This course focuses on the literary production of various Latinx communities across genres, subgenres, and themes. The primary texts explore how Latinx life writing across time, place, and Latinx populations—Chicanx, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Salvadoran, and self-identified mix-heritage—undergird new transveral Latinidades, that is, new Latinx subjectivities that are interwoven with various geographical, cultural, political, historical, and personal stimuli throughout the world at large. This mapping of new Latinx syntheses seeks to unpack the “x,” as it were, as a complex signifier of ever evolving models of ontology (theories of being) and epistemology (theories of knowing). Several inquiries guide the course, and include the following:

• What new and/or old models of Latinidades are performed through encounters with other marginalized as well as dominant populations throughout the world, and how might they change our understanding of Latinidades in general?
• What are the political, philosophical, and broader ideological subtexts of new Latinx subjectivities and how do they relate to the broader present human condition and future options?
• What models of power and counter-power do these texts present and how might they relate to our contemporary and projected future world?
• How do gender, sexuality, and embodiment figure into extant and new visions of Latinidades in particular and being in general?

Student Notice of Workload Expectations and Requirements:

This course facilitates student skill acquisition in literary and cultural studies through engaging materials and instruction, which are paired with required writing assignments that include a 10-12 page research paper, plus precursor assignments. Additionally, the course involves weekly quizzes and a midterm examination.