Syllabi and Course Information Submitted by Participants

Citizenship: Monmouth's Immigrant Communities (Microsoft Word 174kB Feb19 10) - Heather Brady, Monmouth College

This course examines the controversies surrounding immigration today and in the past in order to effectively explore these paradoxes in the specific context of Monmouth, Illinois. Through a discussion-based seminar, students will explore immigration through diverse readings from a wide variety of fields (history, political science, sociology, literature), as well as through community practice, leading up to an oral history project which will become part of a public archive.

La identidad y la alteridad en las literaturas y culturas latinas (Microsoft Word 70kB Feb19 10) - Jessie Dixon, Knox College

(Note: this syllabus is written in Spanish.) This class examines the issue of identity and otherness as experienced by Hispanics born and/or raised in the US from 1940-present. We will study bicultural experiences of bilingual Latinos through literature and cinema. The aim of the course is to familiarize students with four Latino communities in the US: Mexican Americans, or Chicanos, Puerto Ricans residing on the mainland, Cuban, and Dominicanoamericanos. This class examines how these individuals define their cultural, racial, and national status in relation to their parents, and how to conceptualize their identity through the Other.

Introduction to Latino/a Studies (Acrobat (PDF) 156kB Feb19 10) - Adriana Estill, Carleton College

This class begins with the examination of the foremothers and fathers of Latino literature: the 19th century texts of exile, struggles for Latin American independence, and southwestern resistance and accommodation. The early 20th century offers new genres: immigrant novels and popular poetry that reveal nascent Latino identities rooted in (and/or formed in opposition to) US ethics and ideals. Finally, we will read a sampling of the many excellent contemporary authors who are transforming the face of American Literature.

Introduction to US Latino/a Literature (Acrobat (PDF) 400kB Feb19 10) - Adriana Estill, Carleton College

This course surveys the multidisciplinary field of Latino/a studies in order to better understand the place of Latinos in US politics, history, and culture. How does the lens of US Latino/a Studies- its interdisciplinary focus- help us to examine the heterogeneous and changing Latino communities? How are the "Latin Boom" of the entertainment industry and the recent demographic shift that places Latinos as the "majority minority" related? A selection of texts from a variety of disciplines (including history, the social science, literature, music, and the visual arts) will inform our discussions. Major themes to be addressed include: immigration, labor, civil rights, racial and ethnic identity, gender, and language.

Locating U.S. Latina/o Studies_An Interdisciplinary Approach (Microsoft Word 68kB Feb19 10) - Galo Gonzalez, Carleton College

The course consists of a series of literary and theoretical readings produced by authors, scholars, activists and cultural artists who have been working on issues concerning the Latina/o community in the U. S. The readings serve as the basis for student discussion and reflection on topics brought about by each author, scholar or artist. Some of the topics of the course may include: What is Latina/o Studies?; Conceptualizing the Latino/Hispanic Experience in the U.S; Legacy of the Conquest; Negotiation of Latino Identity (Mexican/Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban experiences); Concepts of Race; Socio-Historical Perspectives on Immigration and Identity; Identity Politics: Performance Arts, and Latinos in the Media; Language, Gender and Sexuality; Family, Education, Work and Health.

Readings in the History of Mexico and the United States (Microsoft Word 24kB Feb19 10) - Beatrice McKenzie, Beloit College

This readings seminar on the history of Mexico and Mexico's relationship with the United States since 1810 has four parts: nation-building in Mexico and the U.S., Texas, the Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico's 20th century revolution, and borderlands relations in light of economic integration and immigration.

Latino Identities in Chicago (Microsoft Word 33kB Feb19 10) - Gizella Meneses, Lake Forest

In this course offering, the student will conduct a cross-disciplinary investigation of the vibrantly complex Chicago Latino community. In doing so, he/she will come to understand both the community's unifying characteristics as well as its internal plurality. Moreover, through various sub-disciplines (immigration, assimilation, race relations, cultural expression, and language), the student will examine ways in which Chicago Latinos distinguish themselves from Latinos at large.

Various teaching methods will be used to arouse interest in and deepen comprehension of the subject matter. The student will conduct personal interviews of members of different Latino communities (Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican); observe and compare various modes of cultural expression of those communities (literature, music, dance, visual art, cuisine, worship); read literary samples as well as testimonials; and examine the linguistic characteristics unique to each. Above all, the student will enlarge his/her perspective of the prominent socio-cultural role Latinos have held and maintain in Chicago.

Culture Contact and Writing Cultures (Microsoft Word 174kB Feb19 10) - Mario Montaño, Colorado College

Our understanding of what it means to be a "good citizen" is often predicated on notbeing different --- not being an immigrant, a foreigner or a stranger. In the Midwest, a region abandoned by heavy industry and conquered by corporate agriculture, immigrant workers are nonetheless essential to the economies of towns. It is time for us to better understand this political and cultural current at the heart of our community as well as the linkages between citizenship and immigration. This course examines the controversies surrounding immigration today and in the past in order to effectively explore these paradoxes in the specific context of Monmouth, Illinois. Through a discussion-based seminar, students will explore immigration through diverse readings from a wide variety of fields (history, political science, sociology, literature), as well as through community practice, leading up to an oral history project which will become part of a public archive.

Hispanic Folk Art of the Southwest (Microsoft Word 104kB Feb19 10) - Mario Montaño, Colorado College

This course will focus on the theoretical perspectives and research methods underlying the study of folk arts and crafts. First, students will be exposed to the intellectual history of material culture in the United States. This section will provide students with the intellectual foundation to understand the critical study of folk arts and crafts in the United States. Secondly, we will examine several theoretical frameworks and how they are applied to folk arts and crafts. Thirdly, the folk arts and crafts tradition of the Southwest will be examined, with particular interests on religious folk art, domestic folk arts, and occupational folk arts. Fourthly, Students will be required to become proficient in analyzing artifacts created by people in the Southwest. Finally, this course incorporates a strong writing emphasis component. Our writing and reading assignments will focus on the folk arts of the Southwest. The readings will provide students with models and subject matter for writing their assignments. They will have the opportunity to improve and revise their work. Overall, the writing component consists of three sequential writing assignments.

Borderlands Theory, Song, and Literature (Microsoft Word 76kB Feb19 10) - Laura Padilla, Colorado College
This course aims to:

• teach students how to use scholarly vocabulary to describe the pleasures and troubles of reading literary texts,
• explore the possibilities and limitations of several critical and theoretical approaches to literature,
• strengthen knowledge of the histories and cultures of the U.S./Mexico Border, and
  
• explore the border as symbol and symptom of social and political inequality.

Mexican-American Literature (Microsoft Word 49kB Feb19 10) - Laura Padilla, Colorado College
This course aims to:

• teach students how to use scholarly vocabulary to describe the pleasures and troubles of reading literary texts,
• develop the ability to form impressions of literary texts into scholarly arguments that reveal the significance of the text's descriptive details, form, relationship to other texts, etc.,
  
• explore the possibilities and limitations of a cultural approach to literary study,
• strengthen knowledge of the histories and cultures of the Southwest.