LLS 363 Il-Legal Subjects: U.S. Latino/a Lit & the Law

3 hours 

This course examines how the law shapes contemporary Latina/o life in the United States. Students will examine the relationships between legal texts and literature. Latina/o literature not only responds to the law, but also to its inequitable enforcement. We will read court cases, law reviews, and literary analysis in order to study the way Latina/o literature exposes contradictions in the legal system. Topics covered may include the legal construction of race, the criminalization of youth, law and U.S. colonialism, violence against women, and challenges to individual civil liberties.