Roberto Lint Sagarena
Professor of American Studies; Director, Intercultural Programs

- Office
- Carr Hall 203
- Tel
- (802) 443-5508
- rlintsagarena@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Fall 2023: In Carr 203 on Tuesdays, 12-3pm by appointment.
Roberto Lint Sagarena is Professor of American Studies at Middlebury College and serves as the Director of Faculty Mentoring and directs the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity. He holds degrees in Art History and Philosophy from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an MA and PhD in Religion from Princeton University. Prior to joining Middlebury’s faculty in 2009, he was a post-doctoral Instructor of the history of the American West at the California Institute of Technology and taught for nearly a decade at the University of Southern California in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity and the School of Religion.
His research interests center on the history of the North American Borderlands, the role of visual culture in the formation of racial, ethnic, and regional identities throughout the Americas, and the construction of public histories and traditions with particular attention to social relations resulting from inequity. He is the author of Aztlan and Arcadia: Religion, Ethnicity, and the Creation of Place (2014 NYU Press) and has published in journals and anthologies on the topics of religious murals in public places, the religious imagination of Gloria Anzaldua, and the production of place and counter-space as it shapes race and ethnicity. More recent work has turned towards the study of fictional worldbuilding as a practice that transforms our understanding of reality and has powerful influence on popular beliefs and practices in the real world.
Lint Sagarena served as the founding director of the Anderson Freeman Intercultural Center and house advisor for PALANA. He was appointed as the cohort mentor for the first group of C3 program post-doctoral instructors at Middlebury and is currently responsible for new faculty orientation and mentoring programs. After serving as chair of the Faculty Strategy Committee he will be joining the Promotions Committee in the Fall of 2024. He has served the profession as the elected Director at Large of the American Academy of Religion (2012-15), served on the editorial board of Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies, and regularly reviews manuscripts for a number of university presses and journals.
Courses Taught
AMST 0101
Intro to American Studies:
Course Description
Intro to American Studies
Please refer to each section for specific course descriptions.
Terms Taught
Requirements
AMST 0209
Am. Lit. & Cult: origins-1830
Course Description
American Literature and Culture: Origins-1830
A study of literary and other cultural forms in early America, including gravestones, architecture, furniture and visual art. We will consider how writing and these other forms gave life to ideas about religion, diversity, civic obligation and individual rights that dominated not only colonial life but that continue to influence notions of "Americanness" into the present day. Required for all majors and minors.3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
AMST 0213
Upcoming
Intro to Latina/o Studies
Course Description
Introduction to Latina/o Studies
In this course we will undertake an interdisciplinary investigation of the unique experiences and conditions of U.S. Latina/os of Caribbean, Latin American, and Mexican descent. We will critically examine transnational cultures, patterns of circular migration, and intergenerational transformations from a historical perspective while also using methodologies from the humanities and social sciences. Topics will include the conquest of Mexico’s northern frontier, Chicana/o and Nuyorican movements, Latina feminist thought, Latina/o arts, Central American migrations in the 1980s, Latina/o religiosities, as well as philosophies of resistance and acculturation. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
AMST 0500
Current
Upcoming
Independent Study
Course Description
Independent Study
Select project advisor prior to registration.
Terms Taught
AMST 0701
Upcoming
Senior Work I
Course Description
Senior Work
(Approval required)
Terms Taught
AMST 0710
Upcoming
Honors Thesis
Course Description
Honors Thesis
For students who have completed AMST 0705, and qualify to write two-credit interdisciplinary honors thesis. on some aspect of American culture. The thesis may be completed on a fall/winter schedule or a fall/spring schedule. (Select a thesis advisor prior to registration)
Terms Taught
AMST 1022
American Pulp Fiction
Course Description
American Pulp Fiction
In this course we will consider how American pulp fiction has reflected cultural attitudes, represented categories of identity, and been regularly reimagined from the golden age of the genre in the 20th century to contemporary times. We will read stories by Jack Vance, Poul Anderson, and H.P. Lovecraft, as well as Chester Himes’ The Heat is On. We will also view Pulp Fiction, the Maltese Falcon, and Lovecraft Country.
Terms Taught
Requirements
FYSE 1029
Worldbuilding and Worldmaking
Course Description
Worldbuilding and Worldmaking
In this seminar we will survey and critically examine fictional worlds in literature, cinema, and games as well the invention of places, cultures, and shared beliefs in the real world. Worldbuilding synthesizes concepts and stretches our understanding of possible realities through fantastic settings such as Middle-Earth, the Star Wars universe, or Barbie-land. Worldmaking does the same thing in our lived world through the invention of origin-stories, shared symbols and myths, invented traditions, and imagined geographies. Among the questions we will consider are: How do we conceive of coherent places and times? What real world consequences do fictional worlds have on popular beliefs and practices? Students will design their own well-researched and richly detailed worlds during the semester. 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
IGST 0703
Current
Upcoming
LAS Senior Thesis
Course Description
Latin American Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Terms Taught
INTD 1005
Worldbuilding
Course Description
Worldbuilding
In this course we will critically examine fictional worlds in literature, cinema, and games. Worldbuilding synthesizes and transforms our understanding of reality into fantastic settings in literature, movies, and video games. We will critically examine the multidisciplinary use of origin stories, symbols and myths, invented histories, and imagined geographies in constructing new universes. Among the questions we will consider are: How do we conceive of coherent places and times? What real world consequences do fictional worlds have on popular beliefs and practices? Students will design their own well-researched and richly detailed worlds during the semester. (Not open to students who have already taken FYSE 1029.)
Terms Taught
Requirements