LACS 195 - Special Topics in Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Credits: 3 or 4 A topical seminar that focuses on an interdisciplinary examination of a singular theme relevant to the overall understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean region, such as Hispanic Feminisms, the Indigenous Americas, or Shifting Borders, among others. As an introductory seminar, topics are selected with the purpose in mind to present the student with a broad, regional view within the scope of a restricted focus or medium. May be repeated for credit if the topics are different.

Spring 2021, LACS 195-01: Special Topics in Latin American and Caribbean Studies: Rise Up! Indigenous Poetry and Resistance in the Hemispheric Americas (4). What, if anything, can poetry do in the face of injustice? How, if at all, can it influence shared experience? And in what ways can it inflect, and perhaps even constitute, identity, whether individual or collective? To approach such complex questions, this course engages poetries of resistance by Indigenous poets of the hemispheric Americas. Together we will read and discuss a broad and scintillating diversity of periods, places, and peoples, all the while endeavoring to understand the potential intersections of poetry, identity, injustice, and resistance. Implicitly, this is also to say that we will be celebrating life. We will be exploring the potential of poetry to present and affirm diverse ways of being in the world, as well as its capacity to create new solidarities and communities, and to encourage equity and inclusion. To enhance such study, we also will read pertinent prose, drawing upon memoir, critical indigenous theory, and trauma theory, among other interdisciplinary fields. Students will even try their hand at expressive writing (no experience needed!), and they can look forward to a collaborative, vibrant, and supportive environment for the free and open exchange of creative thought. (HL) Michelson. FDR: FDR designation varies with topic, as approved in advance.