MAS 423 - Latino Urbanization

This course will examine how urbanization transformed the lives of Latinas/os in the United States, and how their growing presence transformed communities, institutions, and national politics. Since World War II, the growth of U.S. urban areas directly corresponds with immigration trends. Globalization has intensified this dynamic as migrants moved northward from mostly rural areas in Mexico and Central America seeking jobs and to improve their quality of life. Aside from demographic growth and land-use issues, this course will highlight issues related to urbanization such as housing, political participation, education, health disparities and the formation of new identities and social movements. It will also consider multiethnic encounters and collaborations that often take place in urban life. Lectures will center on the historical, geographical and social changes that accompany urbanization. Interdisciplinary readings consisting of monographs, primary documents, oral testimonies and government documents will be assigned.