This course provides an introduction to the history of Latinxs (and Hispanics, a distinction in terms the course will address) in the United States. It explores the impact of various historical actors—women and men, natives and immigrants, political leaders and political dissidents, exiles and refugees—whose actions, interactions, and dynamics shaped the country and defined its character, its politics, its culture, its economics, and its social structures—in other words, its history.

Pundits, critics and fortune tellers have announced that by the year 2050 U.S. Latinos will number close to 100 million, constituting the third largest Latin American “nation” within a nation, behind Brazil and Mexico. This interdisciplinary course will provide a general introduction to the field of Latino/a Studies and how it is reconfiguring the study of the United States and the Americas. We will consider literature, history, sociology, economics, politics, and culture as we contemplate the terms: Latino/a, latinidad, Global South, transnational, and multinational.

Required for students seeking the certificate in Latino/a Studies in the Global South. Provides students with the opportunity to synthesize theories and methodologies in Latino/a Studies taken in previous coursework and to critically reflect on content related to the Latino/a world, especially about latinidad in local and global contexts. Utilizes texts of a rigorous and probing nature in relation to individual research projects. Open to juniors and seniors who have previously taken Latino/a Studies in the Global South 101S: Introduction to Latino/a Studies in the Global South.

Focus on those who bring food to our tables, particularly those who labor in the fields of North Carolina and the Southeast. Students will learn about farmwork from the plantation system and slavery to sharecropping and up to the migrant and seasonal farmworker population today. Study and analysis of media representations of farmworkers and agricultural issues as well as historical and contemporary documentary work and its contributions to farmworker advocacy. Includes a service-learning component involving work in the community. One course.

Intro to the interdisciplinary field of Latino/a Studies, and how it reconfigures the study of the United States and the Americas. Considers literature, history, sociology, economics, politics, culture and language in examining terms such as: Latino, latinidad, Global South, transnational, globalization, and multiculturalism. Exploration of alignments and divergences of Latino/a Studies with African and African American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Critical US Studies. Classroom learning will connect with the community outside of Duke.

Introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Latino/a Studies, and how it reconfigures the study of the United States and the Americas. Considers literature, history, sociology, economics, politics, culture and language in examining terms such as: Latino, latinidad, Global South, transnational, globalization, and multiculturalism. Exploration of alignments and divergences of Latino/a Studies with African and African American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and Critical US Studies. Classroom learning will connect with the community outside of Duke.