SDSU Is Offering a College Course About Selena

Drawing of Selena (by dignidadrebelde)

San Diego State University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies will be offer a course about Selena Quintanilla Perez, according a release SDSU shared on April 16, the late singer’s birthday.

“Selena and Latinx Media Representation” will be listed as a spring of 2020 course, and SDSU students can register for the course starting on November 1, 2019.

“Students at SDSU, a Hispanic-serving institution, need more engagement with representations, including absence of representation and misrepresentation, of Latinx populations,” Nathian Shae Rodriguez, an assistant professor of digital media studies, said in the release.

“Students also need access to content in media landscapes to better understand the relationship between mediated representations and Latinx identity formation and maintenance,” Rodriguez added. “Speaking about these issues through the life of a well-known and visible celebrity allows students to utilize both pop culture and Latinx culture to deconstruct and interrogate the significance and broader meaning of minority-based mediated content.”

The course will explore and denconstruct “socio-cultural mediated representations of intersectional Latinx identities” by examining Selena’s music and career. It will also dive deep into how the late singer’s influence still impacts present-data Latinx media, audiences and marketing, with a focus on digital media.

“Selena was such an inspiration to so many Latinx individuals around the world, and continues to be today. Her music, fashion, and iconography have influenced every facet of pop culture, transcending the entertainment world and influencing socio-cultural spaces world-wide,” Rodriguez said. “I grew up listening to Selena and wanted to create a course that highlighted her impact on not just Latinx culture, but pop culture in an international scope.”

Born in 1971, Selena burst onto the 1980s Tejano music scene, earning praise and acclaim, including a slew of Tejano Music Awards, more than 12 Billboard Latin Music Awards, 10 Lo Nuestro Awards and one Grammy. She was killed on March 31, 1995 in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the woman who founded Selena’s fan club. In 1997, the movie Selena (with Jennifer López in the starring role) was a smash hit, becoming an instant cult classic. In 2017, Selena was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.