LALS 335 - Beyond Survival:Latinx Immigrant and Transnational Latin American Communities’ Healthcare & Wellness

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

This seminar course examines how immigration policies, labor conditions, displacement, and inequalities contribute to the mental health and emotional injuries of Latinx immigrants and their family members, including historically vulnerable populations. Students learn about social determinants of health and ethical research methodologies to research migrant health. Students write and prepare a research proposal that explores a health issue that affects a Latinx immigrant community in the United States. Students develop ideas for an accessible community-based resource to understand better and improve health conditions. The course is divided into three parts.

In Part I, students review the political histories of countries in Latin America and the U.S. policies that cause people from these places to migrate. Students also spend time focusing on the experiences of diasporic Indigenous communities in the United States and the racial bias they confront in their native communities and the United States.They acknowledge the stereotypes about immigrants and how scholars demystify mistaken and harmful ideas.

In Part II, students spend time unpacking immigrants’ health inequalities and structural vulnerabilities. Students learn about the social determinants and the policies that make it difficult for immigrants to access health resources. Situating Latinx immigrants’ lack of political and citizenship rights, they consider how bureaucratic processes contribute to stress and impact medical adherence rates.

In Part III, students think about the socio-emotional consequences of immigration and the influence of social structures, including gender and family. They consider social-justice-oriented methodologies for researching immigrant health especially considering adequate sources for Indigenous communities, who possess epistemologies of illness and healing.

They also read about the most recent global approaches that are especially useful to understand in times of pandemics, environmental and social changes. Candy Martinez.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS