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Class Title, Description, and Learning Outcomes

Chicano Culture and Performance in Contemporary United States


DESCRIPTION
 When I went to school, I discovered that there were no books, no stories dealing
with the history of Latinos in the United States, that none of our historical figures were
ever mentioned in the books. It was a totally all-white, all-European-based orientation,
and I felt that this was ultimately wrong . . . I wanted to do something about it, and so I
ended up writing plays about my own people, writing plays about our culture, writing
plays about our history.                                                    

     —Luis Valdez

Chicano Culture and Performance in Contemporary US is a class intended to investigate numerous cultural theories, historical contexts, and dramatic literature surrounding Chicano culture and performance in the United States. This class will be particularly helpful in teaching you to apply theories surrounding Chicano culture and community culture to a variety of dramatic texts, both inside and outside the Chicano paradigm.

Over the course of this class we will spend time gaining both a breadth and depth of understanding of how “Chicano” is performed in the United States today, as well as how we perform our individual race/culture. You will do this through reading, analyzing, and reporting your findings in textbooks, peer-reviewed articles, plays, and films. Your learning will be measured through reading responses, class discussions, a research paper, group projects, and a performance.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Dramatic Literature
Students will evaluate greats works of dramatic literature written by and for Chicanos.

Critical Response
Students will create logical and considered responses to dramatic literature in a variety of different mediums-oral reports, production reviews, persuasive essays, and critical analyses.

Practicing Theory
Students will develop an ethics of representation through the application of Chicano culture and history to dramatic literature.

Theorizing Practice

Students will create socially conscious, ideologically-grounded performances that respond both to their world views and contemporary issues in Chicano culture.

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