This course will examine historical and contemporary examples of Latina/o/x political, social, and cultural practices in the United States through an interdisciplinary lens. We will explore the transnational nature of Latinidad and how Latina/o/x culture and identity is shaped by power relations and socio-political dynamics both in the United States as well as in countries of origin. This course will begin with discussions of what constitutes Latino/a/x identity and what constitutes Latino/a/x studies, laying the foundation for the analytical work we will do for the remainder of the semester. We will turn to themes ranging from colonialism and conquest, to sexuality and gender, to transnationalism and immigration, to race, poverty, and spatial inequality, to language, music, and media representations. Within each section of the course, students will be asked to articulate their thoughts via both written work and class participation, creating a classroom environment wherein students collectively think through the politics, histories, and implications of Latina/o/x identity.

Description:

The term “Chicana” has its roots in the 1960’s-70’s Civil Rights Era and the Chicano Movement. Beginning with this rich activist heritage and ending at our current political moment, in this class we will deconstruct the term “Chicana,” discovering and celebrating the plurality of meanings and identities that make up the word. We will do this work through a survey of multiple genres—poetry, film, testimonio, and more—and we will have the opportunity to see how Chicanas have interrogated and manipulated different forms in order to best express their hybridized selves.

Readings:

Readings will come from authors such as Sandra Cisneros, Gloria Anzaldua, Ana Castillo, and Norma Cantu. 

Description:  Gloria Anzaldúa famously called the border between México and the United States a “1,950 mile-long open wound,” “una herida abierta,” where “a third country—a border culture” has arisen on either side of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo and beyond.  In this course, we will traverse the borders of language(s), geography, history, and identity negotiated by Mexican-American artists from Texas in a variety of literary genres, visual art, and film.  Our methods will be intersectional—attending to class, gender, sexuality, religion, etc., in addition to race—as we explore these (re)definitions of what it means to be, in Cherríe Moraga’s words, American “con acento.”

The primary aim of this course is to help students develop and improve the critical reading, writing, and thinking skills needed for success in upper-division courses in English and other disciplines.  They will also gain practice in using the Oxford English Dictionary and other online research tools and print resources that support studies in the humanities.  Students will learn basic information literacy skills and models for approaching literature with various historical, generic, and cultural contexts in mind.

This course contains a writing flag.  The writing assignments in this course are arranged procedurally with a focus on invention, development through instructor and peer feedback, and revision; they will comprise a major part of the final grade.

Tentative Texts:  Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (nonfiction, memoir, theory); Alonzo, Jotos del Barrio (play); Silva, Flesh to Bone (short stories).

Requirements & Grading:  There will be a series of 3 formal writing assignments, the first of which must be revised and resubmitted (70% of the final grade in total).  Excluding the final project (critical or creative), the second assignment may also be revised and resubmitted by arrangement with the Instructor.  Students will also have the opportunity to practice writing in a variety of other genres, including reading journals (or the occasional quiz), creative writing exercises, and in-class presentations (30% of the final grade).

Description:  Gloria Anzaldúa famously called the border between México and the United States a “1,950 mile-long open wound,” “una herida abierta,” where “a third country—a border culture” has arisen on either side of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo and beyond.  In this course, we will traverse the borders of language(s), geography, history, and identity negotiated by Mexican-American artists from Texas in a variety of literary genres, visual art, and film.  Our methods will be intersectional—attending to class, gender, sexuality, religion, etc., in addition to race—as we explore these (re)definitions of what it means to be, in Cherríe Moraga’s words, American “con acento.”

The primary aim of this course is to help students develop and improve the critical reading, writing, and thinking skills needed for success in upper-division courses in English and other disciplines.  They will also gain practice in using the Oxford English Dictionary and other online research tools and print resources that support studies in the humanities.  Students will learn basic information literacy skills and models for approaching literature with various historical, generic, and cultural contexts in mind.

This course contains a writing flag.  The writing assignments in this course are arranged procedurally with a focus on invention, development through instructor and peer feedback, and revision; they will comprise a major part of the final grade.

Tentative Texts:  Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (nonfiction, memoir, theory); Alonzo, Jotos del Barrio (play); Silva, Flesh to Bone (short stories).

Requirements & Grading:  There will be a series of 3 formal writing assignments, the first of which must be revised and resubmitted (70% of the final grade in total).  Excluding the final project (critical or creative), the second assignment may also be revised and resubmitted by arrangement with the Instructor.  Students will also have the opportunity to practice writing in a variety of other genres, including reading journals (or the occasional quiz), creative writing exercises, and in-class presentations (30% of the final grade).

The reading and lecture course examines the historical development of the Mexican community in the United States since 1848, with an emphasis on the period between 1900 and the present.  The primary purpose of the course is to address time and place specific variations in the incorporation of the Mexican community as a national minority and bottom segment of the U.S. working class.  One of my central concerns is to explain two inter-related historical trends in this incorporation, steady upward mobility and unrelenting social marginalization.  I emphasize work experiences, race thinking, social relations, trans-border relations, social causes and larger themes in U.S. history such as wars, sectional differences, industrialization, reform, labor and civil rights struggles, and the development of a modern urbanized society. Also, I incorporate relevant aspects of the history of Latinos, African Americans, and Mexico.

Description:  Widely considered a wellspring for U.S. greatness, immigration has also been an abiding site of our deepest conflicts.  The republican foundations of the United States with its promises of democracy and equality for all seem to strain against ever increasing numbers of immigrants from parts of the world barely conceived of by the Founding Fathers, much less as sources of new citizens.  What is the breaking point for the assimilating powers of U.S. democracy and how much does national vitality rely upon continued influxes of a diversity of immigrants with their strenuous ambitions and resourcefulness?  Today we remain embattled by such competing beliefs about how immigration shapes our nation’s well-being and to what ends we should constrain whom we admit and in what numbers.  

This seminar emphasizes the following themes:  the changing population of the United States from colonial times; ethnic cultures, communities, and cuisines; ideologies concerning eligibility for citizenship and for restricting immigration; the development of immigration law as an aspect of sovereign authority; the entwining of immigration policy with international relations; and the evolution of institutions for immigration enforcement.   

This course may be used to fulfill three hours of the U.S. history component of the university core curriculum and addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, personal responsibility, and social responsibility.  

This course also carries the flag for Cultural Diversity in the United States. Cultural Diversity courses are designed to increase your familiarity with the variety and richness of American cultural experiences. A substantial portion of your grade stems from assignments concerning the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one U.S. cultural group that has experienced persistent marginalization.  

Texts/Readings: *main texts are on 2-hour reserve at PCL
*Roger Daniels, Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life (Harper Perennial, 2002 edition)
Supplemental readings are available on Canvas

Grade Distribution: Final grades will be allocated as follows: A 93-100; A- 90-92; B+ 88-89; B 83-87; B- 80-82; C+ 78-79; C 73-77; C- 70-72 and so forth

    Family Immigration Narrative:  10%; 2-page essay
    Midterm: 20% bluebook exam; short essay IDs
Final: 30% bluebook exam; short essay IDs and long essay
    Attendance and class participation: 15%
    Primary document analysis: 25% research and 4-5 page essay

This course introduces students to research methods for identifying and understanding health patterns in Latinx populations. Students will be introduced to basic epidemiological principles, theory, methods, uses, and body of knowledge of epidemiology in order to understand leading causes of disease and health in Latinx populations. Literature in public health research that have over-represented Latinx samples will be discussed. Emphasis is placed on the social determinants of health and disease in Latinx populations, and on the contribution of epidemiology to health policy impacting Latinx health.

Required Text

• Leon Gordis: Epidemiology, 5th Ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2014.
• Marilyn Aguirre-Molina, Carlos W. Molina, Ruth Enid Zambrana: Health Issues in the Latinx
• Community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001.
• ***other readings will be posted to CANVAS***

Films

Larry Adelman, Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? 2008.

Grading

• 10% Participation and Attendance
• 20% Midterm Exam
• 10% News Article Paper
• 10% Film Analysis
• 30% Final Term Paper (20% written paper; 10% oral presentation)
• 20% Final Exam

In the United States there exists a complex relationship between race, power, and politics. And while it has been widely accepted that discrimination based on phenotypical (physical) race categorizations should be prohibited in institutional and public spaces, Zentella (2016) notes that race has in fact been remapped from biology onto language. Racial remapping results in a hierarchical ranking and stigmatization of language varieties. This course explores literature related to racial and linguistic ideologies affecting the Latinx community across the United States.

This course will engage processes entailed in the remapping of language from biology onto language and the consequences of that change. The course is interdisciplinary and uses texts drawn from fields including, but not limited to, linguistics, sociology, psychology, race and ethnic studies, and history. The central question of the course relies on an exploration of what language means to racialized subjects.

Readings:

• Rickford,J.R. (2016). Raciolinguistics: How language shapes our ideas about race. Oxford University Press.
• Hill, J. H. (2009). The everyday language of white racism. John Wiley &Sons.
• Mendoza-Denton, N. (2014). Homegirls: Language and cultural practice among Latina youth gangs. John Wiley & Sons.
• Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States. Routledge.
• Zentella, A. C. {1997). Growing up bilingual Malden. MA: Blackwell.

Assignments:

• Participation and attendance 10%
• Problem Sets and Precis 20%
• Popular Culture Analysis 20%
• Linguistic Analysis      20%

A seminar for advanced undergraduates to hone reading and writing skills for graduate study. We will cover a range of materials  focusing on Mexican American and Latinx Cultural Studies Theories with emphasis on the politics of cultural production in the 21st century.  Students will complete independent research projects that include ethnographic field methods, media studies, archival work and more.

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The borderland occupies a prominent space in the political and social imaginations of both the United States and Mexico. For nearly two hundred years the border has provoked intense hostility and rancor. But it has also engendered cooperation and has fueled prosperity. This course invites students to go well beyond the clichés, stereotypes, and anecdotes that inform most discussions of the border, and challenges them to use the historical record to think in innovative ways about the borderland.

Grading:

• Participation 20%
• Exam 1 40%
• Exam 2 40%

Course Description

A bilingual is defined as an individual who functions in more than one language on a regular basis. This course will provide an introduction to classic and recent work on bilingualism from psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives. After reviewing basic concepts and methods in psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics the course will address empirical studies and theoretical frameworks related to such topics as stages of bilingual language acquisition and the role of age of acquisition, how bilinguals perceive and segment speech sounds, how word meanings are accessed and stored, how sentences are understood and planned, how characteristics of written language affect reading, how mixed language utterances are processed, how bilingualism  is perceived  in the United States, the historical contexts of bilingualism, and bilingual education. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the topic we will draw on research from cognitive psychology, (socio)linguistics, computer science, education, and neuroscience. Students will have the opportunity to apply course concepts by making their own bilingualism related internet memes and Spotify playlists. This course will consist of lectures, discussion, as well as in-class discussion of readings led by students.

Readings

Altarriba, J., & Heredia, R. R. (Eds.). (2018). An introduction to bilingualism: Principles and processes. Routledge Additional class readings will be posted on CANVAS unless otherwise noted.

Grading

2 Research Article Critiques (10% each) (20%); Bilingual Internet Meme & Meme World Cup (15%); Bilingual Spotily Playlist (10%), 3 Exams (@10% each) (30%); Final Paper (25%); Total (100%)

I. Course Rationale

Since the 1940s, US control of the Southwest border has remained a major challenge in immigration policy. Border control has become one of the most debated topics in the country, including in federal and state legislative bodies. Annually thousands of unauthorized migrants cross the US-Mexico border into the United States to participate in US labor markets and in other social institutions. A consequence of unauthorized immigration and of the implementation of border control measures for deterrence has been the deaths of hundreds of migrants annually. Over the years, the deaths have added up into the thousands. The social effects of border control and the occurrence of migrant deaths have become sociological topics investigated by sociologists and other researchers to increase our knowledge and understanding of international migration and the effects of border policies.

 II.  Course Aims and Objectives

Aims

 This course is designed to provide a sociological understanding of border control and migrant deaths at the US-Mexico border. Of particular importance for the course is research knowledge concerning border control policies and patterns of migrant deaths.

 Specific Learning Objectives

• Gain information and understanding of the development and effects of US border control policies concerning the following: border control campaigns, social and public perceptions of the border, migrant death patterns in border areas, government plans to redirect migration, ethics of border control, human rights and critical perspectives related to migrant deaths, bureaucratic ideology in border control, migrant death forensics, smuggling, community responses to migrant deaths, recent research on border control and migrant deaths.
• Review and discuss different approaches and measures for border control. 

• Review and analyze government statistical reports concerning annual migrant apprehensions at the border and annual counts of migrant deaths in border sectors. 

• Develop an awareness of the significance of border control for the development of US immigration policy. 

• Review major impacts of US border control measures for local communities. 

Cultural Diversity Objective: 

“This course carries the flag for Cultural Diversity in the United States. Cultural Diversity courses are designed to increase your familiarity with the variety and richness of the American cultural experience. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one U.S. cultural group that has experienced persistent marginalization.” . .

 “Ideally, the Cultural Diversity Flag will challenge students to explore the beliefs and practices of an underrepresented group in relation to their own cultural experiences so that they engage in an active process of self-reflection.” 

III. Format and Procedures

The course is designed with the expectation that it will follow an intertwined format of lectures and class discussions.  A key expectation is that students will come to class prepared to discuss thematic issues covered in the class, or at least come to class with a curious and critical predisposition to become intellectually engaged in the class. All students are expect to contribute to class discussion, with a high regard for an open academic dialogue, which values respect for the ideas, opinions, and views of others. Class attendance is assumed and expected, and highly encouraged.

Students will have an opportunity to evaluate qualities of the course, including the instructor.  The purpose of the student evaluations is to provide feedback to help improve the teaching experience.

IV.  Assumptions

My assumptions about the nature of immigration in U.S. society is that it a) follows an historical course, b) flows from the interaction between human agency and social structures, c) takes normal paths of social division and degrees of accommodation and social incorporation, d) is partly affected by social constructions regarding different national-origin groups, and e) has its most profound significance within the dynamics of social reproduction (constant remaking of societies). 

V. Course Requirements

1. Class attendance and participation policy

Class attendance is required but not graded. I will assume that all students enrolled in the course attend all class meetings, and thus are informed of all class matters stated in class. Please try to arrive in class on time.  Also, you should review previous lecture notes and bring questions to class about points you did not clearly understand—including points from the assigned readings.  Please be attentive in class (turn off phones or set to vibration). You are greatly encouraged to participate in class discussion, and to do so in a manner that respects the rights of others to also participate.  If you have a problem hearing the lectures and discussion, or viewing class presentations, please let the instructor know immediately. 

Religious Holidays

UT Austin policy requires that you notify course instructors at least 14 days in advance if you plan to be absent due to a religious holiday. You will be given an opportunity to make up activities (exams, assignments, etc.) that you miss because of your absence due to a religious holiday.  You will be given a reasonable time to make up an exam or assignment after your absence. 

2. Course Readings/Materials 

a) Required books

Dunn, Timothy J. (D)  2009.  Blockading the Border and Human Rights: The El Paso Operation that Remade Immigration Enforcement. Austin: University of Texas Press.

De Leon, Jason. (DL) 2015.  The Land of Open Graves:  Living and Dying in the Migrant Trail.  Oakland: University of California Press.

b) Websites to review:

Migration Policy Institute: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/

Pew Hispanic Center: http://pewhispanic.org/

UC-Davis Migration News: http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Immigration Statistics): http://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/

Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/

Population Reference Bureau: http://www.prb.org/

 3. Assignments, Assessments, Evaluation, Dates

a) The course contains three exams and a paper requirement. The exams will consist of multiple-choice items. All exams have to be taken on the dates specified; the only exceptions to this rule are cases involving an emergency and authorization by UT Austin.  In such exceptional cases, essay makeup exams for the first two regular exams have to be taken within a week after the originally designated dates in the specified sociology room for makeups. In the rare possibility that a student needs to take a makeup for the third exam, arrangements with have to be made with the instructor. Makeup exams will consist of essay questions only. Students who miss a scheduled exam must alert the instructor beforehand and consult with the instructor regarding the makeup.  There is no procedure for making up the Final Exam outside of cases that are of a true exceptional and unusual personal pressing situation. Students have to take all exams on the dates and times specified.  Exams cannot be taken earlier or later than the dates and times specified.

 The paper requirement is a research brief of 1,350 words (5 pages) on a class-related border/migration topic for which at least three (3) research journal publications are consulted and cited in the text, and listed in the Reference section of the paper.  The motive for the paper is to give the student an opportunity to read research journal publications. Grading of the paper will include checking for a) the required number of words (1,450), b) the three required journal sources, and c) the adequacy and strength of the presentation in the paper.

 4. Use of Canvas:  Canvas will be used to help manage the course and to pursue interaction with students.  Canvas will be used to make announcements, distribute information, communicate with students, and post grades.  Students are encouraged to use Canvas to communicate and share relevant comments and information.  Please check your Canvas site regularly to look for communications from the instructor or from other students in the class.  Support for using Canvas can be obtained from the following websites:  https://utexas.instructure.com/courses/633028/pages/welcome-to-canvas; http://guides.instructure.com/m/4212

 VI.  Grading

 a) Three exams of 50 multiple-choice items (worth 100 points each).

• 100 points per exam x 3 exams = 300 points

 b) Paper requirement worth 50 points

Total possible points = 350

 c) Letter grades based on 350 possible cumulative points:

 A = 325-350     A- = 315-324

B+= 304-323    B  = 290-303    B-= 280-289

C+= 269-279    C  = 255-268    C-= 245-254

D+= 234-244    D  = 220-233    D-= 210-219

F  = 209 or fewer points

Please check back for updates.

This seminar will provide undergraduates with an in- depth understanding of the social, economic, and spatial transformations in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries U.S.-Mexico borderlands. In particular, we will examine how Indian removal, the Texas wars for Independence, the Mexican American war of 1848, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo continue to influence how ideas of nation, space and citizenship (or lack thereof) are articulated in these regions today. Lastly, this course operates from a feminist scholarly perspective, demonstrating the role of both transnational analysis and the pivotal role of the intersections of race, class, gender and sexuality in forming this distinct regional history. In addition, students will engage in their own archival research projects during the semester. Juxtaposed with contextual historical and methodological essays, we will examine the concerns, anxieties and preoccupations with the contested nature of gender, race, subjectivity and sexuality in the nineteenth and early twentieth century U.S./Mexico Borderlands.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

DESCRIPTION
This course provides an overview of Latinas’ health issues presented in the context of a woman’s life, beginning in childhood and moving through adolescence, reproductive years, and aging. The approach to Latinas' health is broad, taking into account economic, social, and human rights factors and particularly the importance of women’s capacities to have good health and manage their lives in the face of societal pressures and obstacles. Particular attention will be given to critical issues of Latinas' health such as: poverty; unequal access to education, food, and health care; caregiving; and violence. Such issues as maternal mortality, sexually transmitted diseases, teen-pregnancy, body image, gender-based violence, the effects of traditional practices and the effective solutions being forged to combat them. Central to the course materials and discussions will be consideration of how race, ethnicity, class, culture, and gender shape Latinas’ health outcomes. The course will provide a mixture of lecture, media viewing, in-class critical thinking assignments, and out-of-class readings. The class will be interactive. After a general overview the first week, each week will be devoted to a particular phase of a Latinas' life and/or a health issue related to that phase, with one session being introductory (occasionally involving guest resource people) and the other being primarily discussion based, with students leading parts of the discussions. A couple of texts will be required and a Course Reader (CR) will be available on the web (in Canvas). Additional materials may be posted on the class website or handed out in class.

READINGS (selected)

• Connell R. Gender, “Health and Theory: conceptualizing the issue, in local and world perspective.” Soc Sci Med 2012;74(11):1675–83.
• Davidson P, McGrath S, Meleis A, et al. “The health of women and girls determines the health and wellbeing of our modern world: A white paper from the International Council on Women’s Health Issues.” Health Care Women International 2012;32(August):870–886
• Ann Zuvekas, Barbara L. Wells, Bonnie Lefkowitz. “Mexican American Infant Mortality Rate: Implications for Public Policy.” Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2000;11(2) pp. 231-24
• Velia Leybas-Amedia, Thomas Nuno, Francisco Garcia. “Effect of acculturation and income on Hispanic women's health.” Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2005;16(4) pp. 128-141.

Please check back for updates.

Description
This advanced seminar critically examines the complexity of Latino migration from different perspectives in human trafficking at the global, regional, and local level. Through in-class lectures, presentations, film, interdisciplinary readings (news accounts, journal articles, book chapters), and experiential learning activities, students will learn and discuss varied forms and representations of Latinos and human trafficking. Existing resources, laws, and preventative strategies employed by governmental and non-governmental institutions will be also explored. In addition, students will have the opportunity to engage in a community service learning project in collaboration with local non-profit organizations in Central Texas whose missions are to counter human trafficking.

Grading

• Attendance + Participation 10%
• Discussion 20%
• Critical Essays 20%
• Class Project 50%

Possible Select Readings

• Sanchez, Gabriella E. Human Smuggling and Border Crossings. New York: Routledge, 2015.
• Shelley, Louise. Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Description
The publishing of Compañeras: Latina Lesbians in 1987 represents a pathbreaking disruption, which works to humanize, demystify, and complicate the narratives of Latina sexualities at the height of the AIDS pandemic. Told from multiple perspectives by intermingling the voices of scholars, writers, poets, and truth-tellers, this text is still a testament to the stories we must continue to research and analyze to underscore the nuances of Latin@/x racialized sexual formations. In this course, students will chart and examine Latinx Sexualities from a historical perspective to comprehend the social, cultural, political, and economic factors, which have shaped these experiences. We also will challenge the simplistic and monolithic notions of sexualities that have plagued dominant discourses about Latinx sexuality. Finally, we will evaluate and reflect upon how Latin@/x communities (across sexualities, queerness, and heternormativity) have defined themselves, resisted repression(s), and participated in their own emancipation of identities, expressions, and desires from their perspectives as indigenous, Afrolatin@/x, and (me)Xican@/x peoples.

Readings (Selections):

• Asencio, Marysol, ed. Latina/o Sexualities: Probing Powers, Passions, Practices, and Policies. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2010.

• Escobedo, Elizabeth Rachel. From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2015.

• Findlay, Eileen J. Suárez. Imposing Decency: The Politics of Sexuality and Race in Puerto Rico, 1870-1920. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999.

• Glave, Thomas, ed. Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008.

Course Requirements:

• Attendance and Participation 15%
• Reading Journal 10%
• Reflection Essay 10%
• Research Proposal and Bibliography 5%
• Oral Presentation 20%
• Rough Draft of Final Paper/Project 10%
• Final Paper/Project 30%

Description:

This course will consider the emergence of the Latinx short story as a significant site for the examination of the multiple intersectionalities of transnational, diasporic Latinx communities. Major questions include: how does the Latinx short story map out the terrain of latinidad in the United States? How do these short stories engage issues of representations given the absence of other institutional forms of knowledge? Topics will include: the short story form as the creative intersectionality of racial, gender, class, and sexuality ideologies; the role of the publishing industry and MFA programs in creating the conditions for the Latinx short story; migration and exile within the Latinx imaginary; the urban Latinx experience; cultural hybridity in multiply-situated borderlands; feminist explorations of power, gender, and sexuality; tropicalization; aesthetic form and social mediations.

Text:

Writers may include Sandra Cisneros, Oscar Casares, Helen Viramontes, Carmen Maria Machado, Junot Diaz, Benjamin Saenz, Manuel Munoz, Ana Castillo, Jenine Capo Crucet, Jovita Gonzalez, America Paredes, Manuel Martinez, among others.

This course will carry the writing flag and cultural diversity flag.

Course Description

The 1967 publication of El Grito: Journal of Contemporary Mexican American Thought and Aztlan: Chicano Journal of the Social Sciences and the Arts in 1970 marked the emergence of a distinct Mexican American intellectual formation in academia. At the one hand, this discourse demonstrated a continuity of oppositional  consciousness as reflected in writings by preceding generations of intellectuals. At the same time, early writings contextualized experiences  of inequality confronting Mexican American communities as a condition of colonialism and anti-colonialism. The purpose of this undergraduate seminar is to collaboratively and critically explore the multiple complementary and contradictory counter-hegemonic intellectual variations that have contributed to Mexican American political thought, and, in turn, Mexican American Studies. In addition to analyzing first works from the discipline, students will engage in writings by earlier generations of intellectuals and their contemporaries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as more recent reconfigurations in Latina/o Studies.

Selected Readings

Padilla, Genaro M. My History, Not Yours: The Formation of Mexican American Autobiography. University of Wisconsin Press, 1994.

Bufe, Chaz, and Mitchell Cowen Verter (Editors). Dreams of Freedom: A Ricardo Flores Magon Reader. AK Press, 2005.

Mariscal, George, Brown-Eyed Children of the Sun: Lessons from the Chicano Movement, 1965-1975. University of New Mexico Press, 2005.

Sandoval, Chela. Methodology of the Oppressed. University of  Minnesota Press, 2000.

Grading

• Participation: 20%
• Papers: 80%

This course seeks to develop a student's understanding of the history of Mexican

immigration to the U.S. It will provide an overview of migratory patterns dating

back to the late pre-historic period through contemporary times. The focus of the

course, however, will be current immigration issues dealing with: 1) causes of

Mexican immigration: globalization, Mexican politics, agribusiness, 2) U.S. Law,

3) incorporation, and 4) citizenship.

In 2017, Texan journalist Lawrence Wright claimed, “America’s Future is Texas.”1 He emphasized not only the outsized role that Texas has played in national politics recently—with several 20th- and 21st-century presidents coming from Texas and with Texas’ significant role in the creation of the far right conservative movement—but also Texas’ economic and cultural leadership. Lawrence noted, however, that despite with the radical growth that Texas has experienced in recent decades, its society is often sharply divided over issues of race, religion, immigration, access to healthcare, government intervention, and so on—issues divisive around the U.S. today. Is it true that, as Gail Collins wrote in 2012, As Goes Texas, so goes the nation?2 If so, how did we arrive at this Texan Present? How does Texas’ past play a role in defining “America’s Future”?

This course will examine the history of Texas in the 20th century with an eye toward its political, economic, and socio-cultural development. This class is divided into two units that cover, roughly, Texas from Reconstruction to World War II (1865-1945) and Texas from World War II to the Present (1945-2018). As this course comes with a Cultural Diversity flag and is cross- listed with Mexican American Studies, we will especially emphasize the experiences of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, African Americans, and women in the state. By the end of the course, students should have a clear conception of the development of racial and ethnic relations and conflict, political shifts and realignments, and major economic and urban developments in Texas—and hopefully be better prepared to understand how they, as citizens of Texas can influence the direction of a powerful state within the United States.

Class readings may include:

* de la Teja, Jesus F., et al. Texas: Crossroads of North America, 2nd Ed. Boston: Cengage, 2016. (ISBN: 978-1133947387)
* Ladino, Robyn Duff. Desegregating Texas Schools: Eisenhower, Shivers, and the Crisis at Mansfield High. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996.
* Zamora, Emilio. Claiming Rights and Righting Wrongs in Texas: Mexican workers and Job Politics during World War II. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2009.

* Study materials; workshop materials; primary sources; and (brief) lecture outlines will be posted to Canvas throughout the semester. [No purchase required.]


Grading based on:
Primary Source Responses 100 points [2 papers @ 50 points each]
In-Class Exams 100 points [2 exams @ 50 points each]
Book Analysis Paper 100 points [1 paper @ 100 points]
Quizzes Only given on an as-needed basis; total points possible raised accordingly
Extra Points Up to five points added to total; awarded in class with Exit Tickets

Your final grade will be determined by taking your total points earned and then by dividing it by the total points possible [300 points]. Grades will be awarded on a plus/minus scale (e.g. 87-89 is a B+; 83-86 is a B; 80-82 is a B-). I will “round up” (e.g. 89.5-89.9 will become an A-).

Course Description:

The histories of the United States and Mexico have long been intertwined. The societies and economies of both nations are also interdependent. This course examines the nature of this relationship, beginning with the U.S.-Mexico War in 1846 and culminating in the present day. Though interactions between both countries have often been fraught with tension, we will strive in this course to understand the complexities of the bilateral relationship in ways that go well beyond oversimplified narratives of unauthorized migration and smuggling. In particular, we will focus on the social dimensions of trade, environmental history, and the relationship between Mexican history and the history of Mexican Americans.

Description

This capsone seminar will focus on the process of gentrification and displacement of minorities in the U.S. Students will broadly learn theoretical frameworks and become familiar with historical research examining the gentrification and displacement of these vulnerable populations. Students will then familiarize themselves with contemporary research examining the effects of gentrification and displacement of Hispanic and Latino populations across the U.S. Participation in a capstone seminar is an opportunity to draw upon your own knowledge and expertise gained as a Mexican and Latina/o Studies major. The majority of your time spent in this seminar will focus on an individualzed gentrification and displacement research project. Students will use their knowledge and critical thinking skills gained as an undergraduate to form a well-planned gentrification research project. AS part of the research project, students will use demographic data to examine neighborhood change and identify gentrifying neighborhoods or those neighborhoods that are at risk of gentrifying. The majority of this portion of the seminar will take place in a College of Liberal Arts lab where you’ll have access to the necessary software such as Excel, Stata and ArcGIS.

Readings

• Gentrification of the City edited by Neil Smith and Peter Smith
• The Right to Stay Put, Revisited: Gentrification and Resistance to Displacement in New York City by Kathe Newman and Elvin K. Wyly
• Missing Marcuse: On Gentrification and Displacement by Tom Slater
• The Downside of Racial Uplift: The Meaning of Gentrification in an African American Neighborhood by Michelle Boyd
• Defensive Development: The Role of Racial Conflict in Gentrification by Michelle Boyd
• The Global Rural: Gentrification and Linked Migration in the Rural USA by Lise Nelson and Peter B. Nelson
• Gentrification and the Racialized Geography of Home Equity by Jonathan Glick

Grading

As of now, students’ grades will depend on attendance (15%), participation in class discussions and office hour meetings (15%) and the final research project (70%). The final research project will break down into individually graded components such as theoretical background, demographic analysis, mapping analysis, and final class presentation.

Critical Approaches to Young Adult Fictions

This course will focus on what critics, writers, and publishers refer to as the “second golden age” of young-adult fiction, a period ushered in by the Harry Potter series. We will consider the literature, as well as the literary and cultural criticism, that emerged in the wake of these popular books to examine the broader issues being addressed in contemporary young adult fictions. One major goal is to consider how the literature intervenes in social and political concerns, while at the same time maintaining broad popular appeal. Disciplinary perspectives will include, but are not limited to, feminist, gender and sexuality, genre, literary, ethnic, cultural, and film studies.

Latinx Narrative and its Futures

This course will examine the trans-American imaginary of contemporary Latinx narratives as generated by the flows of people and capital from the Global South to the Global North and back again. The formal, thematic, and theoretical dimensions of Latinx expressive culture as it responds to the failures of twentieth century cultural nationalisms, the implementation of neoliberal economic regimes, and the impact of postmodernist aesthetics. Speculative Latinx novels will therefore be a major focus of the course. Focusing on the instersectionality of race, gender, class, and sexuality, the goals of this course are 1) to provide a historical overview of Latina/o literature through modernist, postmodernist, and post-racial phases during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries 2) to introduce the critical secondary literature of the field and 3) to hone professionalization skills in oral presentations, including conference papers, and other relevant activities, including archival exploration and other forms of independent research.

Public perceptions of Latinx peoples in the United Sates are impacted by mass media representations in commercial media.  Exploring  the imaginary of consumer citizenship, we will examine  commercials, films, art, and other specialized social media outlets to respond to the questions: Who is the ideal Latinx consumer citizen created produced and courted through mass marketing strategies? And, how does a framework of social belonging through consumer expenditure offer a different vantage point through which to imagine social and cultural integration into US society?

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course explores what is popularly labeled Spanglish in the cultural productions and representations of U.S. Spanish speakers. We address various themes surrounding Spanglish, including myths and ideologies about language, linguistic discrimination and profiling, and language and identity, and we examine Spanglish as manifested in the repertoires of individuals and communities and as a resource in print and broadcast media and in diverse artistic forms, such as film, literature, and music. 

This course seeks to develop a student’s theoretical and historical understanding of race and ethnicity in the United States.  We will begin by examining the different historical processes of incorporation that led to economic inequalities between different ethnic/racial groups in the United States.  After examining the formation and incorporation of the American ethnic and racial structure we will review a broad spectrum of topics dealing with American culture and identity. Topics receiving particular attention include:  critical race theory, globalization/neoliberalism, Latino immigration, modern manifestations of racism, and education and social mobility .