SPA 366 - Topics: Undocumented Narratives (1)

Can the undocumented be documented? This course provides an overview of the undocumented and formerly undocumented authors that have published in a range of genres, including memoir, graphic narratives, poetry, and fiction. Students in this course will explore their contributions to Latinx and U.S. literature and how these stories of displacement complicate our understanding of citizenship, identity, and race. Although the majority of the texts focus on the Mexican immigrant experience, we’ll also be examining the work of Salvadoran-American, Nicaraguan-American poets, Asian and Dominican writers. Some of the books included in the reading list are: The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villacencio; We Are Not Dreamers by Abrego and Negron Gonzalez; Post-Colonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz; Intergalactic Travels by Alan Pelaez Lopez; Jose Antonio Vargas, Dear America: Notes of An Undocumented Citizen; Julissa Arce, My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive; and Javier Zamora’s Unaccompanied.

Counts as a 300-level elective toward the Spanish major and minor. Prerequisite(s): SPA 311  
(Humanities)