Course Description
01:595:101 Introduction to Latino Studies
- Course Code: 01:595:101
- Semester(s) Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
- Major Requirement: Introductory Course
- Instructor: Ulla Berg, Ph.D.
- Description:
This course examines some of the central themes that shape the diverse experiences of Latino populations in the United States. Some of the main organizing topics include the politics of labeling; migration and community formation histories; Latino labor markets; race and racial formations; education and the politics of language, Latino political activism, and popular culture. The main goal of the course is to invite students to think critically and understand the conceptual, political, and historical issues that inform Latino experiences in the U.S. The course requires students to engage in a critical examination of a wide selection of materials ranging from anthropological, sociological, and historical texts to short stories and poetry, documentary and fiction films and media art in an effort to place the experience of diverse Latino populations in social, political, historical, and interdisciplinary perspectives. The course will serve as the basic intellectual map to the research interests of the department’s faculty and to our higher-level course offerings and goals. The course is required of all majors and minors in LHCS.
This course is certified for the Core Curriculum and meets the following learning goal: 21st Century Challenges (a – Analyze the degree to which forms of human difference shape a person’s experience of and perspectives on the world.)
- Learning Goals:
After completing this course, students who do the required work will be able to:
- Gain an understanding of Latino Studies as a field, including how Latino Studies fits into the broader disciplinary trends of ethnic and comparative racial studies fields.
- Learn about the possibilities of interdisciplinary research
- Understand central issues aspects of the US Latino experience as rooted in a particular political history linked to grassroots activism and social movements in the late 1960 and 1970s.
- Critically assess the presence and impact of Latinos on U.S. economy, society, and culture and the place of “Latinos“ in the contemporary U.S. public sphere.
- Required Reading:
The course materials consist of journal articles, essays, text selections, and book chapters that are available from the Sakai site at sakai.rutgers.edu. In addition students are typically required to purchase at least one monograph and/or literary work such as:
- Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La frontera: The New Mestiza. (ISBN: 978-1879960855)
- Candelario, Ginetta E. B. Black Behind the Ears: Dominican Racial Identity from Museums to Beauty Shops. (ISBN 0822340372)
- Oboler, Suzanne. Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: Identity and the Politics of (Re)Presentation in the United
States. (ISBN: 0816622868) - Ramos-Zayas, Ana Y. 2003. National Performances: The Politics of Class, Race, and Space in Puerto
- Rican Chicago Chicago: University of Chicago Press (ISBN 9780226703596)
* Consult Rutgers Barnes and Noble for current books ordered for the course.
- Evaluation:
Class attendance and active participation: 15%
Essay: 20%
Group Presentations: 10 %
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Examination: 30%This course synopsis is intended for informative purposes only; it is provisional and subject to change before the beginning of the semester. A complete description of Department Learning Goals and Major/Minor requirements can be found on the LHCS website.
- Credits: 3
- SAS Core Certified: CCD
- Disclaimer: The information in this course description is subject to change. For up-to-date course information, please refer to the syllabus on your course site (e.g. Canvas).
