Description
Examines the Chicano/a (Mexican and Mexican American) experience in North America within a historical context. Beginning with an examination of the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican societies through European conquest and up to 20th century, students will engage in the following areas of scholarly inquiry: Nation development, migration/immigration, race, class, culture, political activism and civil rights.
Grading Basis
Graded
Course Learning Outcomes
Core Topics
- Mesoamerican civilizations: Olmec, Teotihuacan, Toltec, Aztec
- European Conquest: Ideology and birth of Mestizo
- Spanish/Mestizo migration to Northern Mexico (contemporary Southwestern U.S.)
- U.S. Expansion: Manifest Destiny, Texan Revolution & War against Mexico.
- Consequences of U.S. incursion: Mexicans enter U.S. society as a colonized people.
- Development of Chicano/a Identity: La Raza (The People).
- Activism: Chicano/a’s seek equality (Magonismo, IWW, Communism, unionism/strikes).
- Anti-Mexican: Deportation campaigns, Red Scare, school segregation, and violence.
- Civil Rights: Birth of Chicanismo.