Time Schedule:
Jose A Lucero
SISLA 490
Seattle Campus
Content varies.
Class description
Borderlands of Violence “The U.S.-Mexican border es una herida abierta (is an open wound) where the third world grates against the first and bleeds.” Gloria Anzaldúa
Anzaldúa’s poetic description has been an all too literal one as the border has long been a site of violence. This course puts this violence in theoretical and comparative perspective by examining a century of structural, physical, and symbolic violence on Mexico’s northern border with the United States and southern border with Guatemala. Organized historically and thematically, the course examines the political and social construction of borders through an exploration of the intertwining processes of military conflict, economic integration, and migration. While U.S. foreign policy is an important part of all these processes, the course will introduce students to the importance of a broad set of actions at elite and popular levels in Guatemala, Mexico, and the U.S.
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General method of instruction
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