ETHN 116: Introduction to Chicano/Latino Studies

• Identify theoretical frameworks used in the field of Chicana/o/x studies while examining the historical and cultural origins of the Chicana/o/x population, including the diverse experiences of Chicana/o/x people in the United States.
• Relate the events that led to the fall of Tenochtitlan and explain how the legend of Quetzalcoatl and the confrontation between Moctezuma and Hernan Cortes continue to influence the Chicano worldview.
• Define key terms, historical facts, and circumstances that contributed to the transformation of diverse groups from parts of Mexico into Chicana/o/x people in the United States.
• Explore the various interactions of Chicana/o/x people with other groups in the United States and the borderlands/frontera, and discuss the complicated construction of "Chicana/o/x" and its relationship to race and ethnicity in the United States.
• Formulate an argument using data related to the social, cultural and racial status and experiences of Chicanos during the Anglo-American period of 1846-1960 to explain the nature of the political organizations, actions and art forms of the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
• Examine the role of immigration in shaping Chicana/o/x history and discuss how government regulations and popular support have impacted immigration policies until the present.
• Appraise the intersectional relationships between Chicana/o/x communities of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, and ability, and discuss the historic role of language and its importance to Chicana/o/x communities.
• Analyze the complex development of cultural identities and their influence on the United States and the borderlands/frontera.
• Evaluate the connections between the Chicano/a Movement, post-World War II social liberation movements, and global processes of decolonization.

Order and emphasis of core topics may vary from instructor to instructor.

1. Introduction to Chicano Studies
   1. Chicano/a Studies as a field of scholarly inquiry
   2. History and culture as a dynamic processes
   3. Main historical periods in Chicano History
      1. Pre-Columbian era, pre- 1519
      2. Spanish colonial era, 1521-1821
      3. Mexican independence and nationalism, 1821-1846
      4. Anglo period, 1846-1960s
      5. Diversity and modern Chicano issues
2. Historical roots of Chicano culture and society
   1. Pre-Columbian period
      1. Human evolution in Mesoamerica
      2. Ecological adaptation
      3. Agricultural revolution
      4. Sociocultural life
      5. Mesoamerican civilization and societies
      6. Olmecas
      7. Huastecas
      8. Mayas
      9. Teotihuacanos
      10. Zapotecos
      11. Aztec civilization, society and social order
      12. History – Chichimecas to Tenochtitlan
      13. Social hierarchy
      14. Land system and the calpulli
      15. Artisan production
      16. Alliances and trade
      17. Mythology
      18. Culture, religious practices and education
      19. Spanish conquest
      20. Spanish society and culture – Reconquest – 16^th century
      21. Background to exploration and discovery
      22. Hernan Cortes versus Moctezuma and the legend of Quetzalcoatl
      23. The fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
      24. The legacy of conquest in the Chicano worldview
   2. Spanish colonialism in Mexico – 1521 – 1810
      1. Cross-fertilization of Spanish and Aztec societies
      2. The Columbian exchange
      3. Religious syncretism – Virgin of Guadalupe
      4. Mestizaje
      5. The forging of the “cosmic race”
      6. Economy and Social order
      7. Gold, encomienda and repartimiento
      8. Hacienda system and debt peonage
      9. Social role of hacendados
      10. Life of debt peons
      11. Castas, mestizaje and the social hierarchy
      12. Culture
      13. Daily changes in indigenous ways of life
      14. Introduction of Catholicism
          1. Cultural aspects of mestizaje
      15. Indigenous resistance to Spanish culture
      16. Women and family life
      17. Color and racism
      18. Spanish ethnocentrism
      19. Race and social class
      20. Effects of racism
      21. The flexibility of mestizaje
   3. The making of Mexican nationalism – 1810-1840s
      1. Politics and the break up of the colonial social order
      2. Influence of indigenous elites – caciques
      3. Influence of the age of Enlightenment
      4. Bourbon reforms and imperial crisis
      5. Liberals versus conservatives
      6. El grito de Dolores and the war for independence
      7. Rise of caudillo
      8. Post-war instability  in Mexico
      9. Class – Mexican society under criollo rule
      10. Conservatives versus liberals
      11. Social groups and economic enterprises in the north
      12. Break up of California missions
      13. Hispanics and indigenous in New Mexico
      14. Cattle ranching in California and the Californios
      15. Culture – rise of a Mexican identity
      16. The decline of cultural imperialism
      17. Mexican influence in California and New Mexico
      18. Increasing mestizaje and its challenge to racism
      19. The break-up of Mexico and a new system for Mexican-Americans
      20. Anglo-American expansion – Manifest Destiny
      21. Annexation of Texas
      22. Mexican American War
      23. Mexican resistance and social banditry
      24. Treaty of 1848
      25. Anglo expropriation of Mexicans’ lands
      26. New cultural blending in US Southwest and California
      27. Economic growth and Mexican labor
   4. Anglo-American period – 1846-1960s
      1. Social order and social classes in the United States
      2. Industrialization and economic expansion
      3. Chicano role in the economy
      4. Mexican Revolution and immigration
      5. Chicano discrimination in the workplace
      6. Chicanos in trade unionism
      7. Chicanos on the margin of political process
      8. Culture – assimilation versus nativist acculturation
      9. American versus Mexican culture
      10. Strategies and problems of Mexican adaptation to American culture
      11. Syncretism – pachucos
      12. Separatism
      13. American work ethic versus Mexican celebration
      14. Cultural imperialism and educational practices
      15. Race and racism
      16. Roots of prejudice and discrimination
      17. Tejano versus Anglo culture
      18. Anglo violence toward Tejanos
      19. White supremacists in California
      20. Institutional racism and public barriers
      21. Chicano reactions to mistreatment – reverse racism
      22. The continuation of mestizaje
   5. The Chicano movement of the 1960s-70s
      1. Roots of Chicano resistance and organization
      2. Precursors of change
      3. Black Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s
      4. Johnson’s War on Poverty
      5. The Vietnam War
      6. Chicano political organizations, groups and actions
      7. The Brown Berets
      8. United Mexican American Students
      9. Los Angeles high school walk outs
      10. La Raza Unida Partido
      11. Chicano moratoriums of the 1970s
      12. Association of Mexican-American Educators
      13. Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlan – MECha
      14. August 29 Moratorium
      15. Diversity within the movement
      16. Chicano cultural expression
      17. Chicanozaje/Chicanismo
      18. Mestizaje to Chicanismo
      19. Chicano arts
      20. Educational transformations
3.      Selected contemporary social, economic and/or cultural issues related to Mexican Americans
   1. Economic principles of Mexican immigration
      1. Reasons for immigration
      2. History of Mexican immigration to US
      3. The Mexican Revolution and economic expansion in the US, 1910 – 1929
      4. The Depression and the Bracero program, 1930 – 1964
      5. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and increased Mexican immigration
      6. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, Amnesty and increased restrictions
      7. Immigration Act of 1990 and limits on family-sponsored immigration
      8. Racism and increased risks for undocumented immigrants crossing the border
      9. Selected personal accounts/case studies
   2. Mexican immigrants in the US today – social and economic issues
      1. Economic and demographic profiles
      2. Income and poverty
      3. Settlement patterns
      4. Wage assimilation
      5. Economic impacts of immigration
      6. Undocumented immigrants
      7. Naturalization
      8. Selected personal accounts/case studies
   3. Mexican immigrants and cultural development in US urban centers
      1. Becoming Mexican-American/Chicano/a
      2. Settlement patterns
      3. Divided loyalties
      4. New nationalism, Mexican style
      5. Religious adaptations
      6. Music and growth of mass culture
      7. The rise of communities
      8. Ambivalent Americanism
   4. The education of Mexican Americans
      1. Educational profiles
      2. Secondary education
      3. Bilingual education
      4. College education
      5. California Community Colleges and Chicanos Studies
      6. Education, language and empowerment
      7. Economic incentives to invest in education
      8. Social and cultural factors affecting the decision to invest in education
      9. Selected personal accounts/case studies
   5. Mexican Americans in the labor market
      1. Employment patterns
      2. Occupational patterns
      3. Annual income
      4. Wages, human capital and discrimination
      5. Selected personal accounts/case studies
   6. Mexican Americans toward the middle class
      1. Income distribution
      2. Factors affecting poverty rates
      3. Public assistance
      4. Mexican Americans as an exception to the underclass model of poverty
      5. Wealth and asset accumulation
      6. Mexican American home ownership
      7. Selected personal accounts/ case studies