WGSS 382
Latina/o Politics
Last Offered n/a
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
This course is not offered in the current catalog

This course explores Latina/o politics from World War II to the present. Defining politics broadly, we will examine everything from electoral politics to grassroots activism. We will explore the relationship between Latinas/os and the U.S. political system, as well as the ways in which dynamics internal to Latina/o communities shape political issues and political participation. Specific topics include Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans struggles for political inclusion in the aftermath of World War II, Cuban exile politics and their impact, the political and social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, key electoral campaigns, the recent appointment in 2008 of the first Latina as a Supreme Court justice, and on-going debates over immigration. With an assessment of power relations at its core, this Exploring Diversity Initiative course explores the ways in which Latinos and Latinas have been excluded from or differentially included in the U.S. political system, as well as how the U.S. political system reflects dominant hierarchies of race, class, and gender. We will also interrogate how Latinas/os have sought to make U.S. politics more inclusive and at times have struggled to transform U.S. politics.