Chicano Studies
Describe the significance of the invention of agriculture to the development of Mesoamerica. When and where did it happen? What were the consequences of this invention?

The ancient Mexico was the branch of the region that is often regarded as Middle America or Mesoamerica. This culturally developed region encompasses the entire Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, and forming extensions into the division of Honduras. Mexico the area of central focus of the Mesoamerica and is recognized for having the earliest civilizations in America. It includes a diversity of environmental factors ranging from mountains, semi-aired deserts to the tropical rain forests. It has been therefore emphasized that the agricultural set up of Mesoamerica was established in Mexico (Havemeyer 244).

The agricultural setup of Mesoamerica was established approximately in the 5000 BCE, it was precisely the time when the agricultural activities at Mesoamerica were apparently observed. More than 6000 yeas ago in Mesoamerica the…...

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References

Marshall Cavendish. Mexico and the United States. Vol. 1. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2003.

Newton, Lynn D., and Douglas P. Newton. Coordinating Science across the Primary School. London: Falmer Press, 1998.

Taylor, Clark L., et al. "5 Legends, Syncretism, and Continuing Echoes of Homosexuality from Pre-Columbian and Colonial Mexico." Latin American Male Homosexualities. 1st ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. 80-99.

S. They have always struggled for dignity and will continue to do so.
4. The quebradita clubs indicate that social hierarchies and political consciousness exist at all levels of society, and that young people want something to fight for and believe in. The dance became so popular in the U.S. because it represented a fight against the backlash against immigrants and Hispanics, and also gave new information on Mexican culture to a generation that was attempting to learn more about their origins and background. The style was not popular in Mexico because the Mexican population is in tune with their culture, while the young Hispanics were exploring, developing, and attempting to broaden theirs, while they used the movement as a political platform to criticize Governor Wilson and many of his policies enacted in California.

5. Quebradita began as a dance phenomenon, and the music followed, which is why the study focused on…...

Rodolfo Acuna's The Making of Chicano Studies opens the door to an often-neglected chapter in American studies of history, sociology, and culture. Acuna's book primarily traces the evolution of Chicano studies as an academic discipline. However, in the course of discussions about Chicano pedagogy and curriculum, the author addresses the actual meat of the subject itself. The Making of Chicano Studies has earned its position and placement on the shelves of professors. The subject is multidisciplinary, which means that Acuna's book need not be segregated to the shelves of Chicano studies professors or departments only.
Chicano history, culture, and inquiry is intimately and inextricably linked with American history, culture, and inquiry. Acuna begins the investigation with an overview of Mexican history: including its complex racial identity and race relations. The story of Chicano culture begins at the intersection of identities: as after 1848 and the invasion of Mexico, Chicanos in the…...

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Work Cited

Acuna, Rodolfo. The Making of Chicano Studies. Rutgers, 2011.

Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino in Chicano CultureOutlineI. IntroductionBrief overview of Luis Valdezs significance in Chicano culture.Introduction to El Teatro Campesino and its role in the Chicano movement.II. BackgroundA. Historical Context of the Chicano MovementOverview of the Chicano Movements origins and objectives.The socio-political landscape of the United States during this era.B. Early Life of Luis ValdezChildhood and early influences.Education and initial involvement in theater.III. The Founding of El Teatro CampesinoA. Inception and Early YearsCircumstances leading to the establishment of El Teatro Campesino.Initial performances and their impact.B. Theatrical Style and ThemesDescription of the unique theatrical style developed by Valdez.Key themes in the plays (e.g., labor rights, Chicano identity, social justice).IV. Impact on Chicano Culture and the Chicano MovementA. Cultural SignificanceHow El Teatro Campesino influenced Chicano art and culture.The role of the theater in preserving and promoting Chicano heritage.B. Political and Social InfluenceEl Teatro Campesinos contributions to the Chicano Movement.Examples of…...

In the Struggle for Democracy (Greenberg, 483-84) the author explains that gradually, little by little, the Supreme Court of the United States responded to the need to rule segregation unconstitutional. And in the process the Court ruled that any law passed using the criteria of race was also unconstitutional. The Brown v. Board of Education vote in 1954 meant that segregation in schools was not constitutional and it was the agency of black activists and advocates that got it done by bringing litigation forward. Meantime Jones mentions that Eisenhower had a "hands-off" policy regarding enforcing the Brown v. Board of Education; and while that "emboldened" segregationists and racists to resist the Supreme Court ruling, it activated ordinary African-Americans to joined in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Thanks to the marching feet of tens of thousands of Black Americans - and the boycotts led by people like Rosa Parks…...

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Works Cited

Greenberg, Edward S. The Struggle for Democracy.

Jones, Jacqueline. Created Equal: A Social and Political history of the United States.

Racial Profiling Data Collection Resource Center. 2008. Northeastern University. Retrieved April 14, 2008, at http://www.racialprofilinganalysis.neu.edu

population of California underwent dramatic changes in the last 60 years. In the 1940s, the Latinos were a minority of only 6% of the state or roughly 374,000 (autista 1991). ut by 1980, the Latino population grew to 4 million, almost doubling the figure and increased to more than 7 million in the 90s. In the 2000s, Latinos accounted for a third of California's total population, creating huge political, economic and social impact upon its entire society (autista). esides sheer volume, the continuously increasing Latino population has developed the distinct feature. efore the 60s, immigrants were rare and less than 20% of these Latinos were foreign born, most of them from Northern Mexico. Immigration, however began to fill the ranks since the 80s so that, today, the majority of adult Latinos in California are immigrants. These developments are among the most important criteria to social and demographic policy makers…...

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Bibliography

California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. (2004). 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act. Agricultural Labor Relations Board.  http://www.alrb.ca.gov 

Democrats Assembly. (2004). Measure to Prohibit Employers from Locking In Their Workers Passes Assembly. California State Assembly. http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/template/ademmain.sp?articleid=122&zoneid=2

Full Assembly Approves Proposed Increase in the State's Minimum Wage. http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/templates/ademmain.asp?articleid=106&zoneid=2

House of Representatives. ((1998). Hearing on the Failures and Promises of the California Garment Industry. 105th Congress, Subcommittee on Oversight Investigations, Committee on Education and the Workforce, serial 105-110. http://commdocs.gov/committee/edu/hedo&i5-110.html

Feminine Pedagogy and Critical Theory
Pedagogy of the Oppressed

"We are living in a period of profound challenges to traditional Western epistemology and political theory" that are in evidence in every aspect of modern life, and that are especially profound in the field of education (Weiler, 2003). The single most profound aspect of these epistemological, social, and political changes is based in the ironic history of postmodernist movements: An oppressed group may not understand the roots of their disenfranchised position, nor be able to conceptualize ways to address what appears to be a normative condition. Tacit agreement exists among powerful or influential contingents that their worldview is to be dominant. Although certainly not universal, there is an enduring social undercurrent that tolerates oppression when it benefits one class of people over another, particularly when the social majority identifies with or strives to become a member of the powerful group. Indeed, these tensions…...

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References

Brady, J. (2003). Critical literacy, feminism, and a politics of representation. In Lanshear, C. And McLaren, P. (Eds.) (2003). Politics of liberation: Paths from Freire. London, UK: Taylor & Francis, (pp. 142-153). Retreived  http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Liberation-Paths -

Freire, P. (1970, 1973). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Seabury Press.

Giroux, H. (1983). Critical Theory and Educational Practice. Victoria, Australia: Deakin University.

Gaudino, E.G. And de Alba, A. (2003). Freire -- present and future possibilities. In Lanshear, C. And McLaren, P. (Eds.) (2003). Politics of liberation: Paths from Freire. London, UK: Taylor & Francis, (pp. 123-134). Retreived

intended to provide an overview of the individuals and movements who played important part in Chicano movement
Chicano movement is one of the most eminent chapters in the history of Mexican-Americans. The Chicano movement reflects a decade's long pursuit of Mexican-Americans for their rights. Although it has its roots in 1800s, the movement grew stronger in 1940s. In order to understand what Chicano movement really is, one needs to understand the past events leading to it. It is a common saying in Mexican-Americans that we did not crossed the borders, the border crossed us. There have been several treaties signed between Mexicans and Americans which provided a lot of benefits to Mexicans along with citizenship, however when the senate revised these treaties, all these leverages were removed depriving Mexicans of their lands and other properties. Then started the journey of Chicano Movement. There are various individuals and several movements who…...

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References

Chavez, E. (2002). "Mi Raza Primero!" (My People First!): Nationalism, Identity, and Insurgency in the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles, 1966-1978. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Gonzales, M.G.(2000). Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Rosales, F.A. (1997). Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement. Houston, TX: Arte Publico.

Lopez, I.F. (2004). Racism on Trial. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

Readers know that Maria is very religious, and that she prays often and cooks for the family. On page 7 readers learn that in her haste to keep the Catholic ritual of crossing herself, she mixes cooking and religion. "She breathed a prayer and crossed her forehead. The flour left white stains on her, the four points of the cross." Her life is not at all about her, but about the men in her family. And it seems she is a literary counterpoint to Ultima, who is spiritually as strong as Maria is faithful to Catholicism.
On page 50 it is clear that Tony will not depend on his mother's nurturing for a long period of time. "He will be all right,' Ultima said. 'The sons must leave the sides of their mothers,' she said almost sternly, and pulled my mother gently." And as the friendship between Tony and his…...

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Works Cited

Anaya, Rudolfo a. Bless Me, Ultima. Berkeley: Tonatiuh International Inc., 1972

Rivera, Tomas. And the Earth Did Not Part. Berkeley: Editorial Justa Publications, Inc.,

S. Census ureau statistics, which disproportionately omit U.S. Latino-residents and, as a result, understate the population bases on which congressional representation and decisions on program funding are made. This kind of resistance has repeatedly resulted in an incomplete policy agenda and the formation of the appropriate and responsive management of demographic change. The fast-aging character of the American population places the burden of caring for the elderly on minorities and immigrants. Current and projected demographic patterns indicate that the economic success of the nation depends more and more on the fate of the growing Chicano population. Their education and welfare can, therefore, not be ignored by policymakers (aker).
Confronting and realistically addressing the significance of the education and welfare of the growing -and mostly young - Chicano population in America is a primacy concern in policymaking for the 21st century (aker). The focus and direction of policies must be the meaningful…...

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Bibliography

1. Baker, Susan Gonzales. Demographic Trends in the Chicana/o Population: Policy Implications for the Twenty-First Century.

2. Shrestha, Laura B. Changing Demographic Profile of the United States. Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, May 5, 2006.  http://www.fas.org/sgf/crs/misc/RL32701.pdf

S. democracy. In 1998, the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA convened several middle-aged Latinos to discuss the Latino society in California while they were growing up. Born in the 1940s and 1950s, they remembered a much more segregated and exclusionary society than the one today, and the hurt remains: They described growing up in a situation in which being Latino was simply not validated. "Back then [1950s]... who cares? You're just a Mexican, you're a 'beaner,' you know, you're a 'greaser'" (Hayes-Bautista, 2004, p. 14).
The Mexicans born after the war had a very different experience than their parents and grandparents. The children of the postwar era were mostly children of U.S.-born Mexicans and grew up in barrios populated almost completely by the U.S.-born residents (Hayes-Bautista, 2004, p. 19)

Much did not change for the Mexicans from the 1940s to 1960s, with discrimination and segregation continuing…...

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References sited

Hayes-Bautista, David E. Latinos in the Golden State. Berkley: University of California Press, 2004.

Kowalski, Kathiann. Life in the Barrio. Cobblestone (2004) 25.5.

Menchaca, Martha. Mexican Outsiders. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.

Moore, Shirley Ann Wilson. We feel the want of protection: The politics of law and race in California, 1848-1878. California History (2003) 81:3-4, 96(31).

Heritage scholars obert ector and ea Hederman found that only a little more than one quarter worked for 2,000 hours or more. They suggested that poverty in America was less of a material deprivation and more of emotional and spiritual loss, the awareness or knowledge of one's dependence on state and federal bureaucrats and a loss of self-esteem resulting from the knowledge of self-insufficiency. The working poor, on the other hand, are capable of facing their future with optimism and confidence, no matter how little they earned. It was the control they had over their lives, which translated into their contribution to the economy (Kersey).
An opposing view was suggested, wherein an increase in the minimum wage would benefit low-income workers, in general, and those below the official poverty line, in particular (Economy Policy Institute 2006). If and when the proposed minimum wage increase was approved, the wages of approximately…...

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References

1. Economy Policy Institute.2006. Minimum Wage Facts at a Glance. http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/issueguides_minwage_minwagefacts

2. Kersey, Paul. 2004. The Economic Effects of the Minimum Wage. The Heritage Foundation.  http://www.heritage.org/research/labor/tst042904a,cfm?tenderforprint=1 

3. Morris, David. 2004. The American Voice 2004. The American Voice. http://www.americanoice2004.org/minimumwage/index.html

4. Office for Social Justice St. Paul and Minneapolis. 2006. Facts about Poverty. 101 Economic Facts that Every American Should Know. http://www.osjspm.org/101_poverty.htm

However, there is also danger to the sexuality that lies behind sweetness, as when a girl Sally, marries a marshmallow salesman to escape an abusive father, entering a union that seems as bad as the home she is leaving.
A final symbol of the novel is that of play -- few adult women, except for the insane Ruthie, are seen enjoying themselves over the course of the novel. Girls can play at jump rope and look at clouds, but they worry about how the burdens and cares of an adult life -- like abusive or absent husbands, children, and money worries -- will weigh them down, as their bodies mature. Men are shown playing and gambling, but women must put their own pleasures aside for fathers, husbands, and brothers. Early on in the novel, Esperanza comments how even in her family the boys and the girls tend to separate as…...

Art and Public Space
ho 'owns' public space? Public space is never neutral, even though it is theoretically owned 'in common,' but rather reflects the particular ideology of those who construct it. Thus, in a sense we all own public because we have a hand in how it is used and we are all owned by public space in the sense that the locations in which we dwell limit and define our social interactions. "One of the main trends in philosophy is to see the public sphere as a form of social reality, and less as an act of creation whose results would be negotiated intersubjectively" (Gheorghe 317).

Marxists see the demarcation of spaces into public and private arenas as a way to negotiate power relationships. Anyone who doubts this should consider the extent to which desirable real estate is determined by proximity to privileged social spaces: an apartment with a view…...

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Works Cited

"Chapter 3: A critical overview of public art." Temple University.

  [15 Mar 2013]http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/wava/alex/chap3.pdf 

Gheorgh, C. "Theories and Uses in Common: Responses of Art in the Public Sphere."

Meta Research in Hermeneutics and Practical Philosophy, 2.2 (2010): 316-27.

Sociology and Feminist Theories on Gender Studies
Postmodern Feminism in "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism"

In the article entitled, "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism," author Tomas Almaguer analyzes and studies the dynamics behind Moraga's feminist reading of the Chicano culture and society that she originated from. In the article, Almaguer focuses on three elements that influenced Moraga's social reality as she was growing up: the powerful effect of the Chicano culture, patriarchal orientation, and homosexuality that she experienced within the context of her nationality.

Chicano culture centers on race as an indicator of one's cultural orientation, while patriarchy serves as the ideology that is prevalent in Moraga's social reality. Homosexuality, particularly, lesbianism, is Moraga's release from the somewhat repressing role that she perceives women receive in her culture. Thus, lesbianism becomes Moraga's alternative sexual orientation to a heterosexually conservative Chicano culture. Using the following factors concerning the cultural, social, and gender realities of…...

Chicano: A Historical, Cultural, and Identity Exploration

The term "Chicano" holds profound significance within the tapestry of American history and culture. It is a multifaceted label interwoven with political activism, cultural pride, and a unique identity shared among Mexican Americans in the United States.

Historical Origins:

The genesis of the term "Chicano" can be traced back to the 19th century when Mexican immigrants settled in the southwestern United States. Initially used as a derogatory slur to disparage Mexican Americans, the term gradually transformed into an emblem of self-identification and empowerment.

During the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the United States annexed vast territories from Mexico, including....