History 3454: History and Memory in the Southwest

Fall Semester 2018

Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:00am-12:20am. LART 302
Professor: Miguel Giron
Email: magiron@miners.utep.edu
Office: LART 320
Office Hours: MW 12:00am-1:30pm and by Appointment

Course Description & Goals:

In this course students will explore the intersections of history and memory in the modern
Southwest. We will cover the history of the region from the eighteenth to the twenty-first
century. In the process, we will see how identities are created through the negotiation of
contested spaces that are largely rooted in localized ideas of race and ethnicity. Furthermore, we
will explicitly examine the symbols and cultural productions of remembering the past. This
course aims to dismantle the too common trend of centering the Spanish conquest as cultural
heritage sites to reveal how neglected groups have been left out of memory in history.
This course will be heavily focused on academic writing to promote a scholarly skill that
students can apply in other disciplines. Please be prepared to actively engage in the process of
writing. Ultimately, this course will improve a student’s historical consciousness and writing
skills.
Course Requirements:
Attendance/Participation (15%)- Attendance is mandatory for an active learning community.
We all benefit from the presence of each other since we can all engage in the material with
different perspectives and points of view. Students will participate in classroom discussion and
serve as active participants. You may miss up to three class periods. After three absences you
will receive a letter off your final grade for each consecutive unexcused absence.
Midterm Exam 1 (20%)- Students will take a bluebook exam on week 5.
Midterm Exam 2 (20%)- Students will take a bluebook exam on Week 10.
Essay Quizzes (20%)- There will be four quizzes throughout the semester based on the readings.
Each quiz will be worth 5% and will be open note and book. They are listed in the syllabus on
Week 4, 9, 13, and 16. As an essay quiz, a student will have 45 minutes to answer the prompt in
an essay format.

Final Essay (25%)- Students will write an 8-10 page paper on a prompt that will be given on
Week 10. It will be due on December 12, 2018.
Classroom Guidelines and Policies

Student Accommodation- If a student requires any accommodation or resources regarding

potential disabilities in the classroom, please contact The Center for Accommodations and
Support Service (CASS). Doing so promptly will enable both the student and instructor to
proceed with efficient communication of pedagogical instruction.

Academic Honesty- Students should avoid any form of cheating whether through plagiarism, the
act of copying or paraphrasing others work, or through other deliberate means. Instead, students
should consider other ways to guide their assignments. Talk to the instructor or Teaching
Assistant to se if any accommodations may be made or for help. For any questions, refer to
UTEP’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Section II: Student Affairs, Chapter 1: Student
Conduct and Discipline.

Course Readings:
Books
• Gerardo Cadava, Standing on Common Ground: The Making of a Sunbelt Borderland.
• Brian DeLay, War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.-Mexican War.
• Laura Gomez, Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race.
• Phoebe Kropp, California Vieja: Culture and Memory in a modern American Place.
• Kelly Lytle-Hernandez, Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol.
• John McKiernan-Gonzalez, Fevered Measures: Public Health and race at the Texas-
Mexico Border, 1848,1942.
• Anthony Mora, Border Dilemmas: Racial and National Uncertainties in New Mexico,
1848-1912.
• Raul Ramos, Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1921-1861.
• George Sanchez, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in
Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945.
Blackboard:
• Omi & Winant, Racial Formations in the United States (Chapter 4).
• Zinn, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Introduction).
• Bolton, “The Mission as a Frontier Institution in the Spanish-American Colonies.”
• Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America. (Introduction, Chap 1)
Course Calendar:
Week 1: August 28 & August 30
Introduction to the Course/What is History? Why Does It Matter? What is Memory?
Readings: Omi & Winant, Racial Formations in the United States (Chapter 4). Zinn, You Can’t
Be Neutral on a Moving Train (Introduction).

Section One: Native Americans and the Indigenous Borderlands

Week 2: September 4 & September 6
Readings: Bolton, “The Mission as a Frontier Institution in the Spanish-American Colonies.”
Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America, (Select Chapters on Blackboard)
Week 3: September 11 & September 13
Readings: DeLay, War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.-Mexican War
Week 4: September 18 & September 20
Readings: DeLay, War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.-Mexican War
Essay Quiz One

Section Two: Forging Race and Ethnic Identities in the Nineteenth Century
Week 5: September 25 & September 27
Readings: Gomez, Manifest Destinies.
Midterm Exam One
Week 6: October 2 & October 4
Readings: Mora, Border Dilemmas.
Week 7: October 9 & October 11
Readings: Mora, Border Dilemmas.
Week 8: October 16 & October 18
Readings: Ramos, Beyond the Alamo.
Week 9: October 23 & October 25
Readings: Ramos, Beyond the Alamo.
Essay Quiz Two
Final Paper Prompt Handout

Section Three: Redefining Race and Citizenship in the Twentieth Century

Week 10: October 30 & November 1
Readings: Lytle-Hernandez, Migra!.
Midterm Exam Two
Week 11: November 6 & November 8
Readings: McKiernan-Gonzalez, Fevered Measures. (Introduction, Chapters 1, 5-7)
Week 12: November 13 & November 15
Readings: Sanchez, Becoming Mexican American. (Introduction, Chapters 4,5, 8, 9, 11,12)
Week 13: November 20 & November 22
Readings: Cadava, Standing on Common Ground. (Introduction, Chapters 2,3,5,6)
Essay Quiz Three

Section Four: Memory and Historical Identities

Week 15: November 27 & November 29
Readings: Kropp, California Vieja.
Week 16: December 4 & December 6
Readings: Kropp, California Vieja.
Essay Quiz Four

Week 17: December 12th

Final Paper due in my office by 5pm.