Chicano Studies Chapter 1 Summary

Introduction to Chicano Studies or Chicano Studies 1A is an introductory course at UC Santa Barbara on the historical development of Chicano people that covers topics ranging from the Aztec Society to the contemporary Latino Generation. The class includes a lecture, with 500 students, and is taught by Professor Mario T. Garcia. It is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 to 3:15 PM in Isla Vista Theater 1. There is also a mandatory section which is taught by a teacher’s assistant. The section is 50 minutes long, and in my case led by Sarah Latanyshyn on Friday afternoons in Girvetz Hall.
The section and lecture are very different in their teaching styles and roles for teaching the course. The section is only 20 students which

means there is more room for discussion and communication with peers and the teacher. On the other hand, the lecture is usually Professor Garcia giving information that the student’s take notes on. Every once in awhile he asks the theater of 500 students questions and hands the microphone to a couple of students, however, discussion is not one of the main components of the lecture. My teacher’s assistant, Sarah Latanyshyn described the differences between the section and lecture saying that there is more information coming from the Professor and the students are expected to take notes, while in the
section it is easier to ask questions and discuss certain topics with peers (Interview)

The course guide and expectations for Chicano Studies 1A are outlined in a five-page syllabus. Important information is included such as Professor Garcia’s email and office hours, that are from 4-5 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays in South Hall. The syllabus also frames the nature of the course, such as what specific periods of history will be studied. Besides outlining the class, it provides the assigned reading and lecture schedules, which are helpful to the organization of the course. Professor Garcia also included a grading distribution, which is a common element found in a syllabus. The final grade is split up evenly between 4 items; the midterm, final, research paper, and section grade, each of them worth 25% of your grade.
The goal of students in Chicano Studies 1A is to obtain proficiency on the exams, quizzes, and the oral history paper. The syllabus is important because it addresses the steps that are necessary in order to achieve your goals in the class and sets up behavioral and academic expectations. Many students in the College of Letters & Science take the course to count for an Area D requirement as well as knocking off the ethnicity and writing area requirements. Chicano Studies 1A is ultimately a discourse community or a group of people who share goals and similar interests. The class can be identified as a discourse community because of Swales’s six characteristics, number 1 being a “broadly agreed set of common public goals” (66). The students who take Chicano Studies 1A have the same goal, to become literate in the subject’s coursework in order to obtain credit for the class.
A key component of the Introduction to Chicano Studies class is reading.

There are 5 books required for the class: Migrant Daughter, Canicula, The Gospel of César Chávez, Blowout, and December Sky. The majority are written or co-written by Professor Garcia which means that the books are necessary for the class and relate to the material given in lecture. The books that are assigned fall under the genre of oral history, meaning they are a collection of historical information about families, individuals, important events, and everyday life through a narrative. Every week in the section, a quiz is given to check for understanding and is can include short response questions or multiple choice. The quizzes ask for information from the lectures and the books and include questions such as “Name one scientific or mathematical innovation created by the Mayans”. The books are vital to the understanding of Chicano history since they provide a different perspective, so quizzes are an important tool to see if a student is proficient in their

understanding.
One book, in particular, Migrant Daughter, takes place in the ‘50s during the Great Depression. It is a coming of age story about Frances Esquibel and her move from New Mexico to California’s Central Valley. She was one of the few Mexican-Americans who attended UC Berkeley at the time. Professor Garcia chose to assign this books which were co-written by him because it illustrates the Immigrant Generation of the 1930’s from the perspective of a young Mexican-American woman. My T.A, Latanyshyn believes that reading oral history books can make the material more relatable than reading from a textbook in a course that is introductory (Interview). It is a valid statement since when you read a textbook, it is purely for information. However, when you read a book, you get a personal insight of the history.
In order to have an idea of what the lecture will consist of the teacher’s assistants post lecture handouts on GauchoSpace.

These handouts outline what Professor Garcia will say and contain information that will be seen on the quizzes and exams. They contain certain terminology that the Professor will define and elaborate on. For example, the term “Tejano” is written in the handouts in order for the students to listen attentively for the definition. This kind of terminology is specific to the course, as it stands for a Mexican-American living in Texas. Specific language is important in a class like Chicano Studies 1A because it is a discourse community. Discourse communities contain six identifiable characteristics described by Swales, one of them which is that they have “acquired some specific lexis” (66). Using terminology specific to the course is a literary practice because it introduces you to the terms and language used by the community allowing you to be more familiar.
Another significant component of the class is the Oral History Project. Students in Chicano Studies 1A are required to interview a latino immigrant, 1st generation or 2nd generation, who is currently in college. It is a ten-page paper that is meant to be similar to the oral history books assigned. The purpose of the project is to emulate the books written by Professor Garcia while learning how to interview people. It also teaches some history and background information about someone

you may or may not know and their life as a Mexican in college.
Videos and Photos are also helpful literary practices shown by the Professor and Teacher’s assistant. In one lecture Professor Garcia showed an advertisement with the words “Lazy Peon” which means lazy farm laborer. There is an illustration of a Mexican with a sombrero over his head while wearing sandals sitting down. Garcia explained that this ad portrays the false image that Mexicans are lazy when they are actually really hard-working people. By showing the ad to the class, it helps relate a certain stereotype and concept to an image.
Another instance where photos and videos were used in class was when we watched a music video in our section class. Our T.A asks that we send in questions or music videos that relate to the lecture or books every week. A student once sent in a music video called “La Guadalupana” which told the story of the Virgin Mary’s appearance through a song. Although we learned the story of how Juan Diego, an indigenous peasant saw the Virgin Mary on the worshipping spot of the Aztec goddess Tonantzin, the music video plays a popular song heard in Catholic churches which can help familiarize the story with the song. When asked “What do you feel your role is as a T.A in teaching literacy in the course?” Latanyshyn, my teacher’s assistant, explains that she feels it is important for her to break down the material and relate it to music videos, or videos that her students might be familiar with (Interview).