SPAN 307: History and Politics of Mexico
Course Description:
Examines Mexico’s history and its peoples from indigenous periods to the arrival of Europeans and Spanish colonization including the mission system and rancherìas of California, New Mexico, and Colorado. Focuses on the independence movement and Mexico’s relationship with the United States during westward expansion. Examines the 20th century by focusing on the Mexican Revolution and the factors which have resulted in continuous northern migration.
Examines Mexico’s history and its peoples from indigenous periods to the arrival of Europeans and Spanish colonization including the mission system and rancherìas of California, New Mexico, and Colorado. Focuses on the independence movement and Mexico’s relationship with the United States during westward expansion. Examines the 20th century by focusing on the Mexican Revolution and the factors which have resulted in continuous northern migration.
MLO Met:
MLO 3: Literary and Cultural Knowledge
MLO 3: Literary and Cultural Knowledge
Course Narrative:
I decided to take this course to fulfill the 3rd Major Learning Outcome (MLO), which requires students to develop an understanding of thinking, behavioral practices, and cultural products of Hispanic societies. Through this course I have learned the history of what we know as Mexico today, from pre-Columbian Mexico to current issues like the pandemic and the feminist movement. Throughout the semester we were required to engage in critical thinking of the events and reading by writing weekly reflections based on the content of that week. The weekly reflections allowed me to further understand issues discussed in class and how they connect to other issues learned about in other classes. For example, in my Hispanic Cinema class, we watched the film ¡Qué viva Mexico!, directed by Sergei Eisentein, which presented an outside perspective of Mexicans: lazy, alcoholic, and violent. This course helped me understand that Mexico has witnessed a lot of oppression by its governments and the rich, which has led to poor living conditions for the common and indigenous people in the country.
Though I am a daughter of Mexican immigrants and have witnessed machismo, I never knew how common and embedded it is in our culture. This course taught me that machismo is something that has been going on for centuries and, unfortunately, forms part of our culture. Despite being part of a machista community, I found it ironic that the Virgin of Guadalupe has been used as a national symbol to represent what it is to be Mexican. We navigated this idea through the reading "Sons of Malinche" by Octavio Paz. I was very intrigued by the idea that the Virgin of Guadalupe and Malinche have been used to dictate the categories women can be placed into and how this decision is highly influenced by their relation to men. Because of this, I decided to explore more about the origins of Guadalupe in Mexican culture for my final project. Was her apparition real? Or was her image created by the Spaniards as a way to facilitate their conquest of the indigenous? Based on my answer, I would also like to explore how she was able to turn into a national figure, not only for the mestizos and criollos, but also the indigenous.
After taking this course, I hope to move towards a tomorrow where I move away from decolonization and the oppression that the Spaniards have left in Mexico. I also hope to embrace my culture as a product of a community attempting to pick themselves up and strive to be better.
I decided to take this course to fulfill the 3rd Major Learning Outcome (MLO), which requires students to develop an understanding of thinking, behavioral practices, and cultural products of Hispanic societies. Through this course I have learned the history of what we know as Mexico today, from pre-Columbian Mexico to current issues like the pandemic and the feminist movement. Throughout the semester we were required to engage in critical thinking of the events and reading by writing weekly reflections based on the content of that week. The weekly reflections allowed me to further understand issues discussed in class and how they connect to other issues learned about in other classes. For example, in my Hispanic Cinema class, we watched the film ¡Qué viva Mexico!, directed by Sergei Eisentein, which presented an outside perspective of Mexicans: lazy, alcoholic, and violent. This course helped me understand that Mexico has witnessed a lot of oppression by its governments and the rich, which has led to poor living conditions for the common and indigenous people in the country.
Though I am a daughter of Mexican immigrants and have witnessed machismo, I never knew how common and embedded it is in our culture. This course taught me that machismo is something that has been going on for centuries and, unfortunately, forms part of our culture. Despite being part of a machista community, I found it ironic that the Virgin of Guadalupe has been used as a national symbol to represent what it is to be Mexican. We navigated this idea through the reading "Sons of Malinche" by Octavio Paz. I was very intrigued by the idea that the Virgin of Guadalupe and Malinche have been used to dictate the categories women can be placed into and how this decision is highly influenced by their relation to men. Because of this, I decided to explore more about the origins of Guadalupe in Mexican culture for my final project. Was her apparition real? Or was her image created by the Spaniards as a way to facilitate their conquest of the indigenous? Based on my answer, I would also like to explore how she was able to turn into a national figure, not only for the mestizos and criollos, but also the indigenous.
After taking this course, I hope to move towards a tomorrow where I move away from decolonization and the oppression that the Spaniards have left in Mexico. I also hope to embrace my culture as a product of a community attempting to pick themselves up and strive to be better.
Relevant Course Work: