Experimental Course Proposal for SaLAS major
Department of Modern Languages
November 2014
Contact person: María Luisa Ruiz
mlruiz@stmarys-ca.edu
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Department: Modern Languages
Title of course: Spanish/ML 133: Special Topics in Hispanic Cultural Studies1
Number and type of contact hours per week: 3.15 hours per week, 3 days a week or 2.7 on
T/TH schedule
Duration of course in weeks: 15
Amount of course credit: 1
Brief Course Description:
Courses taught under this designation seek to provide students with an understanding of the
history, cultures, and contemporary issues of Latin America, including the presence of Latinos in
the U.S. After taking one of these courses, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of
Hispanic cultures across time and geography, articulate an understanding of global perspectives,
practices and products of those cultures and how these interface with larger social, economic,
political, and historical processes.
This course is intended for majors and minors. It is also open to any student who is interested in
learning about Latin America and U.S. Latinos. We also anticipate that some of the courses in
this designation will be taught in English and thus, attract students who are interested in Hispanic
cultures but perhaps do not have the language skills to take literature courses in the department
Furthermore, we anticipate this course will count towards Core Curriculum requirements, such as
Global Perspectives and/or the Common Good.
For the present proposal, we are submitting the following course:
SPAN/ML 133: Chicano Culture and Society
In this course students will have a unique opportunity to study the formation of Chicano culture
and society from the perspective of Mexico. We will focus on the intricate patterns of identity
formation and maintenance on both sides of the border to better understand how “Mexicanness”
has been constructed and reconstructed from the nineteenth century through the present. We will
also pay particular attention to the transformation of gender relations, in both Mexico and the
United States, brought about by the Mexican migration waves of the late twentieth century. We
will likewise discuss the role immigrant women have had in community building in the barrios
of many American cities. The class readings will include works by Eduardo Telles and Ortiz,
George Sánchez, Guillermo Bonfil Batalla, Francisco Balderrama and Raymond Rodríguez.
Learning Goals:
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We ask that the course also be given an ML designation to use if/when the course would be
taught in English.
1) Recognize Mexican-American culture as a dynamic, interrelated system and employ a
variety of processes to identify, analyze and evaluate various cultural themes, values and
ideas.
2) Demonstrate knowledge of Mexican-American cultures across time and geography,
specifically from 1848 to the present day.
3) Articulate an understanding of the complexity of Mexican-American culture vis-a-vis
cultures in the United States and Mexico.
4) Discern the variety and nature of cultural practices and artifacts of Mexican-American
populations, for example paintings, literature, and music.
5) Grasp the political and sociological dimensions of cultural practices and artifacts
classified under rubrics of race, class and gender in Mexican-American societies.
Assessment methods:
Students will complete quizzes: quizzes measure comprehension, and understanding of key
concepts and terms from the assigned readings.
Midterm exam: This assesses a student’s progress half way through the course. The exam
comprises identification of key terms and will ask students to synthesize concepts and themes
from the readings and class discussions.
Final exam: The exam comprises identification of key terms and will ask students to synthesize
concepts and themes from the readings and class discussions. This exam is not comprehensive,
rather it measures the students’ knowledge of the material from the midterm through the last day
of class.
Essays: Students are provided with themes from which they choose one topic to research and
analyze in an essay of 5-8 pages in length.
Participation and attendance: students are expected to be present at every class session and to
fully participate in class discussions, demonstrating their understanding and capacity to debate
the major themes of the assigned readings.
Reading List:
Vilma Balderrama and Rodríguez, Decade of Betrayal
Tomás R. Jimenez, Replenished Ethnicity
George Sánchez, Becoming Mexican American
Arturo Islas, The Rain God
Guillermo Bonfil Batalla, Mexico Profundo
Nestor García Canclini, Consumers and Citizens
Experimental Course Proposal for SaLAS major
Department of Modern Languages
November 2014
Contact person: María Luisa Ruiz
mlruiz@stmarys-ca.edu
3
Michelle Serros, Chicana Falsa
Alma García, Narratives of Mexican American Women
Brief Rationale for the course (relationship to current department curriculum):
During our program review process, we identified gaps in our curricular offerings, especially as
related to linguistics and cultural studies. This new course is part of the changes to the Spanish
major, which includes the creation of two additional concentrations, one of which is Hispanic
Cultural Studies. We created this course designation to first complement courses we currently
offer in the department and second, expand our course offerings for students interested in
understanding of the history, cultures, and contemporary issues of Latin America, including the
presence of Latinos in the U.S. Courses taught in this designation will provide multidisciplinary
understanding of the culture, languages and other artistic artifacts of the Spanish-speaking world.