College Seminar (101-7-1)

Topic

Latiné Stories in Words and Motion

Instructors

Elvia Mendoza
Crowe Hall, Room 1144

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-410: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

Latine Stories In Words and Motion

This freshman seminar examines how Latines in the United States use creative expression—film, literature, painting, and other visual arts—to tell stories, challenge dominant narratives, shape cultural identity, and reclaim space for Latinx voices. We will engage with films, short fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and visual art to analyze how Latinx artists transform personal and collective experiences into creative forms of storytelling. Key themes include identity and belonging, migration and diaspora, language and bilingual expression, family and memory, gender and sexuality, and resistance and activism. We will approach art as more than an aesthetic practice by emphasizing its role as testimony, cultural preservation, and political intervention, while exploring how meaning shifts from page to screen to image. Students will also experiment with different art forms to deepen understanding and strengthen critical thinking.

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze Latine creative works across multiple forms (film, literature, visual art) by identifying key themes such as identity, migration, language, and resistance, and explaining how these themes are expressed through different artistic forms.
2.Discuss how Latine artists use creative expression as cultural and political intervention, articulating the relationship between art, power, and representation in U.S. contexts.
• Compare storytelling strategies across across art forms (e.g., text, film, visual art) and evaluate how meaning shifts when narratives move between forms.

Class Materials (Required)

Daisy Hernandez, A Cup of Water Under My Bed
Justin Torres, We the Animals

Class Attributes

WCAS College Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration is reserved for Latina and Latino Majors and Minors during pre-registration. Regular registration will be open to all majors/minors after the pre-registration period. Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required
Drop Consent: Department Consent Required