History 168B
Summer 2013, Session A
M-R 3:30-4:45
HSSB 4041
Instructor: Leah Fernandez
Office: TBA
Email: leahfer@gmail.com
Office hours: By appointment
HIST 168B: History of Chicanos--1900 to the Present Era
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course addresses topics and issues central to an understanding of the immigrant experience in the United
States, from 1900 to the present, within the larger context of global issues. It uses a comparative approach by
incorporating the experiences of African Americans, Native Americans, and working class European immigrants.
We will examine such topics as Mexican immigration to the United States; the creation of Mexican immigrant
communities in the Southwest and Midwest; the impact of the Great Depression on Mexicans and other racial
minorities; the UFW during the1960s and its fight for labor and civil rights. Some issues we will cover during the
academic quarter are: Mexican and Yuma workers in the Southwest; the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border;
farm workers and large-scale agriculture; and U.S. immigration laws.
COURSE WEBSITE:
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/people/person.php?account_id=152&first_name=Leah&last_name=Fernande
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Please our class website daily for important class materials.
REQUIRED READINGS:
 Course Reader: Available for purchase at The Alternative
o Readings are divided by week. Please see page markers inside the reader.

Crow Dog, Mary. Lakota Woman. New York: Harper Perennial, 1990.

Gutierrez, Jose Angel. The Making of a Chicano Militant: Lessons From Cristal. Madison,
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1998.

Selected articles on JSTOR. Other online articles will include a web address.
***All books are on reserve at Davidson Library ***
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
 30% MIDTERM PROJECT
o Topic and format due July 1 (sign-up sheet to follow)
o Guidelines:
 Ten minute presentation
 Demonstrates knowledge of the course (Weeks 1-3)
 Connects course material to other relevant subject matter
 Demonstrates original thinking
 Group projects welcomed
 Examples: Oral history, performance, art piece, film, photo essay
 Paper format accepted
H168B/2
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40%
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o
o
o
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20% ATTENDANCE
o Attending lecture is mandatory. A sign-in sheet will circulate at the beginning of each
class.
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10% FILMS
o Group discussions will be held after each film
o Notes on in-class films are due on the following dates:
 July 9: The Zoot Suit Riots
 July 16: Harvest of Shame
 July 17: Struggle in the Fields
 July 22: Taking Back the Schools
 July 25: In the Name of the People
 July 30: Zapatista
FINAL PROJECT
Choose a different format from Midterm Project
Topic and format due July 18
Demonstrates knowledge of the course (Weeks 4-6)
See MIDTERM PROJECT for additional guidelines
COURSE SCHEDULE:
Week 1
Mon June 24
Tues June 25
Wed June 26
Thurs June 27
Introduction
Ellis Island
Triangle Fire
Capitalist Development of the Southwest
Articles:
 Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” 1898.
o http://www.learner.org/workshops/primarysources/corporations/docs/turner.html
 Robert L. Sperry, “When the Imperial Valley Fought For Its Life,” Journal of San Diego History
(Winter1975).
o http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/75winter/imperial.htm
Week 2
Mon July 1
Tues July 2
Wed July 3
Thurs July 4
(MIDTERM TOPICS DUE) Japanese, Punjabi farmers; The Roaring Twenties
The Great Depression; Repatriation
Labor Activism, New Deal
NO CLASS (Independence Day)
Articles:
 Carey McWilliams, “Americas Disadvantaged Minorities: Mexican-Americans,” The Journal of Negro
Education, Vol. 20, No. 3, The American Negro and Civil Rights in 1950 (Summer 1951), pp. 301-309.
 Cletus E. Daniel, “Radicals on the Farm in California,” Agricultural History, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Oct., 1975),
pp. 629-646.
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H168B/3
 Mark Reisler, “Always the Laborer, Never the Citizen: Anglo Perceptions of the Mexican Immigrant
during the 1920s,” Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May, 1976), pp. 231-254.
 Masakazu Iwata, "The Japanese Immigrants in California Agriculture," Agricultural History, 36 (January
1962), pp. 25-37.
 Karen Leonard, “Punjabi Farmers and California’s Alien Land Law,” Agricultural
History, 59, No. 4 (October 1985), pp. 549-562.
Week 3
Mon July 8
Tues July 9
Wed July 10
Thurs July 11
Japanese Internment, Zoot Suit Riots, Sleepy Lagoon
Zoot Suit Riots, Rosita the Riveter
Zoot Suit Riots (FILM)
Braceros, Operation Wetback
Week 4
Mon July 15
Tues July 16
Wed July 17
Thurs July 18
MIDTERM PRESENTATIONS
Harvest of Shame (FILM)
Struggle in the Fields (FILM)
(FINAL TOPICS DUE) The Chicano Movement, Vietnam
Week 5
Mon July 22
Tues July 23
Wed July 24
Thurs July 25
Taking Back the Schools (FILM)
Native American CR Movement
U.S. Imperialism
In the Name of the People (FILM)
Week 6
Mon July 29
Tues July 30
Wed July 31
Thurs Aug 1
NAFTA, Neoliberalism
Zapatista (FILM)
Maya of Morganton/Forever 21
FINAL PRESENTATIONS
Articles:
 Leonard Cavise, “NAFTA REBELLION,” Human Rights, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Fall 1994), pp. 36-37, 45-46.
 John Saxe-Fernández, “The Chiapas Insurrection: Consequences for Mexico and the United States,”
International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Winter 1994), pp. 325-342.
 Nora Lustig, “The 1982 Debt Crisis, Chiapas, NAFTA, and Mexico's Poor,” Challenge, Vol. 38, No. 2
(MARCH-APRIL 1995), pp. 45-50.
 “Neoliberalism: Mexico, A Neoliberal Experiment”
http://www.mexicosolidarity.org/programs/alternativeeconomy/neoliberalism
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