SPANISH 323: HISPANIC CULTURE THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING IN LICKING COUNTY SPRING 2011

Transcription

1 DENIISON UNIIVERSIITY SPANISH 323: HISPANIC CULTURE THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING IN LICKING COUNTY SPRING 2011 Associate Professor of Spanish Dosinda García-Alvite 301R Fellows Hall (740) and (home) Class Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00-11:20 AM and 2 hrs to schedule for service Meeting Place: 229 Talbot Hall Office Hours: Mond 9:30-11 am,tues &Thurs 11:30-1 COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is for students who want to learn about the culture of Hispanic communities of the USA and those interested in using their Spanish language skills through interaction with local Hispanic communities. The goals of this course are two- fold as it integrates academic readings and discussions in Spanish about the Hispanic community in the USA with service work within that community. This specific class emphasizes encounters, relationships, dislocations and conflicts between and within communities and definitions of communities, and the hybrid and shifting identities and political- economic relationships and experiences that result. This course will provide the necessary background for your engagement with the history and presence of Latin@s in the US. Your direct contact with these communities is provided through service- learning experiences in the Licking County public education and social services systems. What is Service Learning and how is it different from philanthropy, charity or faith-based work? Service learning is an academic social movement that responds to social problems. It is a term which attempts to link service in the community to the academic curriculum, and, as such, will enable you to test theories of life experiences, and force upon you an evaluation of your knowledge and understanding grounded in the service experience. By working as tutors with Latino children and adults of the Licking county academic system, you will be exploring and testing different cultural understandings of service, including, and especially, your own. This class is not just about providing a service in terms of logging hours, but to go beyond, through analysis, reflection and evaluation to address the variety of needs of the Hispanic culture in our community. Furthermore, there is a reciprocal relationship between you and the Hispanic students whom you will tutor. Not only will you be teaching, but also you will be educated by these students who will provide you with another learning experience. What content will Span 323 cover? This course introduces students to the cultural diversity, histories, and experiences of Latinos in the USA. As a survey course, we both map the general issues that pertain to these communities and explore specific 1

2 questions regarding the major national groups that comprise Hispanic- Latino ethnicity: Mexican American, Cuban, Puerto Rican and Central- American. Also, we will be building upon your language and cultural skills in the classroom as well as at the site, where you will be engaging with the Spanish language in a real- world setting. You will do weekly written work in Spanish analyzing and evaluating readings, films, documentaries as well as your experiences and interactions with the Latin@ you work with. You will also keep a portfolio that will display the work done throughout the semester and your reflections on the evolution you have experienced. COURSE OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: a--strengthen students' speaking, writing, listening and reading skills in Spanish. By having discussions every class and office visit about your field experience, readings and visual texts, you will greatly improve your oral, listening and reading skills in Spanish. Additionally, this course will focus on writing for learning by writing journals and think pieces that promote reflection, self-discovery and your involvement with course materials. b--gain a greater understanding of different aspects of the Hispanic community presently residing in the U.S.A, and their issues of concern via interaction with the Latino community of Licking county. Through readings, documentaries, films and class visits we will analyze four main topics that are very important in relation to the population we will be working with: 1-who, how and why are these Hispanics living in central Ohio/the USA?, 2-issues of acculturation and relationship to the USA nation, especially as seen manifested in the education system 3-language related themes (bilingualism, ESL instruction, literature, Spanglish) and 4-Hispanic/ Latino role models and their contributions to the dominant culture. c--develop our responsiveness to other communities, strengthening our willingness to engage in community service, in order to be active citizens. By interacting weekly with a Hispanic student in the Licking county schools and tutoring him/her in the academic areas of need, you will obtain experiential knowledge. This experience will illuminate the academic work you will do in the class, it will facilitate an understanding of your strengths and interests in community service, and it will help you question what roles you exercise as a citizen. d--fulfill a 300-level requirement for the Spanish major and/or minor ( Span prerequisites.) REQUIRED TEXTS: 1- Cisneros, Sandra. La casa en Mango Street (Elena Poniatowska, transl.) New York: Random House, Inc., Vintage Books, Rivera, Tomás. Y no se lo tragó la tierra. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, Condon, John C. Good Neighbors: Communicating with the Mexicans. Maine: Intercultural Press, ERES documents and English- Spanish Dictionary. CLASS TIME SCHEDULE: We will meet as a group twice a week, for 80 minutes each class. You will travel with your group/partner (depending upon the day of the week which you chose as your service date) together to the site once a week and spend 1-2 hours at the service location. Twice in the semester you are required to meet with me in my office for minutes to discuss individual concerns and progress. At these meetings, you should bring your journals, notes for research project, questions and any other issues related to class you want to examine. 2

3 GRADING: Participation and attendance (class and office hour meetings)- 10% Weekly journals of site visits (blogs) (10 minimum) 16% Position papers on class readings/documentaries/films (10 minimum) 10% Partners presentation 7 % Individual direction of reading 7 % 2 brief take home exams 30% 1 literature review paper 10% End- of- semester portfolio 10% ALL OF THE GRADING COMPONENTS: Attendance at Class: Regular attendance is crucial to success in this class and will be reflected in your participation grade. If you are absent, with an excuse or without, you will still receive a 0 for the day for participation which cannot be made up. Three late arrivals by more than 10 minutes will equal one absence. Only written work may be made up with proper authorization ahead of time. Attendance at Site: If for any reason you are unable to travel to your work site on your scheduled service date, you must contact your professor, the site supervisor and your driving mates. At the site you need to sign in and out to promote dependability and trust. Missing one visit to the site will also mean losing 10 points out of the final 100 points possible for the class. If for any reason your visit to the site is canceled (i.e. vacation, in service, travel days at school) first- you should let the professor know at the time it happens (e- mail, phone message) and second- make your best effort to reschedule your visit (remember the student you will work with really benefits from your assistance, and you will meet him/her for a total of 12 times). Participation: This class will not work if you do not come to class and/or the site as it is primarily based on group discussion of the readings and related issues. This, of course, presupposes having read the materials and coming to class prepared. Not only must you be present, but active discussion is necessary from each of us in order to successfully work through the matters we will be addressing regarding the topic of Hispanic culture and our immediate experiences with (in) it. The seminar should be used as a forum to pose problems, questions and experiences while using your peers as resources. As such, while opinions will be circulating, we are all required to maintain an air of openness to allow for a critical, yet non- hostile discussion to occur. Your participation grade will be commented on and finalized during the student- instructor meetings. Weekly Writings: Writing for learning or writing to learn will be a very important component of this class. The goal is to clarify your ideas, to get involved in class material and to figure out what areas do you need to learn more about. We will do many types of this low stakes writing. There are two main types of exercises that will be compensated with a grade and that you will be able to revise continuously: 1- Journal/blog writing of work with Hispanic student: The goal is to connect what you are studying with your experience working with the Hispanic student, presenting your thoughts, feelings, acts, attitudes, etc and express them in Spanish. For example, you can transcribe conversations with the Hispanic person you are working with, you express your reflections on your interactions, you analyze your and his/her work, problems, etc. You will write at least one of these blogs per visit. 10 of them will be graded. The extension should be about 200 words for each. 2- Think pieces: These are exploratory writings in Spanish. They are a little bit thought out and worked over writings (but not essays yet) on issues that we analyze in class. Most of the times they will be your answers that the professor, or your colleagues, will post to the class in relation 3

4 to the texts we will analyze. The extension can vary, but it is recommended to consider a 150- word minimum for each. Individual Direction of readings/documentals/films: Once a semester you will choose one text from the assigned work for a given day in the syllabus that you would like to present to the class. For the presentation, you must: 1. Post an e- mail to the rest of the class by no later than 12 NOON the day before your presentation with a minimum of five open- ended questions about the text to facilitate discussion of the main ideas it presents. Some of these questions will show your attempts at connecting the reading/film/documentary with the service work. 2. You will be given no more than 15 minutes in class to explain your analysis of the text. How does the reading connect or not to the main topic of the week? What type of approach to the topic does the text present? You will present these ideas in a powerpoint- with a minimum of 5 slides. (This does not mean you should answer the questions you posed to the class) 3. The questions you sent to your colleagues and I will lead us into a class- wide and small group discussion using them as our guide. Questions and discussion will of course, take place in Spanish. An important aspect of your preparation will be the appropriate use of Spanish vocabulary and grammar. This requires preparation and practice. Review of Literature Paper: In order to facilitate individualized learning and deepening of analysis with some of the issues covered in class, you will research one topic of your choice. During the fourth week of classes the Professor will provide you with a list of possible areas of research. Your own input is also welcomed. In order to deepen your knowledge of the chosen topic a minimum of four academic articles or chapters of books should be used in the exercise. These sources should present a variety of approaches to the topic analyzed, so that you will be able to examine and write about them with a critical approach. You do not have to take sides, but must be able to demonstrate your ability to synthesize, compare and contrast, as well as to evaluate the validity of the arguments they present. The review of literature paper should be written in Spanish and have an extension of a minimum of 1600 words (without bibliography). Adequate grammatical expression in Spanish, organization and content will be evaluated. Portfolio: The portfolio is meant to be a tool for you to assess your progress at the end of the semester. The creation of the portfolio will be an ongoing process, the final creation of which is composed of: 1- All original journal and think papers (including those with instructor corrections and comments). 2- Two revised reaction papers of your choice (one from site journal, and the other from class work). For the revision you should focus on expression (correcting any grammatical, style errors) and on content. That is, ask questions like What would I now say differently? How has the situation/feelings changed? What have I learned new that can expand/ put into perspective my previous assertions? Is there now a solution to the problem posed? It might be something like saying at such and such a time I said this, but now I think this because of these reasons 3- Your review of literature exercise. 4- First- week and final week's self- evaluation in the form of a 4- page typed essay that responds to the questions posed at the beginning and that deal with observation of self, site and seminar (1200 words minimum). 4

5 Your thought process would follow more or less the following progress: thinking about your present beliefs (observation, evaluation of the present system), assessing (looking towards the future) and evaluating (offering other possibilities and deciding your relation with the Hispanic community). Here you should also address a reflection on your voice- board recordings, reflecting on how have you dealt with some of the reactions, emotions, thoughts, expressed in there. 5- Your take home exams. 6- A brief letter to future students of this class, sharing your important learning experiences and giving recommendations on how to deal with them (300 word- minimum). 7- Any additional materials you feel reflect your thinking process as it changed throughout the seminar. Class philosophy: Like many college courses, this course at times will deal with controversial content. I ask that you practice the intellectual art of critical distance when you are examining a new idea and/or an idea that you do not agree with. My role is to present as many different ideas and viewpoints to you as possible. You may agree or disagree, of course, but please make a pledge to present your opinions both in class discussion and in writing in a way that is informed, reasoned, and respectful. If we are too angry or even too joyful, we cannot hear each other very well. Class policies Respect above everything. Everyone s time and thoughts are valuable. This translates into: speaking one at a time; not interrupting; disagreeing based on facts and analysis, not opinion or personal differences. Please arrive on time and prepared. Class participation is an important part of your grade, and if you are not in the classroom, you are unable to participate. You will periodically be called upon. Sometimes we ll go over important information assignments or changes to the class schedule at the start of class. If you are late or absent, you are responsible for finding out if you ve missed anything. Cell phone use is prohibited in class. Find out where the power off and silence buttons are, and use them. Whatever call or message is coming in during class can wait until the end of class. Texting is not allowed, and neither is the use of PDAs, mp3 players or any portable electronic devices. Laptops may be used for note- taking, but not during quizzes or exams. Take deadlines seriously. All assignment deadlines are laid out in the class schedule so you can plan around them. Being crunched by several deadlines at once is no excuse for late assignments, and neither are computer/printer problems. If you must miss class when an assignment is due, arrange to get it to me by the due date. Please take advantage of office hours. Office hours are for your benefit: it is when we can assess how you re doing in class, or go over questions and issues with class materials and assignments. I am accessible via I promise to respond within 48 hours Mon- Thurs, and by Monday for messages received after 5 pm on Thursdays immediately before and after class, and by appointment. Changes to course schedule: The instructor reserves the right to adjust the course schedule or readings to provide the best learning experience possible. Policy on Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else s ideas, words, or artistic, scientific, or technical work as one s own creation. Using the ideas or work of another is permissible only when the original author is identified. Paraphrasing and summarizing, as well as direct quotations, require citations to the original source. Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional. Lack of dishonest intent does not necessarily absolve a student of responsibility for plagiarism. It is the student s responsibility to recognize the difference between statements that are common knowledge (which do not require documentation) and restatements of the ideas of others. Paraphrase, summary, and direct quotation are acceptable forms of restatement, as long as the source is cited. 5

6 + TAREA Y SPAN TEMAS DE ANÁLISIS PROGRAMA DE LECTURAS Y PUNTOS 323 ACTIVIDADES IMPORTANTES 18 enero Introducción al curso Presentación miembros de clase y Seleccionar temas del curso. Cuestionario principios servicio semestre. 20enero Función, procesos, valoraciones Aprendizaje servicio y responsabilidad social de Aprendizaje servicio (pps ) Seleccionar servicio Academic Service Learning: More than Just (huellas digitales, Doing Time permiso manejar) 25 enero Historia de Latino@s: pasado y Identidad nacional y minorías: Los hispanos en Diarios. Visitas a presente en relación a EEUU los EEUU lugar de servicio. Multiple Origins, Hispanic Portrait La paradójica identidad de los hispanos 27 enero Quiénes somos, cuántos somos Hispanics? That s What They Call Us LC1 Diario académico y y cómo nos definimos? Who Counts? Title VII and the Hispanic de servicio Classification? LC 8 Race, Identity and Box Checking LC 9 What s in a Name? Retention and Loss Of the Maternal Surname.LC 73 1 febrero 3 febrero Diálogo intercultural John Condon- - Good Neighbors vii- 45 Diarios académicos Diálogo intercultural John Condon- - Good Neighbors 47- final Visitas a lugar de Cómo funciona? Breve coloquio sobre servicio servicio. Diarios. 8 febrero Cómo crece una niña chicana La casa en Mango Street 1-58 Diarios en Chicago? Entrevista Sandra Cisneros 10 febrero Cómo crece una niña chicana La casa en Mango Street TEMAS de en Chicago? Puertas y ventanas Ensayo de Dual- ing Images of La Malinche and Virgen investigación Guadalupe 15 febrero La vida en la frontera VHS- Crossing the Border martes LC 89, 90, 6

7 17 febrero La vida en la frontera Visita poeta Juan Armando Rojas 22 febrero Revisión, análisis, evaluación de trabajo en comunidad y en clase COLOQUIO 24 febrero Latinos en educación Ambivalent Reception Estudios sobre aculturación de latinos ENTREGAR EXAMEN UNO ESCRITO a principios de clase Diarios y dirección análisis texto 1 marzo Cómo crecia un niño chicano Y no se lo tragó la tierra 1-43 Diarios y dirección migrante en los años 50? La familia latina análisis texto 3 marzo Cómo crecia un niño chicano Y no se lo tragó la tierra Diarios y dirección migrante en los años 50? Descubrimiento del pasado chicano análisis texto 8 marzo Investigación por cine Presentaciones en parejas 10 marzo Investigación por cine Presentaciones en parejas VACACIONES DE PRIMAVERA marzo 22 marzo Película Walk Out Educación- de quién? para Educando el cambio quién? cómo? Educación multicultural en los EEUU 24 marzo Película Stand and Deliver Entregar abstracto y Educación- de quién? para The Myth of the Good Mathematics Teacher bibliografía tema quién? cómo? School Organizational Culture: Stand and Investigación Deliver "Stand and Deliver Revisited" 29 marzo Retos en la educación Significance of Race and Gender Diarios y Hispanic Origin and C C E presentaciones Parent Participation 7

8 31 marzo Retos en la educación Attitudes and Motivation in SLA Students Diarios Revisión, análisis, evaluación de COLOQUIO trabajo en comunidad y en clase 5abril Política de la lengua/spanglish Speak Spanish, You re in America American Languages, Cultural Pluralism Dirección análisis texto 7 abril Bilingüismo y monolingüismo Spanglish: Anglicized Dialect of English Diarios y Latino Languages and Identities: Dirección análisis texto 11 abril Bilingüismo y monolingüismo Bilingual Infants Critical Bilingual Classroom Dirección análisis texto 13 abril Mulattoes: Press and Latinos Representación cultural de Puuuro Mexico Dirección análisis latinos texto 19 abril John Leguizamo Mambo Mouth (VHS) Entregar examen Imágenes de latinos DOS 21 abril Estereotipos Gómez- Peña Gringostroika 26 abril Imágenes de latinos-música La música: The Essence of Spanglish Popular Music and Postmodern Mestizaje Diarios y grabación 28 abril Revisión, análisis, evaluación de Entregar ensayo trabajo en comunidad y en clase Living on a Hyphen revisión de Hacia una construcción del COLOQUIO literatura futuro 6MAYO- 3 PM- ENTREGAR PORTFOLIO 8

9 Nueva Yol (1995)- - Inmigracion Republica Dominicana a EEUU Stand and Deliver (1988)- - Hispanos en sistema educacion americano El Norte (1992)- - Inmigracion Guatemala a EEUU Escuela (VHS en clase) Más allá de la frontera (2001)(VHS en clase) Prelude and Salvación Casita Historia de chicanos y activismo THE DREAM ACT Research- - El movimiento chicano (VHS) 9