AML 3630 Fall 2020 Ribo

“Latinx Studies on Trial” frames an introductory survey of Latinx literature from the colonial period to the present within contemporary debates on the role of ethnic studies in public education and public life in the United States. Throughout the semester as we read memoirs, essays, poems, short stories, plays, and novels, we will return to questions raised by the banning of Mexican American Studies and the censorship of books written by Latinx authors in Arizona in 2010. Why was the Mexican American Studies curriculum banned? Why were these books censored? Who sets educational curricula and defines literary canons? What stories should be taught to future generations? How, as technologies advance and cultures change, does literature reflect these changes? In addition to film, television, music, and other popular culture, readings will include selections from The Norton Anthology of Latino/a Literature and books by Jennine Capó Crucet, Joseph Cassara, Sandra Cisneros, Angie Cruz, Edwidge Danticat, and Javier Zamora.