THOUSAND OAKS : Course Focuses on Latino Culture

Teacher Ben Saiz began this semester by asking his class of mostly Anglo students at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks to name six famous Latinos, three men and three women.

Some of the 30 students named musicians Julio Iglesias or Gloria Estefan. Two named Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, Saiz said. “Most of the papers came back to me blank,” he said. He will give a similar test at the end of the semester.

The course, titled “The Latino Community,” teaches students about Latino culture and history to heighten awareness of problems facing Latinos in the United States, Saiz said. It is required for students majoring in liberal studies or training to become bilingual teachers.

Saiz’s students have strolled in Los Angeles among Latino vendors on Olvera Street and visited exhibits of Mexican art. They have heard speakers from Ventura County’s Latino community, including a dramatist and a school principal.

“I’m learning a lot more about the culture, about the heart of these people,” said student Juliann Mills, 22, of Camarillo. She said she believes that most Anglos “don’t think their (Latinos) culture is real. They think it’s primitive or not important.”

Cal Lutheran students are “kind of in an island right here,” said Kathleen Contreras, director of bilingual teacher training. “This is a very white, Anglo-Saxon community.” About 84.2% of the 2,936 students are white, and 8.5% are Latino at this private university, where undergraduate tuition is $9,800 per year, spokeswoman Jean Sandlin said.

Many who are studying to be teachers said the course will help them understand their Latino students. But a few students who declined to be identified said they disagree with some of the course’s assumption that racism puts up insurmountable barriers for Latinos. One student cited Saiz, who works as a probation officer in addition to teaching part time, as an example of Latinos who succeed.

Saiz said he is aware of the differences of opinion about the course. “During the class one of the students said, ‘Well, why do we always talk about Latinos?’ ” Saiz recalled. “I about stopped in my tracks.”