THE HISTORY OF LATINOS IN THE UNITED STATES

 

HIST A352/H511                                                                    Prof. Michael Snodgrass

Spring 2002                                                                             Office: Ca 503S    278-7761

T 5:45-8:25                                                                              Hours: M 1-2, T 3-4

Cavanaugh 215                                                                        E-mail: misnodgr@iupui.edu

 

Course description and objectives:

This course on immigration and ethnic studies will introduce students to the history of Latin Americans in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.  We will compare and contrast the causes of immigration, the migrants’ enduring ties to and impact on their home countries, and the development of settled communities of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Central Americans in distinct regions of the United States.  Among the broader themes and issues to be explored are: the contributions of Latino workers to the development of commercial agriculture and industry; the history of U.S. immigration policies; the immigrants’ reception by and encounters with European-Americans; the role of ethnicity, gender, class, and generation in the historical formation of Latina/o identities; and the experience of Latina/o workers, citizens, and activists in the labor and civil rights movements of the twentieth century. 

 

Consistent with IUPUI’s Principles of Undergraduate Learning, this course is designed to develop student skills of critical and comparative analysis, improve writing proficiency, and enhance one’s capacity to organize and express their thoughts.  Students will sharpen these skills through a variety of assignments: analyzing historical documents, writing short papers, engaging in classroom discussions, and preparing for quizzes and examinations.  Those wishing to re-familiarize themselves with these basic principles of learning should consult: http://www.iupui.edu/~history/principlesundergradlearning.htm. 

 

This syllabus, class announcements, lecture outlines, assignments, and grades will be posted to Oncourse (https://oncourse.iupui.edu/).  Students unfamiliar with Oncourse may find a “Getting Help” guide at the website or come to the professor for assistance.

 

Required readings:

David Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, l836-l986 (l987)

Piri Thomas, Down These Mean Streets (l967)

María Cristina García, Havana USA: Cuban Exiles and Cuban Americans in South Florida, l959-          l99l (l996)

Diane Walta Hart, Undocumented in LA: An Immigrant’s Story (l997)

Articles in Electronic Reserve System (http://errol.iupui.edu) - Login: HISTA352, Password: A352

 

Course requirements and grading (based upon 1,000 total points):

Final grades will be determined by student performance on two exams (200H2, or 40%), two 3-4 page essays (200H2, or 40%), five 20-point quizzes on reading assignments (100, or l0%), and class participation and attendance (100, or 10%).

 

 

*Graduate students enrolled in H511 will write a 10-12 page term paper in lieu of the mid-term and final exams.  The professor will provide a written guideline for the assignment - a review essay examining the literature on a theme in Latino history.

 

Final grade scores: A (1,000-930),  A- (929-900), B+ (899-880), B (879-830), B- (829-800), C+ (799-780), C (779-730), C- (729-700), D (699-600), F (599 or less).

 

Remember...

* Persistent absenteeism results in lower class participation grades, inferior quiz results, and poor test preparation.  Students must make prior arrangements with the professor if extraordinary circumstances cause them to miss one of the two exams.  In-class quizzes may not be made up under any circumstances, although only six of eight quiz scores count towards the overall grade. 

 

* It is expected that all students will 1) read,  2) think critically about, and 3) arrive to class prepared to discuss and be quizzed upon assigned readings.  Preparation is the key to effective participation.  Students must not only read the assigned material.  They must do so actively by   a) taking notes and b) preparing comments, critiques, or questions that the readings provoke.  Passively outlining the text is not an effective means of critical reading and thought. 

 

* All late assignments will be penalized as follows: 1/3 grade for assignments not turned in on due date (B to B-), one full grade for first week late (B to C), two full grades thereafter (B to D). Be sure to save all papers on your hard drive and a diskette. 

 

* Students who do not complete all essays and exams will not pass the course. 

 

* University policy states that incomplete grades may be taken only by students who have completed 75% of course requirements. 

 

* Plagiarism and cheating will be punished in accordance with university policy, as outlined in the Indiana University Academic Handbook (p.123) and the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2000-2002 (p.36).  Following is excerpted from the School of Liberal Arts official statement on plagiarism:

 

“Plagiarism is the use of the work of others without properly crediting the actual source of the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, entire articles, music or pictures.  Using other students’ work (with or without their permission) is still plagiarism if you don’t indicate who initially did the work.  Plagiarism, a form of cheating, is a serious offense and will be severely punished.  When an instructor suspects plagiarism, he/she will inform the student of the charge; the student has the right to respond to the allegations.  Students whose work appears to be plagiarized may be asked to produce earlier drafts of work or all the books/articles used in a paper or speech.  Students should, for this reason and as a protection in cases of lost papers, retain rough drafts, notes, computer files and other work products for three weeks after the end of each semester.  The penalties for plagiarism include reprimands, being failed for a particular take-home exam, paper, project or the entire course, disciplinary probation, or dismissal.  Faculty, after consulting with their chair and/or the School of Liberal Arts Dean of Students must notify students in writing of their decision.  Students have the right to appeal such decisions by submitting petitions to the Academic Affairs Committee.  Petitions can be obtained in CA 401.  For further information, see “Code of Student Ethics, available in CA 401.” 

 

 

 

                                                           COURSE SCHEDULE

 

Week 1            Course introduction: Immigration History and Latino Studies

(l/8)     

 

Week 2            Mexicans and Anglos on the New Frontier

(l/15)                Read: Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, pp. l-99

 

Week 3            Colonists, Bandits, and the Texas Rangers

(1/22)               Read: Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans, l00-l55; (ERROL) Paredes, With His Pistol in His Hand, 7-54

Film screening: “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez”

                       

Week 4            Race and Class in the American Southwest

(1/29)               Read: Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans, pp. l57-254

                       

Week 5            Essay#1 due today

(2/5)                 Mexican Immigrants in the Midwest

                       

Week 6            Organized Labor, the New Deal, and the Mexican-American Working Class

(2/12)               Read: (ERROL) a) Reisler, “The Mexican Worker in Urban-Industrial America”, b) Sanchez, “Forging a New Politics of Opposition”

           

Week 7            Gender, Generation, and Latina/o Identities

(2/19)               Read: (ERROL) a) Gustavo Perez Firmat, Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way, pp. 1-20, b) Vicki Ruiz, “‘Star Struck’: Acculturation,          Adolescence, and the Mexican-American Woman, l920-l950”

 

Week 8            The Chicano Movement

(2/26)               Read: Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans, 257-307; (ERROL) a) Gonzalez, “I Am Joaquin, b) Acosta, Revolt of the Cockroach People

 

 

Week 9            Mid-term examination

(3/50

 

** SPRING BREAK **  SPRING BREAK **  SPRING BREAK **  SPRING BREAK ** 

 

Week l0           Puerto Rico: Colonialism and the Barrios of New York

(3/l9)                Thomas Piri, Down These Mean Streets

 

Week ll            Puerto Rican Political Activism

(3/26)                           Documentary: “Salsa: Latin Music of Puerto Rico and New York”

 

Week l2           Cigar Workers, Rebels, and Exiles: Cubans in the U.S., l880s-l960s

(4/2)                 Garcia, Havana USA, ix-80

 

Week l3           Exile Politics and Cultural Identity in the Cuban/Cuban-American Community

(4/9)                 Garcia, Havana USA, 83-212

 

Week l4           War in Central America, Sanctuary in the United States

(4/16)                           Read: Hart, Undocumented in L.A.: An Immigrant’s Story        

 

Week l5           The ‘New’ Latino Immigrants

(4/23)               ERROL: a) Cohen, “Free Ride” - b) Cooper, “The Heartland’s Raw Deal”

c) Kamber: “A Link in the Chain,” “Deadly Game,” “Toil and Temptation”

                        d) Rodriguez, from Hunger of Memory

                        e) Gloria Anzaldúa, from Borderlands/La frontera: The New Mestiza

           

Final Examination: Tues., 4/30, 5:45-7:45