SPA 366 The Art of Migration
This course is an exploration of cultural production (art, literary journalism, film, poetry, fiction) that seeks to shed light on the process of migration. Some of the questions that will guide our course are: Why do people leave a country for another one? What causes displacement? How do migrants challenge concepts such as “home,” “nation,” and “citizenship”? What can art about migration do in the face of our current global refugee crisis? Throughout the course we’ll pay particular attention to the historical dynamics and current debates about Central American migration to the United States. An expectation of this course is that students will participate in the execution of the international exhibit Hostile Terrain 94, a “participatory political art project” that memorializes migrant deaths in the Arizona desert. The exhibit will be on campus in September-October 2020.