Racial Capitalism and Resistance in Central America
SPAN 285
Spring 2026
| Section:
01
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| Course Cluster and Certificates: Caribbean Studies Minor |
In modern-day Central America and its diasporas, the most precarious communities are descendants of colonized, enslaved, and dispossessed populations. Yet while the fact of race and class intersecting is evident, why and how they have evolved together is not. This course examines the relationship between race formation and economic dispossession across the region through a transnational perspective. Through a wide range of Central American and hemispheric cultural objects, theoretical frameworks, and grassroots praxes, we will meditate on the theoretical paradigm of racial capitalism, which holds that racialism and capitalism are co-constituting and have evolved together to produce an economic world order dependent on colonialism, violence, exploitation, and containment. Students will develop their interpretive and analytical skills by collaboratively examining issues of whiteness, mestizaje, and multiculturalism; resource extraction; economic exploitation and expulsion; rage, resistance, and revolution; policing, counterinsurgency, and criminality; migration; identity and ethno-politics; and education. Beyond these cultural, theoretical, historical, and aesthetic concerns, a central component of the course is a creative or community engaged project that students will develop in close collaboration and in stages throughout the semester. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: SPAN221 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Hispanic Literatures and Cultures)(Latin American Studies) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Literary and nonfiction texts by Miguel Ángel Asturias, Rigoberta Menchú, Claudia Hernández, Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Zee Edgell, Óscar Martínez, Gloria Guardia, Roque Dalton, etc.
Narrative and documentary films by Pamela Yates, Jesse Freeston, Jayro Bustamante, Tatiana Huezo, Alí Allié & Rubén Reyes, Marcela Zamora, etc.
Art by Regina Galindo, Elyla, Danny Zavaleta, Simón Vega, Tierra Narrative, etc.
Theoretical, historical, and critical works by Cedric Robinson, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Emma Chirix, María Lugones, Lisa Lowe, Robin D. G. Kelley, Stuart Hall, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Gloria Anzaldúa, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, etc.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Class participation, weekly Perusall annotations, individual discussion facilitation, bi-weekly written reflections, a collaborative final project with staggered deadlines |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This class is intended for students who have completed SPAN 221 with a B- or better. Students who have not done so should consult with the professor before preregistering. Readings, written assignments, and class discussions will be in Spanish. Only COL students may take this course CR/U. Students are expected to be active/informed participants in class discussions, further developing their spoken Spanish skills. |
Instructor(s): STAFF
Times: ..T.R.. 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: 15 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 1 | JR non-major: 1 | SO: 2 | FR: 1 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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