SPAN 386 - Decolonial Theory and Practice in Latin America

The decolonial project emerged primarily from Latin America. It posits that coloniality is constitutive of modernity and thus aims to analyze, challenge and dismantle the lasting effects of colonialism that still permeate all aspects of our lives: subjectivity, knowledge, epistemology, language, race, gender, etc. In this course we will examine decolonial theories and practices advanced by, mostly, Latin American indigenous and non-indigenous scholars, activists and artists that (1) analyze the discourses and historical processes that help produced, sustained and reproduced the colonial matrix of power; (2) reject Western European epistemological and ontological dominance; and (3) attempt to propose, rediscover, renew and/or validate other ways of thinking, being and living that have been forgotten, marginalized or discredit by the forces of coloniality/modernity and racial capitalism. Part of the syllabus will be developed in class by the students themselves by suggesting texts, practices and case studies as the course proceeds.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): For Spanish credit: SPAN 321 or equivalent
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 396
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).