Course Information Overview
- CH S 502 (13108) Aztlán 2012: Chicana/o and the Humanities Meets Tuesday 7:00 (1900) - 9:45 (2145) PM in Jerome Ric 115
Course Description
Aztlán: countdown to 2012 explores Chicana/o cultural, performance, queer and third world feminist studies, and introduces decolonial theory and voices in an attempt to situate Chicana/o Studies within a broader area and ethnic studies and critical pedagogy. We will be studying important case studies on a variety of related topics from across the Southwest Borderlands and Greater Mexico and Latin America. Topics include Cultural Studies, Bilingualism, Indigeneity, mixed Sprituality, film, literature, and music with special emphasis on decolonizing Chicana/o Studies in an attempt to look ahead with a progressive vision. This graduate seminar considers the serious flaw in the formation of the San Fernando Valley State College and as Rudy Acuña points out "the failure to address the gender question and homophobia. Many naively believed that education and political action alone would transform society, and that all forms of inequality would disappear. Others were just plain patriarchal and homophobic. What most failed to recognize was that activism alone would not transform society as a whole. That could not happen without a constant critique of the social order and a correction of its imperfections." (76).
According to Chicano political activist José Angel Gutiérrez, the Chicano Movement, has died in the public arena. He believes that “There is no contemporary public discussion of that movement or its leaders. The various campuses that once had Chicano Studies programs and courses have declined. “Chicano” as a self-descriptive term has lost out to Hispanic. There are few Chicanos and Chicanas left. Almost everyone is either Hispanic or Latina/Latino.” This prognosis by one of the most iconic civil rights leaders is disturbing indeed. Not only does California State University Northridge boasts the largest but also one of the oldest Chicana/o Studies programs left in the United States and we are extremely fortunate to be working in this particular program especially in light of the national conservative backlash aiming to undo civil rights gains from the 1960s including affirmative action, bilingual education, and now targeting progressive, critical, and ethnic studies programs from high school and university campuses across the nation.
And the protests have never been bigger or as widespread; witness the statewide and nationwide protests against California’s anti-Raza proposition 187 in the 1990s and more recent May Day immigration marches in 2006 and 2007. The nationwide walkouts and protests by college, high school and junior college students against 187 dwarfed anything from the 1960s or 1970s. The new activism has been rekindled by attacks on our communities and in part, as a result of the death of Cesar E. Chavez. Ever since his death in 1993, there has been a rebirth or revitalization of the movement—led by youth—many of them called Xicanos- who express a militant urban and every bit as angry neo-indigenous consciousness which is no less committed to grass-roots organizing, labor issues, education, land struggles and water rights as it is to immigration, the Dream Act, and the Arizona anti-ethnic studies legislation. And our own M.E.Ch.A de CSUN led by Professor Acuña have done quite well in struggling for Raza Studies and in combating the blatant racists who have scapegoated our Raza as the people responsible for this nation’s severe economic and social problems.
Unfortunately, too many critics believe that Chicana/o Studies is where the brown and poor students learn to HATE white people. Nothing could be further from the truth than this mythology and anti-Latino propaganda that is promoted by neo-conservative, right-wing Anglo-American pundits and radio talk show hosts like Fox News’ Glen Beck, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh destroying any possibility of civil debate and social discourse. We will reconsider the ancient indigenous Mayan concept “In Lak Ech” meaning we are one as the ultimate principle of spiritual love and a foundational philosophical concept for Chicana/o Studies which was introduced early on during the Civil Rights struggle by Neo-Maya playwright and Yaqui-Chicano activist Luis Valdez. In his multilingual poetic manifesto "Pensamiento Serpentino," Valdez calls for a nonviolent revolution and shift in political consciousness. In this essay Valdez writes: “To be CHICANO is (NOT) to hate the gabacho or the gachupín or the pobre vendido. . . To be CHICANO is to love yourself, your culture, your skin, and your language . . . And once you become CHICANO that way you begin to love other people otras razas del mundo. . .because they need us more than we need them” (1994, 175). In this way, the label Chicana/o is neither limited to U.S. born Hispanics or Latinas/os or to people of exclusively Mexican and/or Central American heritage born in the United States. Instead, to call oneself Chicano requires a serious and lifelong commitment to social justice and civil right struggle which we hope to develop in this graduate seminar.
This seminar also reconsiders some of the early philosophical, aesthetic and mystical writings by Chicano playwright Luis Valdez, third world feminist and Chicana lesbian writer Gloria Anzaldúa, and a variety of decolonial interventions including attempts at rehabilitating the nation, redefining citizenship, and building coalitions with U.S. Latina/o immigrants, Native Americans, Blacks and the emerging Mexipinos, Blatinos, and Asiantinos. Students read current scholarship devoted to the role of ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and nationalism over several political generations of Native American, Mexican, Afro-Latina/o, and Chicana/o people. Enrollment involves a commitment to regular seminar participation, interdisciplinary readings, written short essays, informed group discussions, critical thinking, and observation of cultural performance. Fluency in Spanish is useful but not required.
Recommended Reading: Don Miguel Ruiz The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book
Be Impeccable With Your Word- Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Don't Take Anything Personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
Don't Make Assumptions- Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Always do your Best- Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.
Extra Credit: Mirror of Life Spread -using Victor Sanchez's The Toltec Oracle prepare a consultation with the oracle giving you a general vision of where you are and where you are going in each area of your life: mati (mind), teyoli (emotions), teotl (spirit), tonakatl (body), and yolotl heart. This is an entertaining way to learn the Tonalpohualli and the ruling deities. Synthesize your reading and record your experience on your Moodle profile giving the seminar a glimpse into the meaning on the various quadrants of the Cross of Quetzalcoatl (see p. 39 for directions). You may check out the Toltec Oracle for one week at a time but must return it the following week. The questions that you ask do not need to be included on your profile.
Course Prerequisites
Chicana/o and the Humanities will rely on and utilize the universitie's newest classroom technology. Students must sign up for moodle and set up online personal class profile with photo and contact information providing the seminar with a preclass introduction: Moodle http://moodle.csun.edu. If you have never used this technology, see http://docs.moodle.org to access moodle and to learn how to navigate this program. Students should check grades, announcements, participate in chat-rooms, forums, post events, links, powerpoint/précis, study guides which will be updated weekly on Moodle. If you have any problems, see the CSUN moodle web site for suppporting documentation and other resources. Please read Peter Garcia's web page and online syllabus beforehand and read the CSUN Student Conduct Code and Academic Policy before the second week of class.
Student Learning Objectives
Course Objectives
1.This seminar requires student attendance of local cultural, community, and civic events including indigenous observances, political protests, spiritual ceremonies, and/or popular music festivals and local dances in order to develop a sense of individual responsibility in supporting human creativity and encouraging diverse, ethnic, and avant-garde modes of self-expression and political resistance. Support of the arts must occur at the level of community that encourages participation from within local cultures. Since institutions of higher learning are organically connected to particular locales and populations, universities are obliged to offer creative courses that develop a strong supportive student role throughout southern California and within Chicana/o and all ethnic communities.
Assessment: Students prepare at least two 3-4 page double spaced written critiques following a standard 5 paragraph essay format discussing the hype, price, quality, and audience participation and/or discussing the cultural meanings of a sacred observance such as the Spring Equinox or cuaresma (Lent/Holy Week services). Students learn aesthetic criticism and artistic concepts in readings and class lectures that provides them with the necessary theories, understanding, and vocabulary by which to evaluate and critique cultural events, exhibits, festivals, or artistic performance. In other words, reports must show what you have read or learned from the reading assignments.
2. One of the aims of this critical reading seminar is to enhance your literary and technological enthusiasm with an assortment of academic perspectives on a variety of cultural, humanities, and arts topics relevant to your own personal and public lives as Chicana/o graduate students, creative artists, and political activists. The first six weeks will average three readings per week increasing to four through midterm and up to five following Spring Break. By endterm, students ought to read those selections most relevant to your final projects but still participate in group discussions.
Students are assigned at least four readings and will prepare a brief precís or annotated overview of article, chapter, or essay to be used as a reference or study guide for reports and final projects. Early in the semester, students should have read the entire syllabus and made their initial preferential reading selections. After deciding which reading assignments you hope to present, email me at least eight to twelve choices from each set of topics: indigenous time or 2012, mestiza/o consciousness, music, film, literature, fashion, immigration, language, dance, and/or ritual/spirituality. Try to organize your calender so that you present at least once every four weeks. Students will be signed up as discussion leaders and proceed with preparations for your assignments and group discussions on the designated days. Readings will be assigned on a first come first serve basis and you may earn make up or extra credit with additional precís/powerpoint presentation or solo performances if time permits. I suggest you organize your calenders early and attempt to spread your assignments over the semester so you don't have to present during two consecutive weeks.
Students should prepare a 5 to 8 slide powerpoint presentation leading the class in a group discussion over the reading assignment which will also be posted on Moodle. Please label the file with your last name followed by (student number) and precís #1, 2, 3, or 4. The first slide should include your name, class information and the full citation of the article or chapter you are presenting. Title (in quotes), author's name, and book or volume title (italicized) should all be centered. The second slide should include your brief precís demonstrating your critical reading skill in creatively synthesizing the scholarly articles or book chapters into abstract annotations. The remaining slides ought to explain vocabulary, illustrate important concepts, or review and critique various theories used in the scholarly analysis. Your presentation should also include important internet links, photos, audio footage, youtube, or additional media and cool video files that are related to the case studies or illustrate the cultural and art forms you are presenting. Don't forget a statement regarding the credibility of the source including who posted it and created it and for what purpose. Your final slide may include some of the discussion and study questions provided in the syllabus or you may prepare new questions with class discussion open for general platica (conversation). Some articles are best prepared listening to songs or viewing performances discussed in the literature. Your presentation should include at least 10 minutes of presentation including youtube videos, photographs, art works, or live performance/demonstration and a minimum of 5-10 minutes of class discussion and some critical evaluation of the lesson. All students are expected to have read the materials (3 or 4 articles or chapters per week) and be prepared to discuss all or most of the reading assignments. You should take notes on all reading assignments and are encouraged to ask additional questions and/or seek clarification on material that is covered. This experience is a groups project with mutual cooperation from the class, instructor, and discussion leader. Constructive criticism and a mutual respect and professionalism is always expected especially in evaluating each other's creative work and scholarly presentations.
How to prepare a précis: A summary or a précis is NOT a personal interpretation of a work or an expression of your opinion of the idea; it is, rather, an exact replica in miniature of the work, often reduced to one-quarter to one-fifth of its size, in which you express the complete argument! What actually happens when you write a précis? First, you must understand the complete work so that you can abstract the central argument and express it cogently and completely. Next, you must develop the argument exactly as the writer has presented it AND reduce the work by 75-80% of its size. Of course, this is possible when you consider exactly how you "learn" to critically read the work. The key word here is assimilation. When you read the material, it is probable that you will understand only those parts which have associations within your own experience (intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural, class, gender, sexuality etc.). How you actually go about writing a precis depends largely on your ability to restate the writer's central ideas after you have assimilated them in your own mind. Here are the rules of the game:
a. Read all of the articles as many times as necessary most carefully and critically.
b. Write a précis for your article in which you state the entire argument and present the logical progression (the development) of the critical argument as clearly and cogently as possible.
c. Reduce the article to one-fifth to one-quarter of its original length and omit nothing from the essential argument. This is, in reality, the key to the whole enterprise!
d. Type the précis and begin with your abstraction of the central, inform-ing idea of the article. Having understood and written the central idea, present the essential argument in as cogent manner as possible. (Clue: Once you have assimilated the article through the musical illustrations, notated transcriptions and examples the writer uses to make his/her abstract ideas concrete, you do not have to include these in your précis!)
e. Here is a central rule: Do not copy a single sentence from the article! You may use key words and phrases only when you are expressing ideas which are technically precise or when you feel comfortable using the writer's own words, i.e., you understand exactly what he or she means, and there is really no better way to express the concept.
Finally, in order to complete this assignment, you will have to read all of the assigned articles for the day and most carefully, ask questions about the literature repeatedly, and reach into your own experiences so that you can shape most cogently all of the writer's concepts! This assignment is not easy! When you have completed it well, you will never, never forget the arguments, the examples, and the development of the articles. More than likely you will also be learning that, when you write research papers and other critical papers, your ability to write the précis is central to the basics of analysis, synthesis, comparison, and other key, higher order thinking skills absolutely required for your success in research applications and in the profession or career you have chosen when you graduate.
Assessment: Students are expected to have completed all of the weekly reading assignments before coming to class and have prepared notes and questions for the discussion leader. Many of the works are discussed in terms of aesthetics, emotional content and impact, rehearsal preparation and final presentation, enthusiasm and performance ability, musical, theatrical, and dance talent and exceptionalism. Discussions should attempt to make broader conceptual connections across the arts and through aesthetics.
3. Students read current scholarship, criticism, and ethnography devoted to the role of the humanities in the expression of ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, spirituality, identity, and nationalism among the diasporic and diverse communities throughout Greater Mexico and the Southwestern Borderlands.
Students are encouraged to develop their artistic talents, research skills, and utilize the information gained from this seminar into their own political activism. Live performance is encouraged and interactive artistic participation is also welcome.
Assessment: Students are expected to use theory and language learned in readings and media assignments in written reports and in class discussions and artistic masterclasses.
Grading
Assignments/Grading:
Final Research Paper and/or Creative Project -screenplay, oral history, ethnography of performance, dramatic script, musical composition, choreographed dance performanc, art exhibit/catalog, photo montage, or media production w/brief narrative paper: 40 points
Attendance and Participation in final artistic projects.
Midterm on-line Quiz (6 points)
Critical Essay/Book Report: 5 or 6 page double spaced critical essay, book review, and discussion of the following assigned texts (due after Spring Break). You may write on any topic presented in any of the following readings:
Baudrillard, Jean, and Sheila Faria Glaser. 1994 [reprint 2010]. Simulacra and Simulation. Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser.
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo 2005. “Cultura-en-Extremis” in ethno-techno: Writings on performance, activism, and pedagogy.
Using Baudrillard's theoretical framework of simulacra/simulation, discuss the symbolic logic as it is applied to any topic that is covered in any of the three assigned texts. Situate yourself as a Chicana/o graduate student, transnational citizen subject, new mestizo/a, witness, observer, participant, artist, and activist within the modern context of globalization, economic restructuring, increased immigration, changing demographics, media technology, and/or the politics of language and culture with only 24 months away from December 21, 2012. (15 points). Please explain your reactions to the readings and develop your positions according to your understanding of the texts-due after Spring Break April 13, 2010.
Précis/Powerpoint/Discussion Leaders-Students must complete at least 4 précis leading the class in group discussion of reading materials. Powerpoints will be posted on moodle and précis are due no later than the week following the discussion. Each precís is worth 5 points/20 points total.
Artistic Reports over Performance, Art Exhibit, Festival- Attendance of two artistic, religious, or cultural events with brief reports (such as a solstice observance, powwow/gathering of nations, political protest or march, music concert, art festival, photo exhibit, baile folklorico or dance, theater, countercultural or religious ceremony.10 points each.
Final Project Details
Ethnographic research papers, oral history projects, music or dance compositions, theater manuscripts, and/or in-class performances will be submitted in five installments. Late installments will not be accepted for any reason. If you can’t make it to class the day of a deadline, you may submit your assignment via email or U.S. mail postmarked on or before the deadline (see address under section d). The last two class meetings will be spent evaluating and discussing creative works and projects.
1. At the end of week 4, students will submit the introduction of the paper proposing an individual oral history or group research project, dance or music composition, screenplay, solo or theatrical performance (including title) or art exhibit/photo installation with catalog. Introduction should be approximately one page in length. The thesis should be stated in bold print at the end of the introduction. Worth 5 points.
2. At the end of week 8, students will submit the background research section of the research paper, creative work, dance composition, photo installation or music performance. The paper should serve as the basis of your final presentation addressing information paraphrased or quoted from various sources including material covered in class. References/bibliography should be included with at least 5 or 3 different sources depending on your project. If you take ideas from a source and either quote them directly or put them into your own words (paraphrase) you must cite the source. Otherwise, you are guilty of plagiarism (see Appendix E-2 Academic Dishonesty of the CSUN 2009-2010 Catalog). Background section should be approximately 5 pages in length. Worth 5 points.
3. At the end of week 11, students may submit an interview section of the ethnographic research paper, oral history, musical score, collection of poetry, oral history, collection of photographs, art catalog, or creative work. Visual arts should submit photos or other media samples of works in progress with commentary and analysis. Music/oral history should submit CD recording or score, dance should include video and score. The ethnographic/oral history interview should not be in a question and answer format but should rather be framed by commentary, criticism, and analysis by the student. Ethnographic interview, media sample, oral history, archival paper analysis section should be approximately 4 pages in length and include substantial quotes directly related to the thesis of the paper, oral history, performance, catalog, play, or creative project. Worth 5 points.
4. At the end of week 14, students will submit the entire portfolio including research paper, visual samples, screenplay, composition, oral history with a minimum of about 10 to 15 pages of text, including title page, introduction, background and analysis, interview, composition, dance or music/dance performance analysis, conclusion, reflection, photographs and references. Worth 25 points. Failure to turn in the complete research paper/creative project at the end of the 14th week will result in a failing grade for the class- no exceptions. Mail to: Peter Garcia Department of Chicana/o Studies 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, California 91330.
5. Weeks 14 and 15 shall be designated as in-class presentations of research papers, oral histories, art exhibits, photo installations, music/dance compositions, theater performances and/or visual art works. Individual students and groups may have up to 30 minutes to present, perform, show media samples and explain your creative and research projects. Students will provide written comments and constructive criticism evaluating the presentations, compositions, and performances and determine a written score assessing the effort, delivery, topic, and overall project. Comments will be submitted to instructor and will be used in the overall evaluation which will then be forwarded to students at the final exam.
Attendance, Tardiness, and Leaving Early
Good class attendance, participation, and attitude are a critical part of the learning experience. Attendance and participation count towards your grade. Each absence beyond any three hours of class will lower the final grade by 3 points. Two tardies or leaving early without letting me know in advance shall be counted as one absence.
Course Schedule
Week 1: Introductions, Getting Acquainted, and Seminar Assignments
Read: “ Introduction to Part One” Pp. 3-25 The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader edited by Angie Chabram-Dernersesian
“Introduction” Pp. xiii- xxiii in Dancing Across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanas
“Introduction” ¡Peligro! Subversive Subjects: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century” Pp. 1-7 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 2
Locating Chicana/o Cultural Studies: Contentious Dialogues and Alternative Legacies, Aztlán, The Mayan Calandar and Mayan Cosmovision
Read: Rosa Linda Fregoso and Angie Chabram “Chicana/o Cultural Representations: Reframing Alternative Critical Discourses” Pp. 26-32 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Renato Rosaldo “Whose Cultural Studies?” Pp. 33-38 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Arturo Aldama “Millennial Anxieties: Borders, Violence, and the Struggle for Chicana and Chicano Subjectivity” Pp. 11-29 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 3: Dangerous Bodies and Millenial Anxieties
Due: Final Project Proposal
Read: Angie Chabram-Dernersesian “Chicana/o Cultural Studies: Marking the Conjuncture Within an Institutional Context” Pp. 39- 46 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
George Lipsitz “Con Safas: Can Cultural Studies Read the Writing on the Wall?” Pp. 47-60 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
George Mariscal “Can Cultural Studies Speak Spanish?” Pp. 61-80 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
García, Ofelia. 2009. “Racializing the Language Practices of U.S. Latinos: Impact on Their Education” in How the United States Racializes Latinos: White Hegemony & Its Consequences edited by José A. Cobas, Jorge Duany, Joe R. Feagin. Paradigm Publishers.
Hill, Jane. H. 2009. “English-Language Spanish in the United States as a Site of Symbolic Violence” Pp. 116-133 in How the United States Racializes Latinos: White Hegemeny & Its Consequences edited by José A. Cobas, Jorge Duany, and Joe R. Feagin. Paradigm Publishers.
Rosaura Sánchez “Mapping the Spanish Language Along a Multi-Ethnic and Multi-Lingual Border” Pp. 99-135 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Week 4 Chicana/o Cultural Studies “On the Border” – Borderlands/La Frontera: La Nueva Mestiza, Science, Business, and Politics in the Context of 2012 February 18, 2011 08:37 am Full Moon
Read: Introduction to Part Two Pp. 95-98 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
C. Ondine Chavoya “Collaborative Public Art and Multimedia Installation: David Avalos, Louis Hock, and Elizabeth Sisco’s Welcome to America’s Finest Tourist Plantation (1988) Pp. 136-149 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Mary Pat Brady “Double-Crossing The Border” Pp. 150-160 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Yolanda Broyles-González “Indianizing Catholicism: Chicana/India/Mexicana Indigenous Spiritual Practices in Our Image” Pp. 117-132 in Cantú and Nájera-Ramírez’s Chicana Traditions: Continuity and Change
Week 5 Third World Chicana and Indigenous Feminisms
Read: Introduction to Part Three Pp. 161-164 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Angie Chabram-Dernersesian “I Throw Punches for My Race, But I Don’t Want to Be A Man: Writing US-CHICA-NOS (Girl, US)/Chicanas-Into the Movement Script” Pp. 165-182 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Norma Alacón “Chicana Feminism: In the Tracks of “The” Native Woman” Pp. 183-190 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Inés Hernández-Avila “In Praise of Insubordination, or, What Makes a Good Woman Go Bad? Pp. 191-202 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Naomi H. Quiñonez “Re(Riting) the Chicana Postcolonial: From Traitor to 21st Century Interpreter” Pp. 129-151 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 6 Who Needs Identity? Chicana/o Gender Identities and Sexualities within Cultural Representation
Juan Velasco “The X in Race and Gender: Rethinking Chicano/a Cultural Production Through the Paradigms of Xicanisma and Me(x)icanness” Pp. 203-210 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Ramón García “Against Rasquache: Chicano Camp and the Politics of Identity in Los Angeles” Pp. 211-223 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Yvonne Yarbro-Bejerano “Sexuality and Chicana/o Studies: Toward a Theoretical Paradigm for the Twenty-First Century” Pp. 224-232 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Raúl Coronado “Bringing it Back Home: Desire, Jotos, and Men” Pp. 233-242 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
(Rodríguez) "Queering the Homeboy Aesthetic" Pp. 127-137 in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 31:2 (Fall 2006) (on-reserve).
Check Out: Hector Silva on-line gallery (*homoerotic sexuality and nudity)
Norma Alarcón “Anzaldúa’s Frontera: Inscribing Gynetics” Pp. 113-128 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 7 Chicana/o and Latina/o Visual Culture: Film, Video, and Performance Art and Ballet Folklorico
Read: Introduction to Part Four” Pp. 243-244 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Rosa Linda Fregoso Born in East L.A. and the “Politics of Representation” Pp. 245- 260 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Carmen Huaco-Nuzum “Orale Patriarchy: Hasta Cuando Corazón: Will You Remain El Gallo Macho of Mi Familia?” Pp. 261-268 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Yolanda Broyles-González “What Price “Mainstream?”: Luis Valdez’ Corridos on Stage and Film” Pp. 269-282 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Ramón García “New Iconographies: Film Culture in Chicano Cultural Production” Pp. 64-77 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Frederick Luis Aldama “Penalizing Chicana/o Bodies in Edward J. Olmos’s American Me” Pp. 78-97 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 8 Chicana/o and Latina/o Musical Cultural Studies
Read: Introduction to Part Five Pp. 283-285 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Michelle Habell-Pallán “El Vez is “Taking Care of Business”: The Inter/national Appeal of Chicano Popular Music” Pp. 286-298 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
George Lipsitz “Home is Where the Hatred Is”: Work, Music, and The Transnational Economy” Pp. 299-313 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Deborah R. Vargas “Cruzando Frontejas: Remapping Selena’s Tejano Music Crossover” Pp. 314-323 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Rafael Pérez-Torres “Chicano Hip Hop and Postmodern Mestizaje” Pp. 324- 349 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Amelia María de la Luz Montes “See How I Am Received”: Nationalism, Race, and Gender in Who Would Have Thought It?” Pp. 177-195 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Jonathan Xavier Inda “Biopower, Reproduction, and the Migrant Woman’s Body” Pp. 98-112 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Anna M. Sandoval “Unir Los Lazos: Braiding Chicana and Mexicana Subjectivities” Pp. 209-222 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 9 Chicana/o Latina/o Popular Culture and Music: Transnational Musical Genres and Expressions
Read: Part VIII “La Causa, La Tierra (The Earth) Pp. 227-256 in AZTLAN: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature
Lisa Sánchez González “Reclaiming Salsa” Pp. 340- 351 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Yolanda Broyles-González “Ranchera Music(s) and the Legendary Lydia Mendoza: Performing Social Location and Relations” Pp. 352-360 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Frances R. Aparicio “The Blackness of Sugar: Celia Cruz and the Performance of (Trans) Nationalism” Pp. 361-376 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Valdez, Luis (1995) "Pensamiento Serpentino" and Valdez' s "Notes on Chicano Theater" and "Actos" Pp. 6-13 (on e-reserve).
Gloria Anzaldúa, “The Homeland, Aztlán/El Otro México” pp. 23- 35 in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Pancho McFarland “Here is Something You Can’t Understand . . . “ Chicano Rap and the Critique of Globalization” Pp. 297-315 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Gay T.M. Johnson “A Sifting of Centuries: Afro-Chicano Interaction and Popular Musical Culture in California, 1960-2000” Pp. 297-315 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 10 Chicana/o Critical Positions: Inside/Outside Cultural Theory, The Academy, and Academic Institutions
Read: Introduction to Part Six Pp. 377-379 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Read: Part IX “La Causa, La Mujer (The Woman) Pp. 257-282 in AZTLAN: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature
Rosaura Sánchez “Ethnicity, Ideology, and Academia” Pp. 380-387 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Gómez, Laura E. 2009. “Opposite One-Drop Rules: Mexican Americans, African Americans, and the Need to Reconceive Turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century Race Relations” Pp. 87-100 in How the United States Racializes Latinos: White Hegemeny & Its Consequences edited by José A. Cobas, Jorge Duany, and Joe R. Feagin. Paradigm Publishers.
Richard Chabrán “The Emergence of Neoconservativism in Chicano/Latino Discourses” Pp. 388-397 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Emma Pérez “Gendered History: “Chicanos are Also Women, Chicanas” Pp. 398-403 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Gloria Anzaldúa, "Movimientos de rebeldía y las culturas que traicionan" Pp. 37-46 in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza.
Week 11 Postmodern Chicanos and Chicanas
Read: Part X “La Causa: The Chicanos” Pp. 283-346 in AZTLAN: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature
Raymond Rocco “The Theoretical Construction of the “Other” in Postmodernist Thought: Latinos in the New Urban Political Economy” Pp. 404-412 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Michael Sodatenko-Gutiérrez “Socrates, Curriculum, and the Chicano/Chicana: Allan Bloom and the Myth of US Higher Education” Pp. 413-428 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Susan Cashion “The Mexican Danzón: Restrained Sensuality” in Dancing Across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanas
Alberto Ledesma “Narratives of Undocumented Mexican Immigration as Chicana/o Acts of Intellectual and Political Responsibility” Pp. 330-354 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Guillermo Gomez-Peña “In Defense of Performance” Pp. 19-45 in in Ethno-Techno: Writings on Performance, Activism, and Pedagogy.
Genaro M. Padilla, “Myth and Comparative Cultural Nationalism: The Ideological Uses of Aztlán” pp. 111-134 in AZTLÁN: Essay on the Chicano Homeland
Week 12 Spring Break: Simulation and Simulacra and “Culturas in Extremis”
Critical Essay/Book Report: 5 or 6 page double spaced critical essay, book review, and discussion of the following assigned texts (due after Spring Break). You may write on any topic presented in any of the following readings:
Baudrillard, Jean, and Sheila Faria Glaser. 1994 [reprint 2010]. Simulacra and Simulation. Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser.
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo 2005. “Cultura-en-Extremis” in ethno-techno: Writings on performance, activism, and pedagogy.
Using Baudrillard's theoretical framework of simulacra/simulation, discuss the symbolic logic as it is applied to any topic that is covered in any of the three assigned texts. Situate yourself as a Chicana/o graduate student, transnational citizen subject, new mestizo/a, witness, observer, participant, artist, and activist within the modern context of globalization, economic restructuring, increased immigration, changing demographics, media technology, and/or the politics of language and culture with only less than 12 months away from December 21, 2012. (15 points). Please explain your reactions to the readings and develop your positions according to your understanding of the texts-due after Spring Break April 13, 2010.
Week 13 Postmodern Chicanos and Chicanas
Read: Raymond Rocco “The Theoretical Construction of the “Other” in Postmodernist Thought: Latinos in the New Urban Political Economy” Pp. 404-412 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Michael Sodatenko-Gutiérrez “Socrates, Curriculum, and the Chicano/Chicana: Allan Bloom and the Myth of US Higher Education” Pp. 413-428 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Alberto Ledesma “Narratives of Undocumented Mexican Immigration as Chicana/o Acts of Intellectual and Political Responsibility” Pp. 330-354 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Guillermo Gomez-Peña “In Defense of Performance” Pp. 19-45 in in Ethno-Techno: Writings on Performance, Activism, and Pedagogy.
Genaro M. Padilla, “Myth and Comparative Cultural Nationalism: The Ideological Uses of Aztlán” pp. 111-134 in AZTLÁN: Essay on the Chicano Homeland
Week 14 Critical Lines of Affiliation: Local, Transnational, and Hemispheric Legacies
Read: Introduction to Part Seven Pp. 429-430 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Rosa Linda Fregoso “On the Road with Angela Davis” Pp. 431-440 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Alvina E. Quintana “Borders be Damned: Creolizing Literary Relations” Pp. 441-447 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Sonia Saldívar-Hull “Women Hollering: Transfronteriza Feminisms” Pp. 448-457 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Chela Sandoval “Feminism and Racism: A Report on the 1981 National Women’s Studies Association Conference” Pp. 458-471 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Gloria Anzaldúa, "Entering into the Serpent" Pp. 47-62 in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza.
Week 15 La Causa: Remapping American and Latin American Studies
Read: José David Saldivar “Remapping American Cultural Studies” Pp. 472-491 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Rosaura Sánchez and Beatrice Pita “Mapping Cultural/Political Debates in Latin American Studies” Pp. 492-516 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
Gloria Anzaldúa, "La herencia de Coatlicue/The Coatlicue State " Pp. 63-74 in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano “Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera: Cultural Studies, “Difference,” and Non-Unitary Subject” Pp. 81-94 in The Chicana/o Cultural Studies Reader
José David Saldivar “On the Bad Edge of La Frontera” Pp. 245-261 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Delberto Darop Ruiz “Teki Lenguas del Yollotzín (Cut Tongues from the Heart): Colonialism, Borders, and the Politics of Space” Pp. 355-365 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Week 16 2012: Return to Aztlán
Read:
Gloria Anzaldúa, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue " Pp. 75-86 and "Tlilli, Tlapalli/The Path of the Red and Black Ink" Pp. 87-98 in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Gloria Anzaldúa, "La Conciencia de la mestiza/Toward a New Consciousness" Pp. 99-120 in Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Rolando J. Romero “The Alamo, Slavery, and the Politics of Memory” Pp. 366-377 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Alejandra Elenes “Border/Transformative Pedagogies at the End of the Millennium: Chicana/o Cultural Studies and Education” Pp. 245-261 in Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century
Guillermo Gomez-Peña “On the Other Side of the Mexican Mirror” Pp. 5-18 in Ethno-Techno: Writings on Performance, Activism, and Pedagogy
Final Presentations