How has Latinx history in the United States been shaped by U.S. imperialism across the Americas? What is the relationship between different Latinx communities in the United States and U.S. empire? What role has U.S. empire played in Latinx im/migration, both historically and in our contemporary moment? Does "Latinx" refer to a race, an ethnicity, a culture, or something else entirely? How do we understand Latinidad in relation to other racial formations in the United States and the broader hemisphere? Taking these opening questions as our guides, this survey course will introduce students to Latinx history through a transnational framework by emphasizing the centrality of U.S. imperialism in understanding who Latinx people are and how they have ended up in the United States. The course will trace the histories of U.S. imperialism and Latinx communities beginning in the nineteenth century and extending into the present day. An emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary historical approaches to the study of Latinidad and Latinxs in the United States as related to U.S. imperialism and colonialism, racial capitalism, transnational racial and ethnic formations, and im/migration. Students will be exposed to the approaches of cultural, social, gender, political, oral, labour, and legal historians, alongside the work of Ethnic Studies, Latinx Studies, and American Studies scholars. |