Fairhaven 364: El Movimiento Chicana/o

Syllabus - Winter 2003
Dr. Larry Estrada

Course Description

An examination of the socio-historical, political and cultural characteristics of  the Chicana/o Movement.  The course will look at the historical period occurring from 1848-present.  This period of history, following the annexation of northern Mexico to the United States,  is referred to as the "Creation Generation by sociologist Rudy Alvarez and encompasses an era of resistance to cultural hegemony as well as political and economic oppression.  Course emphasis will focus on identifying and explaining the historically changing relationship between class, race, gender and power by studying the interaction between governmental policies and practices, class and racial stratification systems, and cultural codes and modes of ideological discourse within this era.

The course will also directly examine the formation and symbolic evolution of the United Farmworkers Movement, the Chicana/o cultural renaissance of the 60’s and 70’s, the Chicana/o student movement for educational liberation and the roots of the Chicana/feminist and Lesbian movements from the 70’s  through the year 2002 (including issues on family, immigration, reproduction, employment conditions and education).  During the quarter guest speakers and community resources will be called upon to augment the perspectives contained in the readings and videos.

Required Texts

• Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, 3rd Ed., Rodolfo Acuña, Harper Collins Pub., 2000. ISBN--0-06-040163-X
• The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement, Susan Ferriss and Ricardo Sandoval, Paradigm Productions, 1997. ISBN--0-15-100239-8
• The Crusade for Justice, Ernesto B. Vigil, University of Wisconsin Press, 1999. ISBN—0-299-16224-9
• Borderlands, Gloria Anzaldua, 1996. ISBN-1-879960-56-7
• De Colores Means All of Us, Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century, Elizabeth Martinez, 1998. ISBN-0-89608-583-x

Recommended Texts

• Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings, Alma Garcia, Routledge Publishing Co., 1997. ISBN--0-415-91800-4
• Chicano!: The History of The Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, Arturo Rosales, Arte Publico Press, 1996. ISBN-1-55885-201-8
• Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma, Ana Castillo, Plume Pub., 1995. ISBN-0-452-27424-9
• Youth Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement, Carlos Muñoz Jr., Verso Pub., Inc., 1990. ISBN-0-86091-913-7
• Chicanismo, The Forging of a Militant Ethos, Ignacio Garcia, University of Arizona Press, 1997. ISBN-0-8165-1788-6

Credit/Evaluation

Credit will be granted for regular attendance, evidence of preparation, satisfactory completion of the written assignments and group oral report.  Criteria for evaluation include informed and active engagement in class discussions; informative, relevant oral group reports; and term project papers that demonstrate insight and a grasp of the dynamics that have impacted the Chicana/o Movement.

Course Schedule

Week 1

Introduction to course objectives and goals.  Class Exercise

Week 2

Historical Formation of the Chicana-o Movimiento
The Aftermath of the Mexican-American War and the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo
Video Clip--Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
                Acuña 1-56
Colonization and Occupation of Aztlan
                Acuña 57-131

Week 3

California and La Epoca de La Revolución, Push and Pull Factors of
Immigration/Roots of Oppression and Labor Co-optation
Discussion of Group Term Projects
                Acuña 132-186

Week 4

Creation of colonias and barrios and the Development of the Urban Mexicano/Chicana community.  Mexicano labor and the Formation of the INS/"The Brown Scare" Group Term Project  Discussion
                Acuña 187-215

The Depression and scapegoating of Mexican immigrant labor
Video Clip--from 500 years of Chicano history-

                Acuña 216-262

Week 5

World War II/The Zoot Suit Era/the Mexican American Generation
and  The Politics of Accommodation

Submittal of Group Term Topics/Team Members

                Acuña 263-295

The Dream of Equity and Inclusion betrayed
                Acuña 296-327

Week 6

The Dawning of the Chicana-o Generation--Politics of Revolution and Change    Video Clip--Chicano Movimiento
                Acuña 328-386,     Ferris and Sandoval 1-64
The emergence of Community Resistance and Militancy
                Vigil 3-132

Week 7

Community Activism contd.
Formation of La Raza Unida
Video Clip on La Raza Unida
                Vigil 133-201

Week 8

Huelga and the March to Delano: The Politics of Labor Organization
Video Clip "The Delano Strike"   Farmworkers' continued struggle for recognition and legitimization.

Video Clip, The Delano Strike
Ferris and Sandoval 65-124, 125-247

Chicana Feminism and the Recognition of Militant Lesbianism
Presentation by Mr. Carlos Adams—Readings to be given out on the 24th

Week 9

Present Struggles for Farmworker livable wages, housing and health
Class visit to Seamar Clinic in Bellingham
                Anzaldua 1-61

Discourse of Borderlands and the Border Cultural Psyche/La Nueva Mestiza
Class Poetry Readings
                Anzaldua 99-225

Week 10

La Lucha continued/The Chicana/o Struggle in the 90's into el nuevo milenio--      Martinez 1-68, 142-171, 198-203
                Ferris and Sandoval 249-279
                Acuña 386-464

Group Project Oral Presentations

Week 11

FINALS WEEK

Group Term Project Presentations and Submittal of Group Term Project
Papers

Course Format and Assignments

1. This is a seminar, not a lecture class. Consequently, the quality of education each of you receives will be dependent not only on your own level of preparation/participation but on others' informed participation as well. In other words, each of us has a responsibility to the entire group.
   
   Throughout the quarter the instructor will ask your opinion and thoughts on various issues and topics. I expect you to come prepared for class and ready to discuss the reading materials due for that day. In fact, at times you may be asked specifically to defend a particular position or author’s ideas. My goal is to enable you to take informed positions on matters relating to social movements and the Chicana-o Movimiento and to articulate what you think and why. In the course of the quarter you will be assigned two to three reaction/perspective papers (2-3 pages, Jan. 29 and Feb. 24) which will ask you to take a position or frame an opinion about the ideas espoused by outside readings and authors.
    
2. Questions will be distributed in connection with a number of the readings. These questions should be answered as you read and reflect upon the written material in class. They will also provide the basis for our in-class discussions.
    
3. Working in groups of 3-4, you will be required to write a group term project paper on some aspect of Chicana-o Movimiento. During the week of March 10-12 and March 19 each group will give an oral presentation to the class on ideas taken from their papers. Reports will be no longer than 35-40 minutes.

Some suggestions for group topics include but are not limited to:

1. The roots and genesis of machismo: Its role in the establishment of Chicano patriarchy
2. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Its legacy unfulfilled or misinterpreted
3. Chicana-o art forms: The seeds of revolutionary change and identity
4. The concept of Aztlan and indigenismo within the Xicana-o Movimiento
5. Xicanixmo, Zapatistas and pan Mexicano/Latino movements
6. A Retrospective on the Chicana-o Movimiento post prop. 187 and the abolishment of Aff.
7. Action and bilingual education
8. A Farmworkers bill of rights: Justicia y oportunidad in the land of plenty
9. Gang formation and turfdom: an off shoot of cultural deficiency or an outcry for identity and relevancy?
10. The New Hispanic Conservative Ethic: The case of Linda Chavez and Richard Rodriguez   

The process for the Group Project will be as follows:

1. Choose a group of no more than 4 individuals who wish to develop the oral presentation & position paper on a mutually agreed upon topic.
2. Define the Problem or Question - hand in names of Group members and the title or idea or problem to be explored.
3. Establish main points & arguments to be projected to the class.
4. Delegate individual or group responsibility.
5. Develop a group presentation approach (e.g. slides, charts, video excerpts, role play situations, etc.) I encourage you to involve the rest of the class in at least part of your presentation.
6. Turn in Position Paper: and deliver Oral Presentation

Other guidelines: Oral presentations will be evaluated on style of presentation, organization, visual effects and visual aids, ability to draw class into the material, clarity of ideas and subject matter, quality of research and documentation, and relationship to material and content of this class.

Papers may (and probably will) include materials (research, bibliographic, etc.) that are not included in the oral presentation. They will be evaluated on the above plus style, grammar, punctuation and spelling. Papers will be written by three-four people but must be cohesive, not four separate papers joined by one title. Sloppy and otherwise unacceptable papers must be done over before credit will be given. It is recommended that you use the APA research, citation format.

Papers must be no less than 20-25 pages, typewritten, double spaced with one-inch margins.

NOTE REGARDING ATTENDANCE: Credit for this class is partially dependent on your informed participation in class discussions. This is one of your primary responsibilities as a student at Fairhaven. If you are not present, you cannot participate. Furthermore, the quality of my evaluation of you is partially dependent on your ability to understand and interpret the readings, some of which may be difficult. For most of you, that understanding will be considerably enhanced through the class discussions.

As a result, anyone absent more than twice during the quarter will probably not receive credit. Exceptions will be made in emergencies, of course.

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