FALL 1999
This information effective for Fall 1999.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes..
Susanne Jonas, Merrill 110, x9-3232, 9-2855-message
Office Hours: Tuesday, 1-4, Wednesday, 11-12, or by appointment
Email: sjonas@cats.ucsc.edu
This course (Gen Ed code E) aims to give students the broadest
possible
understanding of the situation in Central America today, with a
particular focus on Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. It
also
highlights Honduras andCosta Rica as a contrast (in order to prepare
students
planning to go to Costa Rica for EAP).Specifically the course is
designed
to examine the region from the perspectives of the principal Central
American actors and
to explain the historical and socio-economic roots of the popular and
revolutionary
movements in Central America; to provide a comprehensive
understanding of U.S. policies in the
region; to evaluate the results of the peace processes ending the
civil wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.In the wake of the
Fall, 1998, devastating
Hurricane Mitch, the course will also focus on strategies for
sustainable reconstructionand
development in the region, and the role of new social actors in such
development. Finally,
the course includes a section onCentral American immigrants living in
California and elsewhere
in the US their situations in the U.S. and their links to their home
countries and communities)
The required readings for the course are: (1) a course Reader, and
(2) John Booth & Thomas Walker,
Understanding Central America. Additional optional reading: Susanne
Jonas,The Battle for Guatemala.
The Reader will be sold in class; the books are available for
purchase at Bay Tree Bookstore.
In addition, there will be a list of recommended/optional readings,
which will be on reserve at McHenry Library as available. Additional
course materials and resources will include films, videos, tapes,
and guest speakers from varying points of view. Course Requirements
and Evaluations:
Required work includes: (1) a take-home midterm examination; (2) a
take-home final exam; (3)
class presentations, as they come up, on topics of study; (4)
periodic reports on items in the news.
Students will be evaluated on the basis of written and oral work in
the class. In addition to fulfilling
course requirements, students should keep up with course readings,
and come well
prepared in order to contribute to lively discussion and debate in
the class. Finally, this class
places particular emphasis on following contemporary developments in
Central America in the major news media.
NOTE:
(a) Class attendance is mandatory; all absences must be
excused.
(b) If for some reason you should need to take an
"Incomplete" in this class, you must negotiate it ahead of
time with the Instructor, including the deadline for
turning in the work.
NOTE: For readings included in each section of the Reader, see
Reader Table of Contents. You will be given details of which
readings are to be completed by each session.Overview of the Region;
Historical Background
and Roots of theCrises in Central America (October 7, 12)
READINGS: W 10/7 B/W Chapters 1-3
M 10/12 Reader, Sec. I (Torres-Rivas optional)
Guatemala: Legacies of the 1954 U.S. Intervention,
the 36-years' Civil War, and
the Peace Accords (October 14, 19, 21)
READINGS: W 10/14 Reader, Sec. II, Jonas
B/W Chapters 4 & 7 (on Guatemala)
M 10/19 Reader, Sec. II thru Aguilera
W 10/21 finish Reader, Sec. II (Garc\*'ia & Painter optional)
El Salvador: Origins of the Civil War,
U.S. Involvement, the Peace Accords, and Post-War Situation
(October 26, 28, November 2, 4)
W 10/28 FILM: Romero
W 11/4 Guest Lecture: Linda Hemby
READINGS: M 10/26 Reader, Sec. III thru Platform
B/W Chapters 4 & 7 (on El Salvador)
W 10/28 Reader, Sec. III thru Garc\*'ia (Garc\*'ia optional)
M 11/2 finish Reader, Sec. III (Envio optional)
W 11/4
RECEIVE MIDTERM: November 2
MIDTERM DUE: November 9, at beginning of class
Nicaragua: The Sandinista Revolution, the U.S.-sponsored
Counterrevolution, the Post-Sandinista Era; Summary on Theories
of
Revolution (November 9, 11, 16)
M 11/16 Guest Lecture: Carlos Fernando Chamorro
READINGS: M 11/9 B/W Chapter 4 (on Nicaragua)
W 11/11 Reader, Sec. IV thru Radosh
B/W Chapter 6
M 11/16 Reader, Sec. IV - finish (Lobel, Abrams, Conroy optional)
B/W Chapter 5
Costa Rica (November 18)
READINGS: W 11/18 Reader, Sec. V
B/W Chapter 4 (on Costa Rica) & Chapter 8
United States Policy and Its Effects (November 23, 30)
W 11/25 Thanksgiving Eve \(em no class
READINGS: M 11/23 Reader, Sec. VI (Vaky optional)
M 11/30 B/W, Chapter 9
Alternatives to U.S. Policy: Contadora,
and Esquipulas II (December 2)
READINGS: W 12/2 Reader Section VII
Hurricane Mitch and its Aftermath,
and Central Americans in the U.S. (December 7, 9)
READINGS: M 12/7 Reader, Sec. VIII
W 12/9
RECEIVE FINAL: DECEMBER 9
FINAL DUE: DECEMBER 16
Susanne Jonas Fall 1999
Merrill 110, x 9-3232, 9-2855-message, email: sjonas@cats
Office Hours: Tuesday, 1-4, Wednesday, 11-12, or by appointment
This interdisciplinary course (Gen Ed code E) addresses Latin American immigration to the U.S. from a variety of perspectives. Areas to be covered include: Background and history of immigration to the UnitedStates, the U.S. as an immigrant nation. Major social-economic and political conditions in Latin America causing immigration to the U.S., and U.S. business needs for immigrant labor; Specific immigration processes and experiences (border and non-border, Latin American and Asian); Issues facing Latino immigrants and their communities in the U.S. (special focus on women), and their contributions to the U.S.; Immigrant labor organizing; Cross-border binational and transnational communities; Current debates about U.S. immigration/refugee policies and anti-immigrant attitudes, among these, debates about economic impact, new varieties of racism, and immigration as an issue of democracy in the U.S.
While drawing on materials from throughout the U.S., some sections of the course focus in detail on California, with its large communities of Mexicans and Central Americans. Course Readings and Materials: Required readings are a Course Reader (to be sold in class), and two texts (available at Bay Tree):
- Alejandro Portes and Ruben Rumbaut, Immigrant America
- Leo Chavez, Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Immigrants in American Society
- Optional reading: Susanne Jonas & Suzie Dod Thomas (Eds.), Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas in the 21st Century
- Additional resources will include films, videos, and guest speakers from varying points of view.
Requirements and basis for evaluation of students: a midterm exam and a final exam (both take-home); active participation in class discussions, including occasional presentations; periodic written reports on immigration-related items in the news, and written statement (or story) on student's own identity in relation to course issues.
NOTE: Class attendance is mandatory; all absences must be excused. If for some reason you should need to take an "Incomplete" in this class, you must negotiate it with the Instructor, including the deadline for turning in the work.
I. Background and History: U.S. as an Immigrant Nation
History of Immigration Trends and Policies (October 7, 12)
Readings: Reader: Section I (all articles)
II. Sources and Causes of Immigration from Latin America
U.S./Latin American Relations, Socio-Economic
Transformations of Latin America, and Economic Crises of the 1980s
(October 14)
Readings: Portes/Rumbaut, Ch. 1 Chavez, Ch. 1-2
Reader: Section II: NYT, LAWR, Pastor
The Immigration/Foreign Policy Connection: Wars/Political
Crises in Central America, and the Caribbean (October 19)
Readings: Reader: Hamilton & Chinchilla
III. The Immigration Process: History and Experiences
The Revolving Door: History of Mexican Immigration (October 21)
Readings: Reader: Section III: Cockcroft Portes/Rumbaut, Ch. 2
Border Crossings, Border Violence: Mexicans and Central
Americans (October 26)
VIDEO: El Norte
Readings: Chavez, Ch. 3
Reader: Cordova, Border Fatalities
Varieties of Immigration Experiences and Non-Border
Arrival (Puerto Ricans, Haitians, Cubans, Asians) (October 28)
Readings: Reader: Finish Section III (also review Rosenberg from
Section I)
IV. Immigrant Communities and Immigrant Labor in the U.S
Legal Issues, Immigration and Asylum Legislation (November 2)
Guest Lecture: Karen Mussalo
Readings: Portes/Rumbaut, Ch. 8
Reader: Section IV (a)
Immigrant Labor in the Context of Economic Restructuring
(including NAFTA) and Theoretical Aspects (November 4)
VIDEO: The Downsizing of America
Readings: Portes/Rumbaut, Ch. 3
Reader: Section IV (b)
** GET MIDTERM: November 4
** MIDTERM DUE: November 11, due at beginning of class
Work/Community Situations: Urban, Rural and Semi-Rural (November
9)
Readings: Chavez, Ch. 4-9
Reader: Section IV (c)
Immigrant Women (November 11)
Readings: Reader: Section IV (e)
Immigrant Labor Organizing (November 16)
Guest Lecture: Peter Olney
Reading: Reader: Section IV (d)
Identity and Binationality (November 18, 23)
Video: Mayan Voices, American Lives
In-class Discussion Groups
Readings: Portes/Rumbaut, Ch. 4-6
Chavez, Ch. 10
Reader: Section IV (f)
Thanksgiving Eve (November 25) \(en NO CLASS
V. Immigration Policy: Issues and Debates
Prop. 187 and Beyond (November 30)
Readings: Reader: Section V (a)
Latinos, African Americans, and Anti-Immigrant Environmentalism
(November 30)
Readings: Reader: Section V (b)
Debates over Economic Impact of Immigration (December 2)
Guest Lecture: John Isbister
Readings: Reader: Section V (c)
Immigration as an Issue of Democracy in the U.S.,
Redefining Citizenship, and Dual Nationality/Citizenship
(December
7)Readings: Reader: Section V (d)
The Future of Immigrant Struggles (December 9)
Readings: Reader: finish Section V
GET FINAL: December 9
FINAL DUE: December 16