FRS 002 — Sec. 025 — (2 units) — CRN 74205 — M 3:10-5:00pm — 111 Wellman
Anglos, Latinos and the Spanish “Black Legend”

Instructors: Cristina González and Francisco Peña, Department of Spanish & Classics, College of Letters and Science

Description: This course will enhance understanding between Anglos and Latinos by studying the birth and evolution of the so-called “Black Legend,” a 16th Century myth that racialized Spaniards by representing them as uniquely brutal and avaricious people, characteristics attributed to their Muslim and Jewish roots, respectively. Spaniards were presented as an impure and barbarian race that mixed with Native Americans and other non-Europeans in the Americas, producing a thoroughly inferior people. In contrast, the English were depicted as a pure and civilized nation which brought progress to the New World and preserved its superiority by avoiding miscegenation. The “Black Legend,” which underpins the doctrine of “Manifest Destiny,” was used to justify the appropriation of territories by the United States during the Texas Revolt, the Mexican-American War, the California Gold-Rush and the Spanish-American War, and it still affects how Latinos are perceived and treated in this country today.

Format: The course will meet for two hours each week for ten weeks. Course work will include readings and interviews. Students will be required to write a four to six page paper based on interviews with a number of Anglos and Latinos and to give presentations about the readings. Grading: Final grades will be based on the quality of the paper (60%) and the presentations (30%), as well as on class participation and attendance (10%).

About the Instructors: Dr. Cristina González is Professor of Spanish and Education at UC Davis. Her interests include Medieval and Early Modern Hispanic Literature, Contemporary Hispanic Culture, and Philosophy of Higher Education.

Dr. Francisco Peña, an expert in Medieval and Early Modern Hispanic History and Culture and Comparative Religion, is working towards a second Ph.D. in Hispanic literature at UC Davis.