SOC 335 Fall 2005
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TEXTBOOKS
This course explores the historical sociology of Latino peoples in the United States at three levels: First, we survey the history of annexation, migration, and changing social conditions of Mexicans in the United States, from their 19th-century conquest and incorporation into the U.S. Southwest, to their racialized/alienized working class experiences in the first six decades of the 20th century; to their ethnic rebellion in the late 1960s and early 1970s - the Chicano Movement -, to their present day dual, contradictory evolution as a domestic, "entitled," valued and increasingly successful component of the emerging Latino panethnicity, yet ceaselessly replenished by a growing "un-entitled," stigmatized, and increasingly persecuted immigrant component, the product of fast North American integration.
Then we explore the ethnogenesis of Latinos as
an evolving pan-ethnicity in the four decades since the Civil Rights
Movement, focusing on the demography and political sociology of the
State of
California since the 1980s, and what current trends portend for the
future of Latinos and of U.S. ethnic relations in general - no less
than the
remaking of the American identity.
Lastly, we explore the
contemporary condition of Latinos in the U.S. in relation to, and in
close correspondence with, the fast pace of Latin American - U.S.
regional integration in the era of globalization, unleashing massive
migration flows while causing
major and repeated national developmental crises throughout the region.
Grupos: The
course will rely on intense student class participation, organized
around group ("grupo")
presentations and class discussions. The students will therefore form grupos of five to six students at
the beginning of the course and engage in collaborative &
participatory learning throughout the quarter.
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Unauthorized absences, tardiness, and/or early departures will be penalized (especially for those that miss or are late to their own scheduled presentations!). If you need to be excused (or need to leave early/arrive late), please call or talk to Dr. Santos ahead of time.
Lectures, grupo
presentations, and class participation: Dr. Santos
will usually lecture on the first hour of class. The grupo
presentations
and class discussion will take up the second hour. Whenever there's a
video presentation, the order will be reversed. All students - not just those
scheduled to present - are expected
to come to class fully prepared
to discuss the assigned readings for each
session - pop quizzes will
be randomly given. Student who, for whatever
reason, did not read the assigned
readings for the day, should
preferably first abstain from initially indulging in purely
spontaneous
responses ahead of others and focus instead on listening -- the policy
on class
participation is "no investigation,
no
right to speak first." Informed, frequent student participation,
on
the other hand, is
encouraged and will be noted and subsequently generously rewarded by
Dr. Santos,
at the time of giving final grades.
Each grupo will be assigned two class presentations
during
the term, on a purely rotational basis (see schedule below). Every
session, the
presenting students will take turns
summarizing, critically responding to various parts or aspects of the
assigned readings for that day.
When a grupo presents, each student in it will be given the
opportunity to make a brief presentation (no more than five minutes, please) based
on
a written one-page outline
-- divided into sections (I, II, III) and subsections (a, b, c) -- to
be
turned in to Dr. Santos afterwards; cards, PowerPoint files, or
overhead projector transparencies may be
used for the
presentations themselves, but students are responsible for testing
the files and equipment earlier, before
class starts! All
individual presentations should end with at least one or two topics or
questions for
discussion. Following
the individual presentations,
there will be a brief grupo discussion on each other's
presentations, followed by full class
discussion.
It is the responsibility of the grupos to meet beforehand to
plan and
divide up the portions, specific topics, or approaches each student
will
cover, to avoid
duplication, and
to organize the order of the individual presentations. It is strongly
advisable for the groups to
first read the entire material early on, then schedule to meet to
divide up the topics or approaches. The
students may also chose a debate format, if they wish.
Students are encouraged to create their own overhead transparencies,
but if they do, please make sure they use BIG FONT and the slides are
SIMPLE &
CLEAN - not cluttered with too much information or tiny text no one can
read.
A good individual presentation will (I) identify a major, significant
aspect or issue or fact brought out in the readings (frame a question
or two, or an assertion or two, explicitly); (II) fully summarize what
the author claims or argues in relation to it; and (III) respond to (b)
with a critical assessment, supplemented by further analysis, and
relevant information (IV are the topics for discussion).
The individual presentations will be
graded based on organization &
clarity, relevancy of topic
selection, accuracy of coverage, and strength of critical analysis.
The grupo
presentations
will also be assessed a grade based on the quality of the division and
organization
of topics/approaches, and the critical thinking quality of the
follow-up
discussion.
Grupo Term Paper Research Projects:
Students in each grupo will also be asked to select a
pertinent historical/sociological topic relating to the Latino
experience in the United States, and design, organize, and carry out a
written group
research project on it. The subject may be panethnic (all
Latinos) or ethnic (one Latino ethnic group); the period
covered may be historic (19th. & 20th. Centuries), or contemporary
(1990s to 2000s); the spatial dimension may be as small as a city
or local area, and as large as the entire North America &
Caribbean area; the topics may focus on the social, political,
economic, demographic, and/or cultural
conditions,
trends, institutional dynamics, social movements, and burning issues
affecting Latinos
or affected by them. There are literally hundreds of possible
interesting topics. The students must obtain approval from Dr. Santos
for both their overall grupo topic and for their individual
subtopics no
later than October 13. Grupo
delegates may visit Dr. Santos to accomplish this.
Each paper should have a well-stated, sharply focused research hypothesis, a summary of the literature read and the key descriptive data on it, and a critical analysis section leading to a conclusion. Papers will be graded for clarity and organization, quality of analysis, and accuracy and relevance of assembled data.
For guidelines on how to write a good research term paper, citations
&
bibliographic styles, etc., please go to the following URL: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/Guide-Paper.html.
There are two general studies courses that students are strongly
encouraged to take if they wish to develop their research skills, and
if they do will receive extra credit
in this course:
GST 126 - Researching the Electronic Library
(2 units)
Introduces students to effective research techniques using Library
electronic resources. Emphasis will be placed upon skills necessary for
the identification, retrieval, and evaluation of information for
general and specific topics. Students will acquire the competencies
necessary to develop an effective search strategy and find research
materials, including references to journal articles, full text articles
in electronic format, government publications, books, and Internet
resources.
GST 153 - Research on the
Internet (2 units)
Introduces students to the information resources available on the
Internet for research purposes Students will develop general knowledge
of the Internet, navigation skills, effective search strategy skills,
familiarity with Internet finding tools, evaluation methodologies and
other Internet research skills.
Contact: Ms. Christy Gavin
Librarian, Walter W. Stiern Library
cgavin@csub.edu
661-664-3237
Plagiarism: To
prevent students from wittingly or unwittingly engaging in plagiarism,
Dr. Santos strongly recommends students to carefully read and abide by
the document CSUB
Classifications of Plagiarism found at: http://www.csub.edu/tlc/options/resources/plagiarism/4plagiarimclassifications.htm.
Grading:
The grupo class presentations are worth 15 points each (10
points for the individual oral presentation, 5 points for the overall
group
effort). The research project is worth 50 points (45 points for the
individual
paper and 5 points for the quality of the grupo volume as a
whole).
Class participation and pop quizzes are worth 20 points (includes
attendance,
punctuality, and informed active participation in the class
discussions). The extra credit students receive for
taking the suggested General Studies courses will depend on their final
grade in those courses, and may range from zero to ten points (up to 5
per course). The final
letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100, as follows:
94-100 = A | 87-89 = B+ | 77-79 = C+ | 65-69 = D |
90-93 = A- | 84-86 = B | 74-76 = C | < 65 = F |
80-83 = B- | 70-73 = C- |
Office Hours & Private E-Mail to Dr. Santos:
All students are encouraged to visit Dr. Santos regularly during posted office hours (see above), especially to ensure their group projects are approved and organized into well chosen subtopics, their individual research papers are well focused, or to discuss any question from the class lectures, the textbooks, or their grupo class presentations. Approval/consultation of the grupo research topics must be done in person at Dr. Santos office by representatives of each grupo - no emails on that topics, please.
Dr. Santos prefers students either come to his office during office hours or call him by phone, rather than to receive e-mail messages that require more than a one-line reply, due to his large email traffic, and the ease of talking as opposed to typing! But if you wish to send Dr. Santos a brief, to the point, personal message, you may do so at:
Schedule of
Reading Assignments & Grupo Presentations
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Week 1
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Introduction to the class |
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Mexicanos: Chapters 1 & 2 |
Week 2 |
Mexicanos: Chapters 3 & 4 |
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Mexicanos: Chapters 5 & 6 |
Week 3 |
Mexicanos: Chapters 7 & 8 |
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Mexicanos: Chapter 9 |
Week 4 |
Nueva
California: Intro. & Chapter 1 |
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Nueva
California: Chapters 2 & 3 |
Week 5 |
Nueva
California: Chapter 4 |
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Nueva
California: Chapters 5 |
Week 6 |
Nueva
California: Chapter 6 |
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Nueva
California: Chapters 7 & 8 |
Week 7 |
Borderless
Borders: Chapters 1 & 2 |
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Borderless
Borders: Chapters 3 & 4 |
Week 8 |
Borderless
Borders: Chapters 5 & 6 |
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Borderless
Borders: Chapters 7 & 8 |
Week 9 |
Borderless
Borders: Chapters 9 & 10 |
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Borderless
Borders: Chapter 11 & 12 |
Week 10 |
Borderless
Borders: Chapters 13 & 14 |
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Web
Readings: To be announced |
The grupo
research projects are
due
by noon, Tuesday, November 29, electronically and at Dr.
Santos' office |
My GRUPO
#:_____ We present on these dates:
________ and ___________
My First Presentation consists of:_________________________________________________
My Second Presentation consists of:_______________________________________________
My GRUPO Research
Topic:___________________________________________
My Own Research Subtopic:____________________________________________
My GRUPO members:
Name_____________________Phone_________________Email_________________
1._______________________________________________________________________
2._______________________________________________________________________
3._______________________________________________________________________
4._______________________________________________________________________
5._______________________________________________________________________
6._______________________________________________________________________