Graduate Studies Reports Access

Graduate Course Proposal Form Submission Detail - AML6630
Tracking Number - 3048

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Current Status: Approved by SCNS - 2014-12-02
Campus: Tampa
Submission Type: New
Course Change Information (for course changes only):
Comments: Elective for MA/PhD English: Lit Concentration. Objectives are topic outline; need to rework. Emailed 12/5/13. Updated. Approved pending repeatable info. Emailed 3/4/14. Apprd 3/28/14. Rptble 1 time. To USF Sys 4/23/14; to SCNS 5/1/14. Apprd eff 11/1/14


Detail Information

  1. Date & Time Submitted: 2012-12-06
  2. Department: English
  3. College: AS
  4. Budget Account Number: 122300
  5. Contact Person: Nicole Guenther Discenza
  6. Phone: 8130741887
  7. Email: ndiscenza@usf.edu
  8. Prefix: AML
  9. Number: 6630
  10. Full Title: Studies in US Latina/o Literatures
  11. Credit Hours: 3
  12. Section Type: C - Class Lecture (Primarily)
  13. Is the course title variable?: N
  14. Is a permit required for registration?: N
  15. Are the credit hours variable?: N
  16. Is this course repeatable?:
  17. If repeatable, how many times?: 0
  18. Abbreviated Title (30 characters maximum): Studies in US Latina/o Lit
  19. Course Online?: C - Face-to-face (0% online)
  20. Percentage Online: 0
  21. Grading Option: R - Regular
  22. Prerequisites: none
  23. Corequisites: none
  24. Course Description: Students will explore the major strands of US Latina/o Literatures including immigration narratives, auto ethnography, and historical fiction from or about the perspective of US Latinas/os.

  25. Please briefly explain why it is necessary and/or desirable to add this course: Needed to compete with national trends
  26. What is the need or demand for this course? (Indicate if this course is part of a required sequence in the major.) What other programs would this course service? This course is needed to serve our graduate students, particularly our Americanists. The topic is particularly relevant in Florida, with our large Latina/o population. Each time we have offered it as a selected topics course, it enrolled ten graduate students.
  27. Has this course been offered as Selected Topics/Experimental Topics course? If yes, how many times? Yes, 2 times
  28. What qualifications for training and/or experience are necessary to teach this course? (List minimum qualifications for the instructor.) PhD in English or related field with expertise in Latina/o literatures.
  29. Objectives: students will:

    Learn the primary literary developments of distinct US Latina/o communities.

    Identify the historical and cultural characteristics of Exile, Native, and Immigrant narratives.

    Develop an understanding of the theoretical perspectives used to analyze US Latina/o literatures.

    Master literary studies vocabulary relevant to US Latina/o literatures.

  30. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course, students will

    -trace the development of themes and techniques in US Latina/o literatures.

    -position the texts within one or more generic and/or culturally specific traditions.

    -identify the literatures’ employment of primary theoretical discourses including multiculturalism, feminism, revisionist writing, neocolonialism, queer theory, and ecocriticism.

    -perform forms of oral and written analysis typical to the literary studies profession.

  31. Major Topics: Major course topics include immigration, acculturation, ethnic identity, educational disparities, political agency, gender construction, and syncretic spirituality.
  32. Textbooks: Cruz, Angie. Soledad

    Benitiez-Rojo, Antonio. Sea of Lentils

    Ferre, Rosario. The House on the Lagoon

    García, Cristina. The Agüero Sisters

    Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

    Montero, Mayra. In the Palm of Darkness

    Muñoz, Elias Miguel. The Greatest Performance

    Rosario, Nelly. Song of the Water Saints

    Quiñonez, Ernesto. Bodega Dreams

  33. Course Readings, Online Resources, and Other Purchases: Barak, Julie. "Navigating the Swamp: Fact and Fiction in Rosario Ferré's The House on the Lagoon." Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 31.2, 1998: 31-38.

    Christian, Karen. Show and Tell: Identity as Performance in US Latina/o Fiction.

    Albuquerque: New Mexico UP, 1997.

    Dalleo, Raphael, and Elena Machado Sáez. The Latino/a Canon and the Emergence of Post-Sixties Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

    Dwyer, June. "When Willie Met Gatsby: The Critical Implications of Ernesto Quiñonez's Bodega Dreams." LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory: 14.2, 2003: 165-78.

    Flores-Rodriguez, Daynali. "Addressing the Fukú in Us: Junot Díaz and the New Novel of

    Dictatorship." Antipodas XX, 2009: 91-106.

    Irizarry, Ylce. "Doubly Troubling Narratives: Writing 'the Oppression of Possibility' in Puerto Rico and Cuba." Comparative American Studies 4.2, 2006: 197-217.

    Luis, William. Dance between Two Cultures: Latino Caribbean Literature Written in the

    United States. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 1997.

    Muñoz, Jose Esteban and Jack Plunger. Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics Cultural Studies of the Americas. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1999. Minneapolis, MN: U of Minnesota P, 1999.

    Rivera, Angel A. "Silence, Voodoo, and Haiti in Mayra Montero's In the Palm of Darkness." Ciberletras: Revista de crítica literaria y de cultura, 4, 2001

    Rohrleitner, Marion. "Looming Prairies and Blooming Orchids: The Politics of Sex and Race in Nelly Rosario’s Song of the Water Saints." Antípodas XX, 2009: 235-51.

  34. Student Expectations/Requirements and Grading Policy: 15 percent Discussion Lead

    10 Journal Report

    15 Annotated Bibliography

    15 Conference Style Paper

    10 Conference Style Presentation

    35 Research Paper

  35. Assignments, Exams and Tests: Assignments: lead one class discussion; one journal report; one 3-4 page annotated bibliography; one conference paper of 8-10 pages, one conference presentation of 15 minutes, and one research paper of 15-20 pages

    No exams or tests

  36. Attendance Policy: Course Attendance at First Class Meeting – Policy for Graduate Students: For structured courses, 6000 and above, the College/Campus Dean will set the first-day class attendance requirement. Check with the College for specific information. This policy is not applicable to courses in the following categories: Educational Outreach, Open University (TV), FEEDS Program, Community Experiential Learning (CEL), Cooperative Education Training, and courses that do not have regularly scheduled meeting days/times (such as, directed reading/research or study, individual research, thesis, dissertation, internship, practica, etc.). Students are responsible for dropping undesired courses in these categories by the 5th day of classes to avoid fee liability and academic penalty. (See USF Regulation – Registration - 4.0101,

    http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/ogc%20web/currentreg.htm)

    Attendance Policy for the Observance of Religious Days by Students: In accordance with Sections 1006.53 and 1001.74(10)(g) Florida Statutes and Board of Governors Regulation 6C-6.0115, the University of South Florida (University/USF) has established the following policy regarding religious observances: (http://usfweb2.usf.edu/usfgc/gc_pp/acadaf/gc10-045.htm)

    In the event of an emergency, it may be necessary for USF to suspend normal operations. During this time, USF may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include but are not limited to: Blackboard, Elluminate, Skype, and email messaging and/or an alternate schedule. It’s the responsibility of the student to monitor Blackboard site for each class for course specific communication, and the main USF, College, and department websites, emails, and MoBull messages for important general information.

    University excused absences include 1) death of an immediate family member; 2) observation of religious holidays; and 3) participation in authorized university activities. Excused absences #2 and #3 require advanced notice. You are still responsible for completing assignments. Graduate seminars meet weekly and thus students should expect to be present for every seminar meeting. Recognizing that there may be illness or some other situation that may prevent a student from attending class, students are allowed 1 unexcused absence. Any unexcused absence those beyond that 1, reduces your course grade by a whole letter grade per absence. If you have 3 or more unexcused absences, you cannot pass the course.

  37. Policy on Make-up Work: Assignments missed due to unexcused absence cannot be made up. Late assignments – unless required due to an excused absence -- will not be accepted.
  38. Program This Course Supports: MA and PhD in literature
  39. Course Concurrence Information:


- if you have questions about any of these fields, please contact chinescobb@grad.usf.edu or joe@grad.usf.edu.