SPN 495 — SpcTpc Cari, Lat Am & Span Lit
This special topics course offers an in-depth exploration of selected themes, topics, movements, or authors in Caribbean, Latin American, and Spanish literary traditions. Through close reading and critical analysis of texts from diverse historical periods and cultural contexts, students will examine how literature reflects the craft of writing through different topics in time and how the creative task of writing addresses and shapes questions of identity, power, colonialism, migration, race, gender, and resistance. This course may include works from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain, and may be organized around a specific theme (such a decolonization, diaspora, or memory), genre (e.g., poetry, novel, testimonial), character (e.g., Don Juan or Celestina figures), or literary movement. Readings will be presented in Spanish. Students will engage with a range of critical approaches to literary study while developing skills in textual analysis, comparative interpretation, and academic writing. Particular attention will be given to the historical and cultural contexts that shape literary production, as well as to the ongoing relevance of these works in contemporary global and trinational discussions.