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Migrant and diasporic communities transformed medieval and early modern Spanish society. Focusing on Jews and conversos, Muslims and moriscos, and enslaved and free Afro-Europeans, this course trains a critical eye on early racialized systems that policed various boundaries of difference. Through legal documents, literature, and visual culture, students will grapple with the complex intersections of religious persecution, economic opportunity, and imperial expansion. By analyzing how premodern diasporic communities navigated social hierarchies, we will attempt to understand how migration and displacement shaped enduring racial and national identities, as well as how an array of cultural products both reinforced and challenged official ideologies. Class will be conducted in Spanish.