Foreigners In Their Own Land
Closing Lecture Remarks
Understanding capitalism’s
Foreigners In Their Own Land
Closing Lecture Remarks
Understanding capitalism’s influence over our everyday lives and not just the historical past is a lifelong endeavor most of us may be discouraged to undertake. Even so, this does not limit the role and impact of capitalism over our lives, decision-making, and prospects about what comes next for us as individuals, households, nation, and the world.
So much of our own circumstances are engrained in class differences produced by capitalism and it’s initial primitive accumulation through colonization and imperialism. In fact, who is eligible for citizenship and the path for each is different depending on your economic class under capitalism. For example, a Mexican millionaire can automatically qualify for U.S. citizenship when they make a million-dollar investment in the U.S. Meanwhile, a Mexican citizen may work all their adult lives in the U.S. paying taxes and contributing to their local community but be denied citizenship for crossing the border without proper documents.
Takaki casts Mexicans in A Different Mirror as immigrants, but that is not entirely true. Immigrants come from Asia, Europe, and Middle East. The indigenous populations of North America can hardly be described as immigrants. The notion of nations, however, turns many indigenous tribes and people who are natives into “immigrants” equatable to Europeans who came on ships. This example of who is assigned as an immigrant is another example of hegemony and its tremendous influence in the way we interpret knowledge and language to reproduce social relations that maintain elite rule and dominance.
Now is your opportunity to demonstrate your ability to utilize course concepts and incorporate case studies in producing knowledge through cultural criticism in writing.
Most unit lectures close with this same class discussion format. If you read and closely follow all the instructions for this class discussion, you should be able to do well here on out. I will be leaving you feedback and a grade for this assignment. It is important you review my feedback so you can address any issues in the next assignment.
I look forward to reading each of your posts and comments. Contact me ahead of time if you need an extension. I accept late posts but not late comments or self-reflections. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, doubts, or need additional assistance.
Saludos,
Professor Fuentes
Overview and Criteria
Post by Thursday, Reply by Saturday
The three (3) steps to complete this assignment are explained below in more detail, but here they are in a nutshell:
Answer at least 2 question(s) or prompts.
Incorporate at least 2 course concepts in your discussion.
Leave 2 substantive/expansive comments.
There are two (2) deadlines that add up to 35 total points possible from this assignment.
Possible 25 Points = Your Post (Due Thursday)
Possible 10 Points = 2+ Comments (Due Saturday)
You’ll be graded on your ability to utilize course concepts to critically reflect on the unit’s lecture material. You must closely follow guidelines to earn maximum points.
⚠️ Post Submissions
I only grade the first post left by each student. If you submit a second post, it will not be graded. I only grade the first attempt. All other attempts after the first post will be ignored and ungraded. Recommendation: Work on your post outside of Canvas and don’t submit it until it meets your standards for submission.
25 Points: Post Guidelines
Your post should be no less than 400 words in length.
Your post is worth up to 25 points. It should contain:
4 pt: proper grammar. free of spelling errors, meets min. word count,
4 pt: use proper in-text citations,
6 pt: apply course concepts,
6 pt: incorporate reading and/or lecture(s) material,
5 pt: directly address all aspects of the prompt(s).
10 Points: Peer Comments
Each comment you leave is worth up to 5 points (depending on quality of post). Being nice and respectful is important, but it doesn’t get you all the points. Your comments need to be substantive and expand on the conversation or original post in a meaningful way.
Comments should contain at least one of the following:
Comments should provide new information about the original post (“substantive”).
Elaborate on a point made by the Poster or someone else on the thread (“expand”).
In other words, compliments and salutations do not count as satisfactory comments.
Pro Tips
What mistake will cost you the most points?
Use of in-text citations for all prompts is required. Every student should develop the habit of attributing information to sources in college-level writing. You can use either APA or MLA style for in-text citations. An example of citing the book in your text is as follows: (Takaki 2008, p.33). An example of citing lectures in your text is as follows: (Fuentes, “Unit #: Name of Lecture.”). Both the green number and lecture title must be changed to the appropriate source for credit.
Don’t want to lose your work?
Copy and paste your posts on Canvas, but write them elsewhere (WordLinks to an external site., GoogleLinks to an external site., etc.). Canvas logs users out with inactivity. If this happens, you aren’t alerted and your work will be lost even if you try to “save” or hit “submit.”
Need assistance with Canvas?
Cuyamaca has the Online Student Help TeamLinks to an external site. who are ready to provide you with any Canvas support in real-time. If you need help using Canvas Discussions, please review the following guide: Canvas Student Guide – Discussions.
Continuing the Conversation
You have a voice; what’s your say?
Guidance: Select course concepts (2+) introduced in this unit to answer two (2) or more of the below question(s) or prompts according Dr. Fuentes’ lecture materials or Dr. Takaki’s A Different Mirror (2008). You can also incorporate your own personal experiences or recent events, but there has to be a clear connection to concepts and case studies.*
What are ways that hegemony affect our understanding of American History?
Discuss Takaki’s concept “Foreigners in Their Native Land” (Ch. 7).
How is primitive accumulation or profit by dispossession normalized and accepted in society?
Discuss Takaki’s El Norte (Ch. 12).
How did capitalism reproduce racism, racial power, or eurocentrism?
From your own lived experience, what is another example of hegemony or global capitalism?
Add your own link to an ig post, tweet, or tik tok and explain how it is an example of White Spatial Imaginary or ethnocentrism; OR Write your own question and incorporate course concepts to explain the importance behind your question (and the value of the potential answer).
*No external sources. Base your response on the lecture materials provided and, as an add-on, you can tie in your own personal experiences, stories, and examples.
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