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.
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
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)