COURSES
LATINIZATION OF U.S. CITIES
DEPT. OF LATIN AMERICAN, CARIBBEAN, AND LATINO STUDIES, UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SUNY
I regularly teach this course. This is a 200 level course.
This course examines the historical and contemporary Latino transformation of American cities. We begin with early 20th century Latino migrations to NYC and LA, move onto the rise of barrio politics in the 1960s and 70s, new urban transnational ties in a late 20th century global era, and end with the exponential rise and geographic expansion of Latino populations in various urban and suburban cities across the US. The course draws from texts in anthropology, sociology, history, cultural studies, and geography, all of which are augmented with various films. By reading multi-disciplinary texts that cover various cities and Latino national groups across the United States, students in this course will gain a rich theoretical and analytical background on the pressing issues and main individuals and communities that have shaped and continue to shape Latina/o places in urban America.
RACE, ETHNICITY, AND U.S. CITIES
HONORS COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SUNY
I taught this course in Fall 2013 and Fall 2015. This is a 200 level course.
This course examines the historical and contemporary ethnic and racial transformation of American cities. We begin with early 20th century Latino, Asian, and Black migrations to NYC and southern California, move onto the rise of ethnic urban politics in the 1960s and 70s, urban transnational ties in a late 20th century global era, and end with the exponential rise and geographic expansion of ethnic and racial minority populations in various urban and suburban cities across the U.S. The course includes anthropology, sociology, history, cultural studies, and geography texts, all of which are augmented with various films. By reading multi-disciplinary texts that cover various cities and ethnic and racial groups across the U.S., students in this course will gain a rich theoretical and analytical background on the pressing issues and main individuals and communities that have shaped and continue to shape multicutlural urban America.
LATINA/O U.S.A
DEPT. OF LATIN AMERICAN, CARIBBEAN, AND LATINO STUDIES, UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SUNY
I regularly teach this required course for the Department. The title and much of the description was designed before my arrival. This is a 200 level course.
This course is an intensive examination of Latino American society. Major Latino groups (e.g., Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans, Cubans, Dominicans) will be studied with emphasis on interaction between these groups and mainstream society, culture and value change in contact situations, and efforts to deal with prejudice and discrimination. The course draws from texts in anthropology, sociology, history, and cultural studies, all of which are augmented with various films.
THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO LATIN AMERICA, THE CARIBBEAN, AND LATINO USA
DEPT. OF LATIN AMERICAN, CARIBBEAN, AND LATINO STUDIES, UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SUNY
I taught this graduate course in Spring 2017. The title and much of the description was designed before my arrival.
The purpose of this course is to expose students to the major classic and current theoretical frameworks that have focused on the interconnections between culture and power to study Latin America, the Caribbean, and US Latina/o/xs. We begin the course with a definition of theory and a discussion of the importance of knowledge for critical thinking. We then move on to examine the construction of Latin American and Latina/o/x Studies and its intersections with the Caribbean. We will discuss some of the major theoretical approaches that have been employed for the study of Latin America, the Caribbean, and US Latina/o/xs (i.e. cultural studies, postcolonial studies, subaltern studies, modernity, coloniality, decoloniality, racial formation theory, and theories of gender and sexuality), discussing their origin and development, and assessing their contributions and limitations. We will look at the overlaps between area and ethnic studies and the blurry boundaries that these transdiciplinary frameworks share with disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, literary studies, and history. We will also examine how theoretical frameworks developed in the Americas converge with, diverge from, and mutually influence Euro-centric thinking. Central to the theories examined in this course are the concepts of identity (as it pertains to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality class, and nation), subjectivity, agency, discourse, representation, hybridity, transculturation, performativity, modernity, coloniality, decoloniality, post-modernity, and border.
MAKING SENSE OF THE CITY
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
I co-taught this course in Spring 2015.
This course starts from the premise that to engage the spatial politics of cities, we must engage with the senses. We will ask how vision, affect, and smell shape our understandings of and connections to architecture and urban space. Conversely, how do different spaces condition our sensorial experiences? Employing the critical, interpretive and theoretical knowledge of the humanities, we examine how sensorial markers of belonging in urban spaces relate to social markers of citizenship, political boundaries, gender, class, race, and ethnicity. We will set our examination of these questions in multi-ethnic, postindustrial Paterson, NJ and its surroundings.
THE CREATIVE CITY: CULTURE, ECONOMY , AND POLICY IN U.S. CITIES
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY AND URBAN AFFAIRS, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
I taught this course in Spring 2012. This is a graduate course.
Demographic shifts in the American population and the de-industrialization of U.S. cities have placed culture and debates over its usefulness at the center of urban policy and development. This course examines how the representation and marketability of culture is discussed in contemporary U.S. urban policy, development and discourse. We will critically analyze well-known trends such as the “creative class” and “the Bilbao effect,” but also gradual and emerging urban processes, such as the Latinization of cities, and the role of artists, designers, and students in the marketing of place. Our cultural approach is thus broad and encompasses: everyday cultures; ethnic and LGBT communities; high-brow and low-brow tastes; architecture; museums; and public art. Course readings stem from various disciplines such as economics, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies, and cover several American cities. We will supplement these texts with examples from the Boston metropolitan area. The course is designed to provide students with the analytical skills needed to grapple with the challenges and possibilities of introducing varied forms of culture in current urban development. .