Los Angeles Valley College Library: Chicano Studies ZTC Award Program: Resources

OER Chicano Studies Textbooks

New Directions in Chicanx and Latinx Studies by Gonzalez, et al. (2023)

A comprehensive, peer-reviewed introductory textbook written by scholars from the California Community Colleges and California State University. The content, spanning ten chapters, is guided by intersectional, transnational, and relational frameworks that build on current and emergent work in Chicanx and Latinx Studies. Published by the ASCCC OERI.

Latining America: Black-Brown Passages and the Coloring of Latino/a Studies by Claudia Milian (2013)

Latining America keeps company with and challenges existent models of Latinidad, demanding a distinct paradigm that puts into question what is understood as Latino and Latina today. Milian conceptually considers how underexplored "Latin" participants-the southern, the black, the dark brown, the Central American-have ushered in a new world of "Latined" signification from the 1920s to the present. Published by University of Georgia Press.

The Chicanos: As We See Ourselves by Trejo et al. (1979)

Thirteen Chicanx scholars draw upon their personal experiences and expertise to paint a vivid, colorful portrait of what it means to be Chicanx, including political experiences, bicultural education, and history. The book provides a detailed account and definition of the Chicano Movement in 1979. Published by University of Arizona Press.

Spanish Perspectives on Chicano Literature: Literary and Cultural Essays by Jesús Rosales and Vanessa Fonseca
(2017)

Spanish Perspectives on Chicano Literature and Culture: Literary and Cultural Essays explores how Spanish literary critics from the U.S. and Spain view and study Chicano literature and culture, and reflects on Chicano literature’s literary place in 21st century America and its transnational aspirations. Published by Ohio University Press.

The Roots of Latino Urban Agency by Sharon A. Navarro and Rodolfo Rosales (2013).

These essays collectively suggest that political agency can encompass everything from voting, lobbying, networking, grassroots organizing, and mobilization, to dramatic protest. Latinos are in fact gaining access to the same political institutions that worked so hard to marginalize them. Published by University of North Texas Press

Clerical Ideology in a Revolutionary Age: The Guadalajara Church and the Idea of the Mexican Nation, 1788-
1853 by Brian F. Connaughton (2003).

Clerical ideology played an important role in the complex cultural transition Mexico underwent from the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries. This study aims to accurately situate clerical ideology in relation to the social, economic and political transformation promoted by both the Enlightened absolutism of the late colonial regime and the new, independent state born in 1821. Published by University of Calgary Press

Courses

Hispanic America: One Hundred Years of Literature and Film (MIT OpenCourseWare)
This course explores artistic achievement in a culture that over the past century has engaged in constant and intense imaginative self-renewal. The class studies film, narrative (e.g., Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude), and poetry. Conducted in Spanish.
Institutions of Urban Life & the Latinx Experience, 1848-2018 (CUNY)
This is an inter and trans-disciplinary course which has two main objectives. The first is to critically examine the multi-faceted evolution of the Latinx population as an urbanized segment of United States society. Specifically, the course seeks to provide a cross-cultural understanding of the diversity among Spanish-speaking people within the urban context. Different processes and roles over space and time will be problematized included but not limited to the role of urban institutions in the conflicts between assimilation and cultural preservation; the dynamics of migration, immigration, and settlement; and institutionalized participation in the social processes of United States urban life.
Introduction to Contemporary Hispanic Literature (MIT OpenCourseWare)
This course studies important twentieth century texts from Spain and Latin America. The readings include short stories, theatre, the novel and poetry. This subject is conducted in Spanish and all reading and writing for the course is also done in Spanish.
Introduction to Latin American Studies (MIT OpenCourseWare)
Interdisciplinary introduction to contemporary Latin America, drawing on films, literature, popular press accounts, and scholarly research. Topics include economic development, ethnic and racial identity, religion, revolution, democracy, transitional justice, and the rule of law. Examples draw on a range of countries in the region, especially Mexico, Chile, and Brazil. Includes a heavy oral participation component, with regular breakout groups, formal class presentations on pressing social issues (such as criminal justice and land tenure), and a structured class debate.
Introduction to Puerto Rican and Latinx Studies (CUNY)
This is an inter— and trans-disciplinary course which has two main objectives. The first is to critically introduce students to the theoretical foundations in Puerto Rican and Latinx Studies. While the course places Puerto Rico as the central focus and as a case study of the class, corresponding spaces within the Spanish Caribbean will also be placed into analysis in order to examine the pertinent and current themes in Puerto Rican and Latinx history, culture, literature, and politics.
Modern Latin America, 1808-Present: Revolution, Dictatorship, Democracy (MIT OpenCourseWare)
This class is a selective survey of Latin American history from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. Issues studied include Latin America in the global economy, relations between Latin America and the U.S., dictatorships and democracies in the twentieth century, African and Indigenous cultures, feminism and gender, cultural politics, revolution in Mexico, Cuba, and Central America, and Latin American identity.
Modern Mexico: Representations of Mexico City's Urban Life (MIT OpenCourseWare)
The goal of this course is to offer a general introduction to 20th and 21st century literature and cultural production about Modern Mexico. Emphasis will be placed on the way intellectuals and artists have presented the changes in Mexico City's urban life, and how these representations question themes and trends in national identity, state control, globalization, and immigration.
Political Science: Mexican-Americans & Politics (UC Irvine)
Political Science 126A, Mexican-Americans & Politics also cross listed as Chicano/Latino Studies 143, Mexican-Americans & Politics This course examines the role of Mexican American and other Latino communities in shaping state and national politics in the United States. After we review the political history and political organizational strategies of Mexican Americans, we will examine their contemporary modes of political organization; analyze public policy issues that concern them; evaluate the successes and failures of Mexican American empowerment strategies; and measure the electoral impact of Mexican American votes.
Political Science: US Immigration Policy (UC Irvine)
The United States is in the middle of a national debate over immigration policy and the outcomes of immigrant incorporation. The debate is not just taking place in the U.S. Congress, which has the power and responsibility to shape policy, but also in national politics, in state legislatures, and in community organizing. Our goal in this class is to analyze what it will take for Congress to craft a “comprehensive” immigration reform. Although the need for comprehensive reform is debated (the status quo works for many in the society), the high level of popular dissatisfaction with current policies, the pressures put on the nation by demands for immigrant labor, and the high number of unauthorized migrants resident in the United States demonstrate the need for a thorough review of current policies.
Special Topics in Women & Gender Studies Seminar: Latina Women's Voices (MIT OpenCourseWare)
This course will explore the rich diversity of women's voices and experiences as reflected in writings and films by and about Latina writers, filmmakers, and artists. Through close readings, class discussions and independently researched student presentations related to each text, we will explore not only the unique, individual voice of the writer, but also the cultural, social and political contexts which inform their narratives. We will also examine the roles that gender, familial ties and social and political preoccupations play in shaping the values of the writers and the nature of the characters encountered in the texts and films.

Still Looking?

There are countless repositories for discovering OER ⁠— this is only a sample ⁠— but the six repositories listed below are an excellent starting point for California community college instructors.

ASCCC OER by Discipline

LAVC OER By Discipline (this resource is not regularly maintained and may be out of date)

Merlot

OpenStax

LibreTexts

Open Textbook Library

OER & Accessibility

Accessibility and Universal Design Overview (ASCCC OERI)

Accessibility Resources (ASCCC OERI)

For accessibility purposes, instructors should offer a print option for their OER(s). Please see these recommendations and resources from the ASCCC OERI.

OER & Equity

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Draft Framework (ASCCC OERI)

To support faculty as they implement a culturally responsive and anti-racist pedagogy, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Open Educational Resources Initiative (ASCCC OERI), in response to Resolution 09.05 adopted in Spring 2021 (Developing an Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Curriculum Audit Process), has been tasked with the development of:

a process and review framework to evaluate existing open educational resources to ensure that ASCCC OERI-supported open educational resources are inclusive, diverse, equitable, and anti-racist (IDEA).
a curriculum audit process and review framework to assess instructional materials for equity, inclusiveness, diversity, and anti- racism and make the process and framework available for local consideration, modification, and implementation.

This is still a work in progress and the ASCCC OERI is soliciting feedback. Learn more.