. The course will also enter into some of the history and function of the nineteenth century tobacco industry, both as a mirror for the times and as a hotbed of political activism.

 

These three tobacco towns work well together because they offer different formulations of the same process. Whereas Ybor’s factories were integrated racially and in terms of sex, the factory in A Coruña was staffed only by women, with their nimble fingers and their lower wages. While Durham and Ybor are both in the South, the ways that they reacted to and interacted with reconstruction and the Jim Crow era, let alone their reckonings of the purpose and importance of the war in 1898, vary wildly. Durham is also a cigarette factory, so a slightly different process, with less artistry, leading to different relationships between owners and workers than can be seen in the other locations.

 

Readings for this class will be in both Spanish and English, and will include a large number of primary documents from the Nineteenth Century (newspapers, advertisements, political cartoons), in addition to political essay, novels, poetry, and film. More information on the course can be found at: https://rhirjo.wixsite.com/rolling344

 

 

Spring 2020 – The Environment in Latin American Literature and Film

 

Early Latin American writing reflected both indigenous exchange with the natural environment, and European astonishment at new flora and fauna. Forests, deserts, rivers, and oceans have figured in modern Latin American literature as the romantic locus of an original “Latin America”; as obstacles in the constitution of national sovereignties; or as what needed to be saved in order to avoid a catastrophic future. Writing and film were at times used to reinforce humankind’s domain over nature, and other times to create visions of a world in which the human and the non-human affect each other. Beginning with a couple of colonial-era texts, the course will focus on different ways modern and contemporary Latin American cultural production engaged with the environment.