Spanish: Border Literatures & Cultures (A)

About SPAN 4990 A

See Schedule of Courses for specific titles. Prerequisite: SPAN 3610.

Notes

Prereq: SPAN 3610. PACE students by permission and override. Special Topics courses cannot carry CC designations.

Section URL

Border Literatures and Cultures

Section Description

Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldúa writes in her groundbreaking work, Borderlands/La Frontera, “The U.S. Mexican border es una herida abierta where the third world grates against the first and bleeds…hemorrhages again, the lifeblood of two worlds merging to form a third country, a border culture.” In this course students will be introduced to the literatures and cultures of two or more geographical, national, linguistic, political, and cultural “contact zones” as evidenced in various parts of the “Americas.” Because of their peculiar historical connection with the United States, readings from Puerto Rican and Mexican America Chicanas/os) writers and artists will comprise approximately seventy percent of the reading materials for this course. We will trace the historical racialization process of these two groups and of other Latinos within the context of US. History and cultural production. For example, we will examine the intersectionality of “race,” gender, class, language, and sexuality, amongst others in the cultural production of U. S. Latino artists. For comparison purposes, however, we will look at other contact zones such as the Argentina/Brazil/Paraguay borderlands as well as readings from the Colombian and Dominican Diaspora. This course will examine the manner by which the cultural production emerging of these contact zones challenges traditional notions of a “border,” (a rigid boundary that marks a limit).

Section Expectation

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
CLASS PARTICIPATION:
Class attendance is required. As a rule, if you are absent more than two times during the semester, your final grade will be lowered: the more absences, the lower the grade. Each LATE arrival will count as 1/2 absence. All reading and writing assignments are required and are due on the date indicated in the syllabus. Class participation is essential for a successful learning experience; hence, it is required of you as part of this academic community. As part of your class participation, I will ask students to do a short presentation or introduction to a specific topic or author. You must take this requirement seriously. For example, if you never volunteer to participate in class discussion and only participate because I have called your name, the maximum grade you may earn in this category is a seven. This grade assumes that you did not miss a week’s worth of classes and that you did not arrive late to class during the semester. Per university policy, faculty members are required to ask a minimum of two hours of outside work per course unit. Since this is a three-unit course, you are expected to spend six hours outside of the classroom preparing for this class. In addition, you as part of this grade, you will be required to attend a lecture by a special guest on Monday, Oct 28th art 4 pm.

REACTION ASSINGMENTS:
Five short, one-page minimum and double-spaced research reaction/response papers on an article or topic given to you by your professor. These assignments will be edited but not graded; they are meant to serve as writing assignments that do not penalize you for the mistakes you make and serve to alert you on the grammatical, critical, or organizational issues you must correct in your formal compositions. These assignments are worth two points each for a total of ten points. E-mail submissions are not accepted. You must hand-in your paper at the beginning of the class. These response to readings or reaction papers may address the following questions (not necessarily all): 1) what is the argument of the author; 2) what are the weaknesses of the argument; 3)what are the strengths of the article; 4) what have you learned from the article; 5) why do you think the article is effective or not; what questions came to your mind as you read the article?

EXAM:
There will be one exam roughly after the first two-thirds of the class. Specific details of the formant and content of the exam will be given to you one week prior to the exam. The exam is
worth twenty points.

COMPOSITIONS
You will be required to write two short compositions (five pages minimum). Your grade for each essay will be based on style (grammar, structure, organization, and clarity) and content (the quality of your analysis). All compositions are to be typed or computer printed. Handwritten papers will not be accepted. Late papers will be marked down. In addition, there will be several brief written assignments on readings and/or other class writing activities. Each essay is worth twenty points for a total of forty points. E-mail submissions are not accepted. Essays are to be handed-in at the beginning of the class.

FINAL PRESENTATION:
In consultation with your instructor, you will select a topic related to the border literatures and cultures that you will research and present on your own. At the date of the presentation, you are required to submit a two-page, double- spaced summary of your oral presentation. This is your opportunity to be creative and to follow your own interests as developed through the course readings. Power point presentations are encouraged. Be mindful of your spelling and grammar as this will graded during your oral presentation and in your written submission. The oral component if worth five points and the written part another five for a total of ten points.

POP QUIZZES:
Eleven pop quizzes will be administered throughout the semester. One quiz will be dropped from your quizzes final grade. The quiz will be based on the reading you were asked to do for that date. Pop quizzes are worth a total of ten points and cannot be made-up.

Evaluation

Class participation: 10
Research Papers 10 (five, 2 pts each)
Compositions: 40 (two, 20 % each)
Exam 20
Final Presentation 10 (five oral and five written)
Pop Quizzes 10 (eleven)
Total Points 100 pts.

GRADES:

Important Dates

Note: These dates may change before registration begins.

Courses may be cancelled due to low enrollment. Show your interest by enrolling.

Resources

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