CALS 352

Chicana/o and Latina/o Philosophy

173 Nichols, Wednesday, 1-3:50pm

 

Professor Patricia Kim-Rajal

NH 208, 664-3294, patricia.kim-rajal@sonoma.edu

Office Hours: Tuesday 1-2pm, Wednesday 4:30-6:30pm and by appointment.

 

Course Description

This course addresses the development of Chicano/a and Latina/o thought from the pre-Columbian era in Latin America to the present from a materialist perspective. We will endeavor to contextualize the rise of different attitudes, definitions and worldviews concerning Chicano/Latino ethnicity within the specific historical conditions in which they developed. Our study will include the writings of Latin American thinkers like Simón Bolivar and Jose Martí as well as ethnic nationalisms, U.S. Third World feminism and contemporary Latina/o critical theory.

 

Course Objectives

Over the course of the semester students will become familiar with some of the key contributions made by Chicanos and Latinos to philosophical thought both in the United States and overseas. By the end of the term, students should:

• Be able to compare and contrast Chicano and Latino cultural and belief systems to those of other ethnoracial groups in the United States
• Have a greater understanding of the relationship between material, economic and political forces and Chicano/Latino thought
• Understand trends and patterns in Latin American and Latino intellectual history

 

Course Requirements

Quizzes (10 total)                                            50%

Short Essay                                                     25%

Final                                                                25%

 

Quizzes

In lieu of midterm exams, we will have a series of ten (10) quizzes worth 5 points each throughout the semester. They will be administered at the start of class and will be based on the assigned reading for that day as well as on material from the previous week’s lecture. No advance notice will be given, so be prepared every time you come to class.

Response Paper

Halfway through the term you will write a short response paper (4-5 pages) on the nature and evolution of Chicano philosophical and political thought. I will provide you with a prompt. Details on this will follow as the term progresses.

Final

The final exam will consist of several essay questions and will be given in-class. I will provide you with a study guide.

 

Any students needing special accommodations are urged to contact me during the early part of the course so that suitable arrangements can be made.

 

Required Readings

• Miguel León-Portillo, Aztec Thought and Culture available at North Light Books, 550 E. Cotati Avenue
• Gisele Díaz and Alan Rodgers, The Codex Borgia available at North Light Books, 550 E. Cotati Avenue
• Class reader: Available at the College Copy Shop on E. Cotati Avenue and Colegio

 

 

Weekly Schedule

 

Week 1           Introduction/Defining our Terms

8/23                 Introduction to and overview of the course.

                        Handout: Elements of philosophy.

                        Media: Legacy: Central America (VHS 4687, volume 5), History’s ancient legacies (VHS 4654, volume 3)

 

Week 2           Pre-Columbian Influences: Metaphysics and Theology

8/30                 Miguel León-Portillo, “Introduction” and chapters 1 and 2 in Aztec

                        Thought and Culture.

                        Gisele Díaz and Alan Rodgers, The Codex Borgia, plates 1-28

                        Introduction to the Aztec Calendar (non-SSU website):http://www.azteccalendar.com/introduction-to-the-aztec-calendar.html.

                        Once there, you can also find out what your birthday is in Toltec notation at http://www.azteccalendar.com/azteccalendar.html.

                        Media: The Five Suns (VHS 5786)

 

Week 3           Pre-Columbian Influences: The Nature of Man and His Creations

9/6                   Miguel León-Portillo, chapters 3-5 in Aztec Thought and Culture

                        Gisele Díaz and Alan Rodgers, The Codex Borgia, plates 47-76 and 29-46

 

Week 4           People of Corn, Conquest of Wheat

9/13                 Bartolomé de las Casas, “New Spain” in The Devastationof the Indies: A Brief Account [R]

                        John R. Chavez, “Aztlán, Cibola and Frontier New Spain” in Between the Conquests: Readings in Early Chicano History [R]

 

Week 5           New World Order: Syncretism and Pigmentocracy

9/20                 Ramón A. Gutiérrez “Honor and Status” in When Jesus Came the Corn Mothers Went Away, pp. 183-206 [R]

                        Ramón A. Gutiérrez “Honor and Virtue” in When Jesus Came the Corn Mothers Went Away [R]

                       

Week 6           Revolution in New Spain

9/27                 Victor M. Uribe-Uran, “The Changing Meaning of Honor, Status and Class: The Letrados and Bureaucrats of New Granada in the Late             Colonial and Early Postcolonial Period” in State and Society in Spanish America during the Age of Revolution [R]

                        Simón Bolívar, “Ideas on the Union of All America” and “The Jamaica Letter” in The Political Thought of Bolívar [R]

                        Handout: The Influence of the European Enlightenment.

 

Week 7           Manifest Destiny and the Rise of Pan-American Hispanic Identities

10/4                 “Letter from James Buchanan,” “The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo” and “The Platt Amendment (1901)” from Latino/a Thought [R]

                        Tomás Almaguer, “The True Significance of the Word ‘White’” in Racial Faultlines [R]

                        Maria Raquel Casas, “Victoria Reid and the Politics of Identity” in Latina Legacies [R]

                       

Week 8           Modernism: Eugenics vs. Mestizaje

10/11               José Martí “Mother America” and “Our America” in The José Martí Reader [R]

                        Madison Grant The Passing of the Great Race (excerpts) [R]

                        José Vasconcelos The Cosmic Race [R]

           

Week 9           Political Philosophy: Becoming “American”

10/18               “Merton E. Hill Outlines a Program for Americanizing the Mexicans” in Problems in Mexican American History [R]

                        George Sanchez, “Workers and Consumers: A Community Emerges” and “The Rise of the Second Generation” in Becoming Mexican-American [R]

                        Benjamin Márquez “Expressive and Purposive Incentives, 1929-1945” in LULAC: The Evolution of a Mexican American Political Organization (Texas UP, 1993) [R]

 

Week 10         Latinos, the Homefront and the Labor Movement

10/25               RESPONSE PAPER DUE TODAY

                        “Los Angeles Times Appeals for an End to the Zoot Suit War, 1943” in Major Problems in Mexican American History [R]

                        Media: Salt of the Earth

                       

Week 11         Political Activism in the post-World War II Era

11/1                 David Gutierrez, “Ethnic Politics, Immigration Policy and the Cold War”      from Walls and Mirrors [R]

 

Week 12         Ethnic Nationalisms

11/8                 Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales “I Am Joaquin: An Epic Poem” [R]

                        Reies Lopez Tijerina, “Open Letter from the Santa Fe Jail, 1969” in Major Problems in Mexican American History [R]

                        Cesar Chávez, “The Organizer’s Tale” in Latino/a Thought [R]

                        Alicia Chavez, “Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers” in Latina Legacies [R]

                        Handout: El Plan de Delano

                        Media: I Am Joaquin (VHS 3787)     

 

Week 13         Chicana Feminist Thought

11/15               Ana Castillo, “A Countryless Woman” and “The Ancient Roots of Machismo” in Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma[R]

                        Gloria Anzaldúa, “Movimientos de rebeldia y las culturas que traicionan”     and “La conciencia de la mestiza” in Borderlands/La Frontera             [R]     

 

Week 14         Thanksgiving Break

11/22               No class, Thanksgiving Break

 

Week 15         Quantifying and Qualifying Latino Identity

11/29               Candace Nelson and Marta Tienda “The Structuring of Hispanic Ethnicity: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives” (7-29) in Challenging Fronteras [R]

                        Suzanne Oboler, “Language, National Identity and the Ethnic Label Hispanic” in Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives [R]

           

Week 16         Latinidad in a Global Context

12/6                 Juan Gonzalez, “Free Trade: The Final Conquest of Latin America” in Harvest of Empire [R]

                        David Bacon, “Grapes and Green Onions” in Children of NAFTA [R]

                        Ed Morales, “What I’m Talking About When I Speak in Spanglish, or the Spanglish Manifesto”(1-29) in Living in Spanglish [R]

 

Finals Week

12/13               The final exam will be administered in our usual classroom from 2-3:50pm. Please make sure you bring a bluebook.