CORE C149 - Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic)

A single island, both divided and unified by distinct languages and colonial legacies, students explore the complex negotiations of race and nation in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. By studying works of literature, film, cultural studies, history, and politics from both sides of the border and its diasporas, students consider how the various articulations of colonial and postcolonial identities by states and different social actors have affected the national and international narratives of what it means to be from Hispaniola. Throughout the course, students ponder how physical and notional borders are employed as both tools of exclusion and sites for cooperation and exchange, while considering the complex processes by which national identities are constructed, disputed, and negated. In particular, students focus on discourses of race, language, gender, class, and migration as key to understanding the complexity of these issues, both on the island and in its diasporas.

Credits: 1
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
Area of Inquiry: None
Liberal Arts Practices: None
Core Component: Communities

Click here for Course Offerings by term