This course examines the multifarious figure of the desaparecido in Latin America. It takes as its point of departure the the era of dictatorships (the 1970’s and the 1980’s), then moves into the transitional era after the truth commissions and the return to democracy, and finishes up with an exploration of the present state of the war on drugs and narco violence. By examining cases of human rights violations and forced disappearance in Central America, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, the course explores the search for the disappeared, the poetics/politics of mourning, transitional justice, and memory practices, by examining cultural production such as novels, poems, music, documentaries, films, and visual arts. Addressing these diverse issues will involve engaging literary, cultural, political, and theoretical concepts stemming from the work of prominent artists, intellectuals and activists in the Americas.