A new college course will focus on Tejano music superstar Selena Quintanilla and her impact on racial identity.
The course, titled “Selena: A Mexican-American Identity and Experience” will be offered this fall at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Associate Professor Sonya Aleman, who will teach the course, grew up with Selena’s music and attended her concerts.
“It just pulls together the intersection of all my research interests and teaching interests regarding racial identity, identity formation, representation and I really wanted something that is rooted in the population that I’m working with now,” Aleman said. “Part of that dream is teaching students that are like me, that are from places like me.”
She said Selena continues to resonate because she was a young, Mexican American who quickly blazed her own trail in the world of music.
“I think one of the major factors or one of the factors is the fact that we have so few icons or images of someone who looks exactly like a Chicana from this part of the world,” she said.
