Themester

This course number has variable topics. Only this topic is related to Themester 2017.

No other physical geographic space has captured our most heated and controversial debates about citizenship more perfectly than the American borderlands, the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Furthermore, no other population (with perhaps the exception of Asian and Asian Americans) regardless of legal status has been perceived and continues to be perceived as the perpetual foreigner or “other” than the population of Mexican descent.

By addressing the ways in which the social construction of the border has evolved and shaped issues concerning national identity, place and landscape, contact zones, protection and security, labor and domesticity, race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality, the course directly examines issues of diversity, difference, and otherness. In addition, the course examines the diversity of border culture and the lived experiences of border people and the immigrants entering and leaving the U.S. (whether as documented or undocumented).

Lastly, the course hopes to expose students to the fact that the American Borderlands also represents a figurative space (Gloria Anzaldua), a liminal or third space which captures the intersection of identities. In this case, the American Borderlands has created a unique ethos which blends U.S. and Mexican cultures.

Instructor: J. Ramirez

• A&H
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