Challenging The Master Narrative
Online Class With Professora Fabiola Torres
(No Zoom Sessions)
Dear student,
The purpose and importance of our online syllabus is to establish a first impression of the course, the plan of action, any expectations, and me, your humble professor, Fabiola Torres. Deeper information on the course will be available in our Canvas Course. Let's do this.
Catalog Statement: ETH S 121 surveys the major ethnic and racial minorities in the United States to provide students with a better understanding of the socio-economic, cultural and political practices and institutions that support or challenge racism, racial and ethnic inequalities. Students also study historical and contemporary patterns of interaction between intersectional identities of the four core Ethnic populations of Asian Americans, Chicanx/Latinx, African Americans, and Native/Indigenous Americans within the United States.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Analyze contemporary issues using Ethnic Studies theories and methodologies;
define core concepts in Ethnic Studies such as race, rationalization, discrimination, intersectionality, and white supremacy;
identify methods of active engagement with anti-racist and anti-colonial practices in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Chicanx/Latinx communities toward a just and equitable society.
Want more information? Visit Important Answers To Important Questions
I believe our brain must perceive our improvement, our increased ability to do something better, before it begins to feel confident. My role is to enable all my students to improve their learning and increase their cognitive stamina. My online courses are designed to strengthen learning muscles, so students can process content and produce data-driven conclusions. Through personal feedback, I reframe mistakes as a source of information about what needs adjusting in order to hit the target. I believe the educational system has conditioned students to be scared of mistakes because they think it says something about their intelligence. As a result, students may not push for the next level of mastery. Therefore my presence, feedback and communication has to focus on what strategies students can level up your scholastic performance.
-C/S (Con Safos)
Our 8 week online course takes a traditional 16 week course and compresses it into 8 weeks. Therefore, 6.75(ish) hours per week shall be carved out from your weekly routine. Online classwork includes weekly video messages, online lectures, discussions, unit activities and guidance preparing for assessments via Canvas. Accessible (no cost) reading material, preparing for assignments and constructing unit assessments should be factored into your schedule. Yet using technology can enable us to stay focussed on work, family and school. My goal is to eliminate failure in my courses. Therefore I dedicate most of my time nudging students via Canvas to stay on task.
Interactive PDF via Google
There is no voice-over in the video. Visual descriptors are available in the video description via YouTube.
Ethnic Studies advocates for social justice. In the process, empathy in embedded within my practice. I believe grades are a form of systemic oppression that have nothing to do with learning yet everything to do with domination and power. Therefore, our learning environment will not be policed or restricted. A final "grade" will be earned, yet it will be based on a student self evaluation based on evidence of growth, excellence and risk-taking. Further information is available in UnGrading In Ethnic Studies.
Email Address: ftorres@glendale.edu (I will respond within 24 hours.)
Twitter: @iLearnNow
Instagram: @rebelalliancepack
Visit my video to hear Why I teach Ethnic Studies
I am usually pretty speedy with our replies, but please allow me 12 hours or less before following up with me again. My best time to quickly respond to students is between 9am-5pm M-F. Also, if you reach out on a Sunday, please don't be surprised if I am a little slower to respond. I'm usually resting my arm, neck, back and eyes.
My parents and I have been voting together since 1993 when they became US Citizens.
Two Mexican Immigrants gave birth to me, Fabiola Torres, in the French Hospital at Chinatown in Los Angeles, California, USA. Since 1998, I have been teaching Ethnic Studies at Glendale Community College (GCC). My teaching principles are inspired by my M.A. from Chicana/o Studies (CSUN) and my M.A. in Learning Technology (Pepperdine’s School of Education and Psychology). I am a fur-mommy of 3 precious doggies - Wookie, Luke & Leia. My shelter in place goal is to stay healthy, find joy and dance. Want to see how I still dance?
On my father's side, I'm descended from immigrants, one of whom was a Syrian refugee from the Armenian genocide, and my mother was an immigrant from Germany whose visa had expired and, for a year and change, was undocumented here in the U.S.
Alexis Ohanian - American Internet entrepreneur and investor