Migr Bord LATAM Cult Prod

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

What is a border? What is “bordering”? How do borders relate to race, coloniality, and imperialism? How do literature and film, among other mediums, both engage with and challenge transnational conversations around migration and borders? “Migration and Bordering” considers these and other questions via an examination of contemporary literature, film, performance, and visual art from two distinct regional contexts that are heavily defined by migratory processes: Mexico and Central America, and the Andes. Dialoguing with major works of Border Theory from Latin America and beyond, our course considers cultural production’s role in challenging, dismantling, reconfiguring, and, at times, upholding borders of all kinds (national, international, linguistic, socioeconomic, racial, etc.). We will also consider how various forms of migration—namely international and internal—shape these borders and those who cross them. Our approach to these questions will be comparative and transdisciplinary, drawing from a number of fields and critical approaches. Students are welcome and encouraged to bring their own experiences, disciplinary backgrounds, and expertise to the classroom.