"CONSTRUCTING THE BORDER ON FILM" Page 1
SYLLABUS (Working Draft)
"CONSTRUCTING THE BORDER ON FILM"
Transborder Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies TCL466, Schedule Line #83965
Film Media Studies FMS 466, Schedule Line #86056
Fall Semester, 2009
From The Hunt for Pancho Villa From The U.S-Mexican War
Prof. Paul EspinosaDepartment of Transborder Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies
Class meets:Tuesdays 4:40-7:30 pm.
Location: TBA
Professor’s Office:6664 CoorBuilding
Phone: 480-965-5120
Office Hours:Wed 1:30–3:30 p.m. 6664 CoorBuilding and by appointment.
Course Description: This is a seminar/discussion course which explores representations of the U.S.-Mexico border region on film, examining specific examples of how border images have been constructed and shaped over time. Through an examination of both documentary and dramatic films, the course will present an overview of the historical themes and cultural tensions arising between the U.S. and Mexico along the border. Students will learn about the history of the border region, as well as various interdisciplinary approaches to studying the border. Drawing on the work of filmmaker and course instructor Paul Espinosa, students will also learn how the production of images occurs, particularly from a cultural point of view; the constraints which guide narrative construction; and the contrasts between production for public broadcasting and commercial projects.
Required Readings: A course reader will be available for purchase at Readings for the first week of class will be available through the instructor. Students must order their reader on-line. Readers will be shipped directly to the student from University Readers. Once a reader is ordered, readings for the next several weeks of class can be downloaded as PDF documents from the website, to be used prior to the actual receipt of the reader by the student. In addition to the course reader, some additional readings will be assigned during the course of the semester.
Requirements: Attendance at all classes is mandatory, particularly since this is a seminar which meets only once a week. Students must come to class on time and remain for the full class period. Active participation in all class activities is essential. Students must come to class not only having completed the reading assignments, but having something meaningful to say about them. Students must bring their copy of the day’s reading with them. Each assignment should be carefully read before class because major portions of each class will be spent discussing the week’s reading. Students should show respect for diverse viewpoints in all class discussions. No credit for class will be given if students leave before the end of class.
Working in pairs, students will be assigned to facilitate the discussion of the readings for at least two classes starting during Week 3. There will be a sign up sheet for this purpose later in the semester. Five reflection papers (3 pages long) will be assigned during the semester as well as a final paper (6 pages long). A hard copy of the papers will be due at the beginning of class on the due dates. Late papers will be penalized. The final paper will be due on Tuesday, December15, 2009at 12:00 noon. No papers will be accepted after their due date. All papers must be typed and double spaced.
University Standards on Academic Integrity apply in this course. Make sure you are familiar with the university policies on academic honesty by visiting No plagiarism or cheating will be allowed in this course, and instances of cheating will be dealt with harshly.
Grading: 15%Class Attendance
20%Class participation
20%Facilitating discussion
25% Reflection Papers
20% Final Paper
SCHEDULE OF READING ASSIGNMENTS AND FILMS
Week 1 - Introduction
Aug25Expectations,Readings, Films, Grading, Syllabus
Film: The Border: A Documentary Journey
Week 2 – The Border Today
Sep 1Readings: Irwin, Megan, “Flushing Them Out”
Film: Crossing Arizona
Week 3 – Origins of the Border
Sep8Readings: Christensen, Carol and Thomas, “Legacy"
Film: The U.S.-Mexican War
Reflection Paper #1 due
Week 4 – Border Ballad
Sep 15Readings: Fregoso, Rosa Linda, "From Il(l)egal to Legal Subject"
Film: Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
Week 5 – Border Mosaic
Sep 22Readings: Paredes, Americo, "The Problem of Identity in a Changing Culture"
Film: The Border
Week 6 –Revolution at the Border
Sep 29 Reading: Fox, Claire F., "U.S.-MexicoBorder Conflict in U.S. Popular Culture”
Film: The Hunt for Pancho Villa
Reflection Paper #2 due
Week 7 – Border Crossers
Oct6 Readings: Camarillo, Alberto, "Alambristaand the Historical Context of Mexican Immigration”
Film: Alambrista
Week 8 – Border Crossers
Oct 13 Readings: Groody, Daniel, "The Drama of Immigration and the Cry of the Poor”
Film: Alambrista- extras
Week 9 – Life in the Shadows
Oct 20Readings: Carrillo, Teresa, "Watching Over Greater Mexico"
Film: In the Shadow of the Law
Reflection Paper #3 due
Week 10 – Uneasy Neighbors
Oct 27Readings: Chavez, Leo, "Suburban Shantytown and Refuge" and "GreenValley's Final Days"
Films: Uneasy Neighbors
Week 11 – The Migrant Experience
Nov3Readings: Rivera, Tomas, …and the earth did not devour him
Film: ...and the earth did not swallow him
Week 12 – Transnational Identities
Nov 10 Readings: Davis, Mike, “Transnational Suburbs"
Films: Maquilopolis
Reflection Paper #4 due
Week 13 – Transnational Identities
Nov 17Readings: Smith, Robert Courtney, "Transnational Life in Ethnographic Perspective"
Film: La Ciudad
Week 14 – Children and the Border as Geographic Space
Nov 24Readings: Nazario, Sonia, "The Boy Left Behind"
Film: Children in No Man’s Land
Week 15
Dec1Readings: To be announced
Film: To be announced
Reflection Paper #5 due
Week 16
Dec 8Readings: To be announced
Film: To be announced
Dec9Reading Day (no class)
Dec15 Final Paper Due
REQUIRED READINGS (in Reader)
Irwin, Megan, “Flushing Them Out: Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas are teaching the rest of the nation how to terrorize illegal immigrants,” Phoenix New Times, December 27, 2007.
Christensen, Carol and Thomas, “Legacy,” pp. 213-231 in The U.S.-Mexican War, San Francisco: Bay Books, 1998.
Fregoso, Rosa Linda, "From Il(l)egal to Legal Subject: Border Construction and Re-construction," pp. 65-82 in The Bronze Screen: Chicana and Chicano Film Culture, Rosa Linda Fregoso, University of Minnesota, 1993.
Paredes, Americo, "The Problem of Identity in a Changing Culture: Popular Expressions of Culture Conflict along the Lower Rio Grande Border," pp. 19-47 in Folklore and Culture on the Texas-Mexican Border, Americo Paredes, University of Texas Press, 1993.
Fox, Claire F., "U.S.-MexicoBorder Conflict in U.S. Popular Culture: Recodifications of the Revolution and the Porfiriato,” pp. 69-95 (Chapter 3) in The Fence and the River: Culture and Politics at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Claire F. Fox, University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
Camarillo, Alberto, "Alambrista and the Historical Context of Mexican Immigration to the United States in the Twentieth Century," pp. 13-35 in Alambrista and the U.S.-Mexico Border, Nicholas Cull and David Carrasco (Eds.), University of New Mexico Press, 2004.
Groody, Daniel, "The Drama of Immigration and the Cry of the Poor: The Voices of AlambristaYesterday and Today," pp. 59-78 in Alambrista and the U.S.-Mexico Border, Nicholas Cull and David Carrasco (Eds.), University of New Mexico Press, 2004.
Carrillo, Teresa, "Watching Over Greater Mexico: Recent Mexican Initiatives on Migration and the Alambristas of the New Millenium," pp. 103-23 in Alambrista and the U.S.-Mexico Border, Nicholas Cull and David Carrasco (Eds.), University of New Mexico Press, 2004.
Chavez, Leo, "Suburban Shantytown and Refuge," and "GreenValley's Final Days," pp. 83-117 (Chapters 5-6) in Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Immigrants in American Society, Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1992.
Rivera, Tomas, …and the earth did not devour him, pp. 83-119, (translated by Evangelina Vigil-Piñón), Arte Publico Press, 1992.
Davis, Mike, “Transnational Suburbs,” pp. 93-107 in Magical Realism: Latinos Reinvent the US City, Mike Davis, Verso, 2000.
Smith, Robert Courtney, "Transnational Life in Ethnographic Perspective," pp. 1-17(Chapter 1) in Mexican New York: Transnational Lives of New Immigrants, University of California Press, 2006.
Nazario, Sonia, "The Boy Left Behind," pp. 2-44(Chapter 1) in Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother, Random House,2007.