english370wwgs345anncvetkovich.docVIP

English 370W/ WGS 345 Ann Cvetkovich Unique: 34970/48570 cvet@ Spring 2010 Parlin 323; 471-8374 T-Th 11-12:15 Office Hours: T-Th 1:30-3 Gender, Sexuality, and Migration The history and culture of the United States and the larger Americas have been profoundly shaped by migrations: colonization by European peoples and the resulting displacements of indigenous peoples; the African diaspora forced by slavery and the Great Migration from South to North; the shifting and unstable border between the U.S. and Mexico; the arrival through Ellis Island and other ports of Eastern and Southern Europeans; the long and multiple histories of immigrants from East and South Asia; the movement of gays and lesbians to urban centers; the arrival of refugees from war and genocide; and contemporary transnational and diasporic connections with nations and regions around the world. Although migration is sometimes represented as a threat to the integrity of the nation, it is, in fact, at the center of it. We will explore the impact of this history by reading contemporary literature mostly by women, with particular attention to how migration is shaped by gender and sexuality. We will consider how literature, with its attention to the relation between personal and historical experience, provides an especially valuable document of migration and intervenes in public discourse about it. The course will also provide students with an opportunity to reflect critically on their own national identities as residents, and in some cases, citizens of the U.S. – what does it mean, and what can it mean, to be “American”? Texts: Sandra Cisneros, Caramelo Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Monique Truong, The Book of Salt Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach Jamaica Kincaid, My Brother Jhumpa Lahiri, from The Interpreter of Maladies (tentative) Grading and Requirements: (Note: +/- grading will be used for portfolio assessmen