In addition to class meetings, an extra assignment/research component will be added to the course to increase contact hours with students. Possible components include additional readings, outside-of-class research projects, and any other project which the instructor feels will add to the value of the course. Topics to be announced at the beginning of each semester.

What are the conditions that allowed for queer Latinx people to emerge, describe themselves as queer, and create a community? Our seminar will unpack the conditions of possibility that allowed for queer Latinx people to emerge. We will begin with the 1980s when queer women of color started to explore the intersections of desire, sensuality, politics, race, gender, and sexuality. It was because of their efforts that queer Latinx people began to come out publicly and publish books, art, and film under the category of queer and Latinx. With this introduction, we will then dive into the theory of representation and Foucault’s theory of sexuality, as it has influenced much of the work in queer Latinx studies. Having explored these theoretical frameworks, we will go back in time. We will explore sexuality in Latinx history going back to the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the founding myth of la Malinche, through Latin American colonial history, and then into the 1800s. We will conclude by returning to the twentieth century. Here we’ll focus on the emergence of lesbian and gay identities and on queer Latinx cultural production.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills