COURSE: Latinos in the United States and the media (400-level, GST Interdisciplinary Seminar to be offered in the Fall of 2013)

Vanessa Bravo

Assistant Professor, School of Communications

Sylvia Munoz

Director, El Centro

Overview

Hispanics made up 16% of the United States’ population in 2009, but that is forecast to surge to 29% by 2050, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center.  In support of Elon’s commitment to diversity and global engagement, the overarching goal of this diversity infusion project is to make our students aware of a social reality that is taking place all over the country and, more specifically, at walking distance from our Elon community. 

To reach this goal we developed a course called Latinos in the US and the Media.  The course, which will be offered for the first time as a GST Interdisciplinary Seminar in the Fall of 2013, will concentrate on four specific sections or topics:

• The contributions of the Latino population to the United States, in general

• How are Latinos portrayed in the media (traditionally and currently)

• Latino-targeted media and how regular media has adjusted their traditional practices to reach out to this growing community

• How Latinos connect with their host country as well as their home country through their use of traditional and social media

A sub goal is to develop a local component for this course to expose our students to a reality that is very present in the Alamance County community.  We will do this through a series of activities that provide opportunities for students to engage with the Latino culture by exploring issues of media use and content, as well as issues in history, politics, art, and social structure.

As our students graduate from Elon, there is a strong probability that they will live next to a Latino family, work for or with Latino colleagues, work in a Latin American country or even become part of a Latino family.  It is our responsibility to prepare students by building connections and creating an understanding of a culture that is only growing in this country.

Developing this course contributes to El Centro’s mission of providing opportunities to the Elon community to learn and understand the cultures of the Spanish-speaking peoples of the world, and it definitely complements the goal of the General Studies at Elon of infusing diversity and forming global citizens.

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