SPAN 415 - Climate Justice in Latin American Cultural Productions

Units: 4 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-3 ; Sustainability
Introduction to environmental justice issues in Latin America with an emphasis on capitalist expansion and extractivism, patriarchal structures, supremacist ideologies and environmental degradation. Course provides a supportive space for students to analyze and develop solutions to environmental issues in Latin America.

Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-3 - Upper Division Arts or Humanities, Overlay - Sustainability
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better. Taught in Spanish/English; English modules provided for non-Spanish speakers.
Strongly Recommended Preparation: SPAN 343 and/or Upper Division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Area C requirements. Taught in Spanish/English; English modules provided for non-Spanish speakers.
Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground, or Hybrid, or Online-Asynchronous, or Online-Synchronous.
Grading: A-F grading only.
Course Typically Offered: Fall & Spring

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Recognize and identify various representations of nature, and causes/consequences of environmental crises through a transdisciplinary approach from the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences.
Identify and reflect on the real-world environmental crisis and representations such in various forms of literary, visual, and cultural production in the Latin American world within its historical, social, ecological, and global context.
Describe how authors, artists, and filmmakers from the Global South portray and define climate issues in their works, and contrast them to American views on the topic.
Interpret Latin American literary texts and film materials from a climate justice perspective, as represented in a specific cultural context.
Articulate written responses using theoretical texts that are part of the broader contemporary debates regarding topics linked to the relationships between the human and the non-human.
Express opinions with knowledge, appreciation of ethnic diversity, and respect for important aspects of environmental justice and Latin American culture.
Critically evaluate serious environmental problems through the interpretation of diverse texts, including those of the indigenous oral traditions of Latin America.

GE-UD-3. Upper-division Arts or Humanities Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply principles, methodologies, values systems, and thought processes employed in the arts and humanities.
Analyze cultural production as an expression of, or reflection upon, what it means to be human.
Demonstrate how the perspectives of the arts or humanities are used by informed, engaged, and reflective citizens to benefit local and global communities.

Sustainability Overlay Learning Outcomes

Discuss multiple dimensions of sustainability, including the scientific, social, cultural, and/or economic.
Analyze interactions between human activities and natural systems.
Describe strategies taken by individuals, communities, organizations, or governments for mitigating and/or adapting to key threats to environmental sustainability.