Spanish 311 / Film 300: Afro-Latino Film

Fall 2011

Dr. Linda Zee lzee@utica.edu 315-223-2461 White Hall 226 Office Hours MWF 9:30-11:00, T 1:00-2:00 and by appointment Description: This course has been designed to introduce you to the history, culture and politics of the Afro-Latin@ population in the Americas, via film. We will be viewing documentaries, feature films and a few that define categorization. These are NOT Hollywood films and are not geared towards Hollywoods typical audience [i.e. 15 year old boys.] You should keep an open mind while watching. Your film viewing will be supplemented by weekly readings and presentations. These readings are to be done BEFORE class and are meant to enhance your comprehension of the weeks film These readings are in English; when possible, I will provide Spanish language versions or links to them, or readings en espaol on similar topics. Objectives: To expose you to a variety of viewpoints about the various Afro-Latin@ groups in the Americas, along with the African Diaspora experience. You should, by the end of the semester, know a lot more than the average US citizen about this topic, and be able to correct commonly held misperceptions about history, language and geography, as well as drawing your own well informed conclusions. Text: The Afro-Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the United States. Eds. Miriam Jimnez Romn and Juan Flores A copy will be on reserve in the UC library Hand outs Web sites Class website: [in English] [en espaol] This is your lifeline to the class, will contain the syllabus, assignments, outside links, discussion questions, etc. Visit this page early and often throughout the weeks! It is HIGHLY recommended that you subscribe [or share a subscription]to Netflix. Most films viewed this semester are available from Netflix.

THOSE TAKING SPANISH 311 WILL COMPLETE THEIR WORK IN SPANISH!

GRADING SCALE:
A A B+ B B 93+ 90 92 87 89 84 86 80 83 C+ C C D+ D 77 74 70 67 64 79 76 73 79 66 F 0 63

Do not tell me, or any other professor for that matter, that you need a certain grade. We add up the points of the work that you do and assign the grade accordingly. If you need a B, do B work. Right now you have done no work and have a 0. You start with an F and move upwards by doing work; you dont start with an A and keep it or lose it. Grading: 1. presentations 20% Every week one or several students will present brief [5 mins. maximum] presentations on an important figure, event or concept relevant to that weeks film. This presentation will help with the classs understand of the material. The topics may be distributed by me or on a volunteer basis. Everyone will have several opportunities. IF FOR WHATEVER REASON YOU ARE GOING TO MISS CLASS ON THE DAY OF YOUR PRESENTATION, YOU MUST STILL SUBMIT THE WORK TO ME BEFORE CLASS. I or someone else will read or present the material on your behalf. Your classmates will be counting on your information. 2. readings 15% Readings will be assigned in order to provide you with background information necessary to fully understand the evenings film. Assignments related to the readings may be comprehension questions, summaries, or essays. This will be due at the start of class. Los que toman la seccin de espaol harn el trabajo en espaol. 3. summaries of films 15% Each week you will write a specific type of summary of the film that we view. You must follow directions, or you will receive an F and the order to re-write the summary. Summaries may vary in length, tone and intended audience, and will give you the opportunity to practice a number of different writing styles. Los que toman la seccin de espaol harn el trabajo en espaol. 4. participation 20% Following the viewing of each film you will break into 2 groupsEnglish or espaol. You will have a specific amount of time as a group to discuss topics that I will give you ahead of time. You may also find yourselves answering questions that other group members have. Each group will have a leader, and this leader will be responsible for leading the discussion and submitting to me a write up of the discussion and the participation of the various members. The leadership will change each week. You will also have a chance to evaluate the leaders. 5. mid term 15% I have not yet decided what this will be, but whatever it is, itll be intellectually stimulating, thought-provoking, and relatively entertaining [at least for me]. 6. final presentation 15% You will present on a topic, figure or issue that we have come across throughout the semester that has sparked your interest. You may also present a film relevant to the course material that was not covered in class. I will give you a number of suggestions and possibilitiesfirst come, first served. CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR AND EXPECTATIONS: 1. Be on time. Arriving late is rude and disrespectful to me and to the rest of the class. Class presentations start at 6:30, the films in general will start around 6:50. 2. CELL PHONES OFF!!!

3. Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses and will be punished accordinglyF, F for cheating on your transcript, public flogging, vivisection. [look it up.] 4. Please come to class prepared, or stay home. You will miss much of what I want you to get out of the film of you have not done the readings or not here for the presentations. It is impossible to intelligently discuss a film that you have not seen. 5. If you bring food to class, kindly keep in mind your classmates [and your highly sensitive professor] when unwrapping, crunching, inundating us with the odors of fried flesh, garlic, etc. Tentative Schedule: I reserve the right to change my mind and substitute one film for another. Or substitute if one becomes unavailable or doesnt work. 5 Sept. The Middle Passage 12 Sept. Quilombo [Brazil] 19 Sept. Maluala [Cuba] or El Cimarrn [Puerto Rico] 26 Sept. The White Darkness [Haiti] 3 Oct. The Ghosts of Cite Soleil [Haiti] 10 Oct. No class-mid semester break 17 Oct. Gates Haiti and Dominican Republic: An Island Divided 24 Oct. Midterm; Gates Brazil: A Racial Paradise? 31 Oct. No classpost marathon recovery 7 Nov. El espritu de mi mam/The Spirit of My Mother [Honduras, Garifuna] 14 Nov. Something with Afro Caribbean music 21 Nov. Viva Beisbol! [Dominican Republic] 28 Nov. Yo soy boricua, pa que tu lo sepas/ Im Puertorrican, Just So You Know [NY/PR] 5 Dec. Nuyorican Dream [NY/PR] 12 Dec. Gates: Mexico and Peru: The Black Grandma in the Closet; Final presentations