FINALS WEEK

And so we’ve reached the end of our time together. Thank you for all the hard work this semester. It’s been a real pleasure to learn from and with you.

And thank you for the thoughtful work contained in your short teaching movies. Aside from being a little memento of your time in our class, they each also make a contribution to a viewing public beyond our class. Each is going to continue to reach more folks and teach. And even if it impacts only one person, that’s an amazing impact.

REFLECTION ESSAY: due Tuesday, December 13 at 5:00 p.m. (via Sakai Drop box)
Your last assignment is the reflection essay we’ve discussed and reviewed in class. The prompt is on the syllabus, as amplified by the following: “If you could only remember a few things from this class and our partnership with Roosevelt High, what would those be? Why do you value those?”

It should be written in accordance with our “Writing Guidelines.” There is no required minimum length, but it should not be longer than 5 pages.

Have a safe a relaxing winter break. I hope to see you again!

WEEK 15 (Dec. 6)

We’re down to one more class, on Tuesday, December 6. There’s just a bit more to finish up before the end of our semester.

CLASS
We’ll meet on TUESDAY for a closing class lecture, and to complete course evaluations. You don’t have to do anything in preparation.

REFELCTION
Our last class assignment is a “reflection” relating to your participation in our partnership. What did you learn? How did it shape your work? What is the lasting impact?

The more focused prompt we discussed in class was: If you could only remember a few things from this class and our partnership with Roosevelt High, what would those be? Why do you value those?

The reflection essay must conform to our “Writing Guidelines.” There is no required minimum length, but it should not be longer than 5 pages. It is the equivalent of our final exam, and it must be turned in no later than Tuesday, December 13 at 5:00 p.m., via Sakai Drop box.

JAMBOARD
Some of the students had questions for us, but didn’t get a chance to ask them. Ken and Hanna graciously posted those to a Jamboard for us to do so. Make some time to answer one. The information is in your email inbox.

See you on Tuesday!!

WEEK 14 (Nov. 29 & Dec. 1)

We won’t have class the week of Thanksgiving. You should use that extra time to revise your scripts and begin the process of assembling your final movie–because we’re getting close to our PREMIERE EVENT on Friday, December 2!

Tuesday, November 29
We’ll use class time to discuss how to turn in our films. We’ll also learn about immigration politics in the late 20th century by reading and discussing a chapter from the book Racial Propositions (2010), followed by a short lecture. Bring three questions for discussion related to the reading [24_MartinezHoSang.pdf], which we will use in a student-led analysis of this work.

Thursday, December 1
We will use the class time to turn in our films and discuss our upcoming trip to Roosevelt High. Details on how to turn in your movie can be found on our Sakai front page. This includes the file format you should use. Your movie should include a TITLE SCREEN and a closing slide of CREDITS, which give viewers some sense of where your research came from.

Friday, December 2
We will visit our partners at Eleanor Roosevelt High School (in Eastvale) where we will present our movies to a real-live audience. We will meet at 7:30am on College Way, just down the block from the library entrance and roughly across the street from Tranquada Health Center. I will provide bagels and other snacks for the trip. We will leave Roosevelt between 12:30 and 1:00.

We’ll discuss the trip in greater detail in class.

WEEK 12 (Nov. 15 & 17)

Congrats on finishing your scripts! As we approach the Thanksgiving break, we’ll focus this week’s learning on the final step of our projects and Central American migration to the US.

TUESDAY
On Tuesday we’ll discuss US involvement in Central America, as well as the resulting rise in migration from those countries. To help guide our discussion you are asked to read chapter 1 from the book Seeking Refuge, by María Cristina García [23_Garcia.pdf]. To prepare for discussion, write three sentences where each identifies one thing that is important to know from this history.

THURSDAY
For class on Thursday, I ask you to watch a documentary called The Maria Guardado Story (2002). The film is 1 hour long, and available on Sakai by clicking the “Videos” link.

I do want to warn you that the film does discuss sexual and military violence, at times with graphic language. If you feel you cannot watch it, I understand.

We’ll use the class to learn more about this history, as well as discuss the final step of our Visible Knowledge Project.

Be well until then…

WEEK 11 (Nov. 8 & 10)

This week we’ll turn in our Research Scripts, the next step in our Visible Knowledge Project (and the first draft of our movies).

TUESDAY
On Tuesday we’ll learn about the Young Lords, a revolutionary movement of Puerto Ricans in New York who made a lasting impact on Latine communities in the Northeast. We have two really short readings to guide that learning. The first is a reprint of two sources: an interview with a founder, and a short essay published by the Young Lords themselves [21_Lords.pdf]. The other is the group’s first “13 Point Program and Platform” from 1969 [22_Platform.pdf]. All three are primary documents that will help us understand the history of this unique movement.

THURSDAY
On Thursday we won’t have any readings. We will use the class to learn more about the history of Latine America in relation to the United States war in Vietnam.

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**SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13**
You’ll turn in your Research Script assignment no later than Sunday, November 13 at 1:00pm.

This assignment requires you to turn in two things: 1) the written script itself (with footnotes), and 2) an audio recording of you “performing” your script.

The written script should be composed in accordance with our “Writing Guidelines,” posted on Sakai. This includes footnotes, as we discussed in class. Please also include a title page with your name and movie/script title. I will remove the title page before sharing with the students at Roosevelt High School, so do not put your name on any other page. 

The audio recording doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You can do it on your phone or on a computer. Just read your script as best you can, being mindful of how you think it needs to be “performed” in order to reach your intended audience.

Both files should be uploaded to our Drop Box on Sakai. The script should be saved as a PDF and named “script-FIRSTNAME.pdf” (mine would be “script-TOMAS.pdf”). The audio file should be saved as a MP3 and named “audio-FIRSTNAME.mp3” (audio-TOMAS.mp3).

WEEK 10 (Nov. 1 & 3)

This week we’ll begin our discussion of the movement era of the 1960s. As I mentioned in class, we’ll do that by reading “forward” (late 1960s) but discussing “backward” (1950s and early 60s). We’ll also provide some of our class narrative through video documentaries.

For TUESDAY‘s class, we’ll watch a video and read some chapters from a larger book on the “Chicano Movement.” The video is “Quest for a Homeland,” which is episode 1 of the 4-part series Chicano! A History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. The readings are chapters 7 & 8 from the book Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice, by Ian F. Haney-López [19_HaneyLopez.pdf].

The video might look dated but it features interviews with the key players of the history involved. Even though it is more than 25 years old, it remains a solid analysis, too. The readings related to an important story in a larger book. While part of that story is already in motion by chapter 7, you should be able to catch up with some careful reading.

To prepare for class discussion, I ask you to select and type-up at least three quotes from the reading that relate to something significant in the overarching argument. We’ll use these in our collaborative discussion. That discussion will be preceded by a workshop on writing our Research Scripts, and followed by a short lecture on the US abroad during the Cold War.

On THURSDAY our class will involve a mix of lecture and discussion. Both will focus on the history of the Chicano Movement, an event we’ll also discuss through one of its inciting events, the 1968 East L.A. Blowouts. To help our learning, I ask you watch another documentary, “Talking Back the Schools” (episode 3 of the series), and read a news report of the walkouts from the LA Times [20_demands.pdf]. We’ll use both for our in-class activity.

I know it’s a busy time but you’re all doing great! Just take each thing one step at a time and you’ll continue to do so into the future.

WEEK 9 (Oct. 25 & 27)

We’ll come back together this week to learn about Latinx Americans during and after World War II. It’s a significant period for our class, one that fundamentally shapes the present in which we now live.

TUESDAY
Our learning begins on Tuesday with a short lecture on WWII and a discussion of two readings that will give us a sense of some of the tensions in this period with respect to Latine lives. The readings are a chapter from the book From Coveralls to Zoot Suits [16_Escobedo.pdf] and an article titled “Josefina Fierro and the Sleepy Lagoon Crusade, 1942-1945” [17_Larralde.pdf].

Two prepare for our discussion I ask you to WRITE and PRINT OUT a one-paragraph statement for each reading. Your paragraph should begin with the sentence: “The most important thing to know from this reading is…” Because you’re writing a paragraph for each reading, you will write two paragraphs total. To save space, you can single space each (being sure to leave a space or two between the paragraphs). Be sure to print your work out and bring it to class to turn in.

THURSDAY
We’ll spend our class learning about Latine labor in the postwar period. We’ll do that in a lecture and discussion of a documentary called Harvest of Loneliness (2010). The one-hour movie is available on YouTube here.

We’ll also read and discuss an article comparing Mexican and Puerto Rican migration: “Of Immigrants and Migrants,” by Lilia Fernández [18_Fernandez.pdf]

Be well until then…

WEEK 8 (Oct. 18 & 20)

It’s time for a BREAK! This week we WILL NOT meet as a class, but you do have TWO things to do related to our class.

LECTURE VIDEOS
First, to keep our class story moving forward, I ask that you watch a video lecture on Latinx history during the Great Depression. It’s broken into three parts: PART 1 (7:45); PART 2 (14:16); and PART 3 (9:03).

PRIMARY DOC IDENTIFICATION
You will also turn in the first part of your Visible Knowledge Project, the Primary Doc Identification assignment. Worth 10 final grade points, the assignment is described in detail on the syllabus (information we’ve amplified in our various class discussions, as well).  A collection of resources is available for your use in “the page above.”

As we discussed in class, the due date of this assignment has been extended to Saturday, October 22 at 8:00PM. (If it is not submitted then I will assume you are taking a secondary extension, with a 10% deduction.)

We’ll see each other in our next class on Tuesday, October 25. Be well until then.

WEEK 7 (Oct. 11 & 13)

This should be an exciting week for us. We’ll continue building on our class story, turn in our second Document Analysis assignment, and meet the students of Eleanor Roosevelt High as they visit our campuses on Friday.

CLASS
TUESDAY: we’ll read and discuss two readings: one about a labor movement led by Mexican and Japanese agricultural workers [13_Almaguer.pdf]; and one (rather legendary) oral history piece on Puerto Rican women [14_Alvarez.pdf]. To prepare for our discussion, I ask you to write 3 QUESTIONS that we can use to incite discussion. We’ll follow up that discussion with a short lecture.

THURSDAY: We’ll have a fuller lecture, look at some documents featuring migrant voices, and take care of any last minutes details for the ERHS visit. You’ll also write and turn the next Document Analysis assignment.

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS 2
You’ll turn this in on Thursday, on Sakai. Please turn in the assignment as a PDF, named your last name(s). For example, mine would be SummersSandoval.pdf. As before, compose the assignment according to our Writing Guidelines.

This DA should be written on the Los Angeles Times opinion piece titled “Hands Off!” [15_LATimes.pdf]. As before, tell us 1) what it is; 2) what is says; and 3) what it means in terms of the past. As we do with documents in class, your task is to help us see how this text can be a window into the past, helping us see and understand the larger dynamics we’re learning about. Be sure to support your analysis by using quotes.

ERHS VISIT
Finally, we’ll host 80 high school students on Friday, October 14. The day begin at 8:30AM and concludes with lunch. We’ll look at the latest (and final) itinerary on Tuesday.

WEEK 6 (Oct. 4 & 6)

This week our class story moves to the topic of immigration. We’ll discuss late 19th and early 20th century immigration flows, as well as the rise of an immigration restriction regime in the United States.

For TUESDAY’s class, we’ll read and discuss the first two chapters of a book called Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945, by the historian George Sánchez [12_Sanchez.pdf]. To prepare for that discussion I’m asking you to use our class Flip, and post a response to the posted prompt. Please post your video response no later than the start of class.

A link to the Flip “topic” is posted in an announcement on Sakai (titled “Week 6 LINKS”), which you’ll find on the front page.

We’ll use our Flip responses to launch our in-class discussion, and then follow that with a short lecture.

On THURSDAY we’ll talk about immigration restriction and its effects on Latinx America, and spend some time with oral transcripts of early century Mexican migrants. I’ll provide those documents in class.

To help provide some context for our reading discussion and general learning this week, I’m asking you to watch two short video lectures (one is about 6 minutes, and the other just over 11). Links to both are also in the Sakai announcement, referenced above.

Be well until next time…