AC 213: Introduction to Latina/o Studies


Fall 2005                                              T-Th 1:00-2:30                       B844 East Hall


Instructor: Dr. Maria Cotera                                                                                   GSI: Kathy Jurado

mcotera@umich.edu                                                                                          kjurado@umich.edu

3666 Haven Hall                                                                                                    3504 Haven Hall

Office Hours T&TH: 10:00-11:30                                                                                 Office Hours

 

Course Description:

Latino Studies is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, Central American, and Latin American communities in the US. Latina/o Studies offers a rubric for understanding not only the interconnections between diverse Latina/o communities but also the differences that sometimes divide them. This course will introduce students to the many practices of Latina/o Studies by giving them the opportunity to meet and learn more about scholars engaged in this field of study. The class will consist of a series of lectures/projects designed in conjunction with scholars, activists and cultural practitioners working in different areas of Latino Studies at the University of Michigan and beyond.

 

Online Resources:

CTools: http://www.ctools.umich.edu/portal

AC213 Website: http://www.umich.edu/~ac213

 

Required Texts:

AC213 Course Reader: (Available at AccuCopy)

 

Course Requirements:

Attendance (10%): Regular attendance is required from all registered students. Your Attendance grade will be assessed in the following manner. At the beginning of every class, you will sign our class roster indicating that you were present for that class session, tardiness is unacceptable. You are allowed up to two (2) excused absences during the semester, but you must show documentation in order for an absence to be counted as �excused.� Absences are excused for personal illness, family emergencies, jury duty and religious holidays. More than one unexcused absence will lower your overall attendance grade so please make sure you talk to me if you know you'll have to miss a class.

Participation/Discussion (10%): Constructive class participation and consistent and engaged reading of assigned texts are required from all registered students. You will receive a grade for your participation in discussion session over the course of the semester, so please prepare for your discussion section. Preparation for discussion includes identifying puzzling aspects in the readings or lectures, highlighting specific passages in your readings for analysis, and raising questions for debate. I recognize that people have very different styles of participation and different levels of comfort with speaking in section. Your participation/discussion grade will reflect not how many times you speak in section, but how you share in developing a lively and respectful conversation. Sometimes holding back a comment for a more appropriate moment can be as important as speaking. If you miss a discussion section you will receive no grade for that day, which will affect your overall Participation/Discussion grade.

Unit Exams (30%): We will have three mini-exams over the course of the semester. Each exam will cover material (reading and lectures) from the previous Unit. In other words, Unit Exam I will cover material from Unit One: Histories; Unit Exam II will cover material from Unit 2: Identities, and Unit Exam III will cover material from Unit 3: The Latino Condition. Please refer to the syllabus for Exam dates.

Final Project (50%): You have three options for your final project. Each of these projects involves a series of short preparatory assignments (3 total) spaced at regular intervals throughout the semester. The short assignments will help you to get an early start on your final project so that you aren't scrambling to finish at the end of the semester. You must decide which final project you want to undertake by the third week of class and submit your decision via email to me ("cc" the GSI, Katy Jurado) by Sunday, September 26.The descriptions below are brief overviews of your final project options. For more detailed information please consult the AC213 Website: http://www.umich.edu/~ac213.

Option #1: Web-based Project (collaborative project): Form a group of 2-3 students. Create a website that addresses some aspect of the Latina/o experience. See the Web Project Resources page on our class website for more detailed information on project guidelines and resources.

Option #2: Activism Project (group project): Form a study group (3-4 students) within your discussion section. Each study group will then work together to identify a specific social problem or issue that affects and/or disadvantages Latina/os in the U.S. Over the course of the semester, study groups will research the issue, conduct an interview with a local activist and/or scholar involved in advocacy on the issue, develop a specific plan of action to address the issue via activism, and write a final report summarizing your experiences. See the Activism Project Guidelines page on our class website for more detailed information on project guidelines and resources.

Option #3: Community Service Learning Project (individual experiential project): Volunteer with one of the following community service organizations: Casa Digna, PALMA, Associaci�n Latina Alcanzando Sue�os (ALAS). Write a final paper (8-10 pgs.) that reflects on your experience and draws from class readings & lectures. See the Community Service Project Guidelines page for more detailed information on project guidelines and resources. Remember that in order to complete this project, you will have to spend at least 2 hours per week working on-site at the community service organization.

Class Activities: Throughout the semester you will have several opportunities to attend Latina/o Studies related events for extra credit (see below). However there are two class-related events for which attendance is mandatory. On Saturday, October 22, the class will take a field trip to Detroit. We will visit the Diego Rivera murals at the DIA and then take a tour of the murals and public art in Southwest Detroit. On Wednesday, December 7, (7:00 pm) there will be a film screening of the Lourdes Portillo documentary, Se�orita Extraviada. Attendance at both of these events is required. Should you miss either of these events, one point will be deducted from your overall attendance grade.

 

Extra Credit Opportunities: You will have a number of opportunities to increase your final grade throughout the semester. Here's how it works: 1) attend any lecture, performance, or event having to do with the U.S. Latina/o experience (you must get approval from the course instructor first);
2) write a 1-2 page reflection paper about the event and/or your experiences; 3) submit your paper (in a timely manner) to the course instructor. For each event attended/reflection paper you will receive an "extra" .5 points added to your final grade.

 

 

COURSE SCHEDULE


INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS LATINA/O STUDIES?


Week 1 ¾ Why Latina/o Studies? (Sept. 6 & 8)

Tuesday: Maria Cotera, Introduction to the Course

Thursday: Maria Cotera, Latinos: What's in a name?

Readings:

Thursday

     "Hispanics? That's What They Call Us" in Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives, Suzanne Oboler

Extra Credit Opportunity: Take the AC213 Pre-Survey (survey due Sunday, Sept. 19)

UNIT ONE: HISTORIES


Week 2 ¾ Legacy of Conquest (Sept. 13 & 15)

Tuesday: Maria Cotera: Introduction to History of Anglo-Latina/o Relations

            (informational presentations on final project options)

Thursday: Maria Montoya: 1848 and the Creation of the Southwest

Readings:

Tuesday

     "So Far From God, So Close to the United States," Suzanne Oboler,

Thursday

     �Threatened Colonies II: The Anglo Invasion,� "Frontier in Conflict", "The Ultimate Violence" and "Heritage of Bitterness" in A History of the Mexican-American People, Samora and Simon

     Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Articles IX and X

     �We Call Them Greasers,� in Borderlands, Gloria Anzald�a

 

Extra Credit Opportunitiy: Volunteer to help with Festival Latino at Riverside Park, Ypsilanti. Sunday, Sept. 18, 10-8 (one 3-hour slot) includes free admission, food, raffle (worth .5 point on your overall grade) Contact: Liliana Mariona liliana.mariona@gmail.com


Week 3 ¾ 19th Century Concepts of Race (Sept. 20 & 22)

(Project Proposal due by email: Sunday, September 26)

Tuesday: Maria Sanchez: A New People: Mexican Americans in the 19th Century.

Thursday: Jesse Hoffnung-Garskoff: The Spanish American War & the Caribbean Diaspora

Readings:

Tuesday

     Selections from �Who Would Have Thought It?,� Ru�z de Burton

Thursday

     �Love in the Tropics:  Marriage, Divorce and the Construction of Benevolent Colonialism in Puerto Rico, 1898-1910� Eileen J. Findlay

     ��Educating the Natives in Self Government� Puerto Rico and the United States, 1900-1933,� Truman S. Clark

Extra Credit Opportunity: Vicki Ruiz Lecture


Week 4
¾ Latina/os on the Move (Sept. 27 & 29)

Tuesday: Silvia Pedraza: Cuban Immigrants: Revolution and Exodus

Thursday: Maria Cotera, Crossing the Border ¾ U.S. Immigration Policy

Readings:

Tuesday

     �Cuba�s Refugees: Manifold Migrations,� Silvia Pedraza

     �Pedraza�s Cuba: Past but Ever Present,� Carla Howery

Thursday: Why don't you fill in the blanks here, Katy


Week 5 ¾ Migration and Invisibility: The Central American Experience (Oct. 4 & 6)

Tuesday: Maritza Cardenas: Central Americans: Exile and Return

Thursday: Unit Exam I

Readings:

     �Central Americans: Intervention Comes Home to Roost,� "Columbians and Panamanians: Overcoming Division and Disdain" in Harvest of Empire, Juan Gonz�lez

     Claudia Milian Arias, �Fashioning United States Salvadorannes:  Unveiling the Faces of Christy Turlington and Rosa Lopez,�

 


UNIT TWO: IDENTITIES


Week 6 ¾ The Power of Identity Politics (Oct. 11 & 13)

Tuesday: Maria Cotera: The Sixties and the Growth of Nationalism I: The Young Lords

            (Film Screening Pa�lante, Siempre Pa�lante) (Assignment #1 Due: in class)

Thursday: Maria Cotera: The Sixties and the Growth of Nationalism II: Chicano Power

Readings:

Tuesday

     �Establishing an Identity in the 60�s,� Suzanne Oboler

     �Young Lords Party 13 Point Platform�

     �Puerto Rican Obituary,� Pedro Pietri

Thursday

     "Organizing for Survival," Samora & Simon

     �El Plan Espiritual de Aztl�n�

     �Yo Soy Joaqu�n,� Rodolfo �Corky� Gonzales


Week 7 ¾ The Art of Identity (Oct. 18 & 20)

Tuesday: Fall Study Break

Thursday: Maria Cotera, The Art of Identity

Readings:

     "Arte Chicano: Images of a Community," Tom�s Ybarra-Frausto

     "Introduction" Signs From the Heart, Sperling-Cockcroft & Barnet-Sanchez

 

Field Trip: Diego Rivera Murals & Tour of Southwest Detroit Saturday, Oct. 22.


Week 8 ¾ Sin Verguenzas: Dissident Identities (Oct. 25 & 27)

Lectures:

Tuesday: Maria Cotera: Las Mujeres Speak Up

Thursday: Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Latina/o Sexuality

Readings:

Tuesday

     "Abortions Under Communites Control," Jennifer Nelson

     "Chicana's Speak Out!" Marta Vidal

     �Notes from a Chicana Co-ed,� Bernice Zamora

Wednesday:

     "Chicano Men: A Cartography of Homosexual Identity and Behavior," Thomas Almaguer

     "Playing With Fire: The Gendered Construction of Chicana/Mexicana Sexuality," Patricia Zavella. 


Week 9 ¾ (Nov. 1 & 3)

Tuesday: Maria Cotera: Borderlands Identity

Thursday: Unit Exam II

Readings:

     Selections from Borderlands/La Frontera, Gloria Anzald�a


UNIT THREE: THE LATINA/O CONDITION


Week 10 ¾ The Politics of Language (Nov. 8 & 10)

Tuesday: Teresa Satterfield (Assignment #2 Due: in class)

Thursday: Maria Cotera, The Politics of Language

Readings:

Tuesday:

     �Is �Spanglish� the third language of the South?:  Truth and Fantasy about U.S. Spanish,� John Lipski

     �Jose Can You See?:  Latina/o responses to Racist Discourse,� Ana Celia Zentella

Thursday:

     "The Queer Politics of Spanglish," Lawrence La Fountain Stokes

     "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," Borderlands, Gloria Anzald�a

 


Week 11 ¾ Latino Youth (Nov. 15 & 17)

Tuesday: Robert Ortega: Latina/o Youth

Thursday: Lorraine Gutierrez: Latino/a Youth and Community Activism

Readings:

Tuesday

     "Latinos and Child Welfare" Robert Ortega

Thursday

     "Latino Leadership Development: Beginning on Campus," Marco A. Davis

     "Young People as Competent Citizens," Barry Checkoway, et al.

     Please take a look at the following websites before Dr. Gutierrez' lecture: http://www.swop.net/ and http://www.youthec.org/youthforce/ (on ctools)

 


Week 12 ¾ Thanksgiving (Nov. 22 & 24)

Tuesday: Film Screening: Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary (Assignment # 3 Due)

Thursday: Thanksgiving

Readings:

     "Leave No School Behind," Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez


Week 13 ¾ Latinos and Health (Nov. 29 & Dec. 1)

Tuesday: Alexandra M. Stern: Medical Discourse and the Latina/o Immigrant Body I

Thursday: Alexandra M. Stern: Medical Discourse and the Latina/o Immigrant Body II

Readings:

Tuesday

     �Buildings, Boundaries and Blood,� Alex Stern

     �Policing Pregnant Pilgrims,� Elena Gutierrez

Thursday

     �Aguacero,� Aurora Levins Morales

Film Screening: La Operaci�n dir. Ana Maria Garc�a, 1983)


Week 14 ¾ Latinos and the Media (Dec. 6 & 8)

Tuesday: Catherine Benamou: Latina/o Documentary

Thursday: Catherine Benamou: Latina/os and Transnational Television

Readings: Complete all readings by Tuesday

     �Latino Advocacy:  The Numbers Game,� Chon Noriega,

     �Generation EXiled�No mas:  The New Generation of Latina/Latino Producers,� Fabiola Torres,

    �Our Own Institutions:  The GeoPolitics of Chicano Professionalism,� Chon Noriega

 

Required Film Screening Wednesday night 7:00-9:00: Se�orita Extraviada (Lourdes Portillo, 2002)


Week 15 ¾ December 13 Final Project due IN CLASS: Tuesday, December 13

Tuesday: Exam III


Extra Credit Opportunity: Exit Survey (Due Thursday, December 22)