COURSE DESCRIPTION
LIT 80N, Latino Expressions in the U.S.

Professor Kirsten Silva Gruesz (ksgruesz@ucsc.edu)

Meets: MWF             lecture, 11:00AM-12:10PM, Humanities Lecture Hall 206
Must also enroll in mandatory discussion section (times TBA)

This course is an introduction to the literary cultures of U.S. Latinos/as, written in English and in hybrid forms of English-Spanish. “Latino/a” is an umbrella term to describe persons living in the U.S. who may identify more strongly with other identity categories: Mexican-American or Chicano; Puerto Rican or Nuyorican; Central American-American; Dominican-American; or any number of other rubrics and regroupings. In this course, we will survey the distinctive histories of these groups in the U.S., with an eye toward their common ground: a shared experience of colonialism and migration, and a powerful—if sometimes vestigial—relationship to the Spanish language.

We will cover a range of genres, including fiction, poetry, the graphic novel, essay, and film. While Latinos and Latinas have been publishing in the U.S. since the early nineteenth century, the bulk of our attention will be paid to contemporary literature and to living artists. Much of the reading will be centered around the writers who will visit UCSC as part of the Latino Literary Cultures Conference on Nov. 6-8, 2008. Students in this course will have opportunities to hear and meet the writers and scholars in attendance, and will also have the option of participating in allied events.

Depending on the final roster for the conference,  the syllabus will include works by the following: Junot Díaz, Achy Obejas, Dagoberto Gilb, Luis Alberto Urrea, Luis Rodríguez, Juan Felipe Herrera, Lalo Alcaraz, Sonia Nazario, María Meléndez. Other readings will include work by Américo Paredes, Helena Maria Viramontes, Sandra Cisneros, Victor Hernández Cruz, Gloria Anzaldúa, Tino Villanueva.

Requirements: attendance at class meetings and at least one conference event; in-class midterm exam; 3 short response papers (2 pp.); final paper (5 pp).

Course fulfills these requirements: GenEd E and T4

Can be taken for major credit in Literature or LALS