CHIC1914

In 2011, Marvel Comics created, Miles Morales, a Black and Puerto Rican character to replace Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Additional Latina/o/x characters emerged in mainstream and underground venues indicating an important shift in the comic book landscape. This course focuses on comic books and young adult (YA) literature to investigate race, class, gender, sexuality, and nationhood. Despite Latina/o/x population growth, Latina/o/xs remain highly underrepresented in publishing. This course draws from scholarship such as Frederick Luis Aldama and Christopher González’s Graphic Borders (2016) to discursively analyze comic book and YA texts. We will unpack the political implications comics and YA have on our culture. For example, comic book character La Borinqueña’s get out the vote campaign in Georgia for the 2020 senate elections. We will read a variety of texts including Elizabeth Acevedo’s Poet X, Gabby Rivera’s Juliet Takes a Breath, and Marvel Comics Miss America series featuring America Chavez.

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