Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for CHLA 203 Winter 2025


Course Number:
CHLA 203
Course Title:
Intro to Chicanx/Latinx Studies: Making Culture
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Introduces the cultural heritage of Chicanx/Latinx people in the United States. Draws on disciplines such as anthropology, folklore, literature, film, and linguistics, folk, and popular culture, and examines the combination and integration of various traditions in Chicanx/Latinx communities. CHLA courses are non-sequential and may be taken in any term and in any order. Prerequisites: WR 115, RD 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement test scores. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of this course the student should be able to:

  1. Describe using appropriate terminology and theoretical frameworks the elements of the Chicanx/Latinx cultural experience.

  2. Examine and interpret cultural expressions of Chicanx/Latinx communities within a critical context.

  3. Describe the major historical and contemporary factors that have contributed to the formation of Chicanx/Latinx culture in the United States.

  4. Identify proper methods to conduct research about the creative products of human communities, and Chicanx/Latinx communities in particular.

Integrative Learning

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to reflect on one’s work or competencies to make connections between course content and lived experience.

General education philosophy statement

CHLA courses, or Chicanx/Latinx Studies, promote the philosophy of General Education at PCC with intention and responsibility. For all PCC students, both those who identify as Chicanx/Latinx and those who do not, PCC’s CHLA courses provide foundational yet systemically underrepresented perspectives on the diverse, vibrant, and vitally important Chicanx/Latinx cultures of the western hemisphere. Students in CHLA courses will engage critical inquiry and self‐reflection, cultivate a more complex understanding of their own culture(s) in relation to others, and expand their understanding of ethical and responsible participation in complex and diverse societies. As a sequence of introductory courses in an interdisciplinary field, CHLA courses provide students opportunities to conceptually organize experiences in relation to each other and in relation to the diversity of Indigenous and settler‐colonial experiences. This enables students to complexify their understandings of themselves in relation to their local and global environments. CHLA courses involve both qualitative and quantitative reasoning, as well as Chicanx/Latinx folk arts, fine arts, and questions of aesthetic and artistic invention. The comparative approach taken in CHLA courses can enable and empower students to discern meaning from their experiences in relation to others. PCC’s CHLA courses provide unique and essential learning opportunities for PCC students, and they represent both the spirit and the practice of a strong General Education program.

Course Activities and Design

This course will be presented by means of lecture, discussion, and demonstrations, including participation in community events. Students’ grades will be determined from a combination of attendance and participation, examinations and quizzes, and projects and service learning.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Evaluation of students’ performance will include a combination of assessments such as:

  • Class discussion and participation;
  • Written assignments;
  • Quizzes;
  • Examinations;
  • Individual and/or group projects;
  • Service learning;
  • Participation in community events;
  • Attendance at assigned films, plays, and/or presentations by speakers.

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

  • Folklore
  • Literature
  • Film
  • Linguistics
  • Theater/Drama
  • Folk Culture
  • Popular Culture
  • Traditions
  • Culture and social standing
  • What is community
  • Culture and identity
  • The New Hispanics – Part III


Competencies and Skills
Students will demonstrate the ability to:

  • Identify and describe major cultural events that shape the life of Chicanx/Latinx peoples in the United States;
  • Assess the impact of education, work, economic and political status, heritage, recency of residence and other societal factors on the culture of Chicanx/Latinx peoples in the United States;
  • Identify the themes, issues, and contexts that crosscut key events in Chicanx/Latinx culture and assess their relative importance in shaping the Chicanx/Latinx experience in the United States;
  • Write and present a short research paper on a cultural issue of importance to Chicanx/Latinx peoples in the United States;
  • Use appropriate terminology to accurately describe the development of the Chicanx/Latinx cultural experience in the United States;
  • Identify key cultural historical issues that apply today and assess their impact;
  • Evaluate their participation in Chicanx/Latinx culture.