As if Selena’s ever-growing cultural impact wasn’t already palpable – evident in everything from limited edition MAC collections to Forever 21 capsules – now, you can register to take a course on La Reina herself. Starting this spring, students at San Diego State University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies can register for a class that will use Selena as a reference point to explore Latino representation and how the media landscape changed with her arrival.
“She’s still one of those enduring cultural figures that people can really understand and identify with,” assistant professor Nathian Rodriguez, who will be teaching the course, tells The San Diego Tribune. Students in the class will study various examples of Selena in media, including the 1997 film, Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez, and the upcoming Netflix show, Selena: The Series.
Rodriguez assures students that although the subject matter of the class may seem focused on celebrity, the ultimate goal of the course is to use Selena’s story to explore the shifting role of Latinxs in media, and how her enduring legacy continues to shape that narrative. “This isn’t a class about a celebrity,” he says. “She’s the pop culture hook we’re using to explore Latinx representation in the media.”