Introduction
As part of the LTS 3012 – Latinas: Society & Cultural Survey final project, students will co-create a lyric video of a corrido (narrative folk song). Through this assignment, students will research and tell the story of a Latina figure, a conflict, or an event that involves social struggles affecting Latinas. Students are asked to link the message of the corrido to present-day issues.
In LTS 3012, students will learn about the origins, evolution, and contribution of corridos to storytelling and analyze their significance in the context of present-day events. To date, corridos traditionally represent the stories of male figures, inviting the creation of corridos written about women and their histories. As such, the “Corridos Digital Album” final project asks students to take on the role of corridistas to research Latinas and/or events that remain understudied or underrepresented.
Students will participate in workshops led by the instructor to support the creative process of elaborating their written and audio-visual versions of their corridos. Students will have the option to participate in a listening party at the end of the semester to view and listen to their classmate’s contributions. Students will have the option to publish their work to engage the larger CUNY community.
The “Corridos Digital Album” project will empower students to use their voices and storytelling skills to audio-visually present topics pertaining to Latinas in the form of a corrido. The presence of females within this music genre as the main character and corridistas continue to be limited. To date, their representation is generally excluded or repressed. Although corridos about females exist, these repeat several archetypal roles, including the lover, the cruel or devoted mother, and the soldadera/adelitas. This final project assignment invites students to take on the role of corridistas to tell these stories. As cultural workers, they reflect on the importance of storytelling in creating awareness and promoting social change.
Assignment Description
The purpose of this project serves two main objectives:
- To encourage students to research Latina figures that remain understudied or underrepresented.
- To engage students as cultural workers and knowledge creators in the creation of narrative folk songs called corridos.
The final deliverable will be a creatively edited corrido in the form of a lyric video (TikTok, Instagram Reel, YouTube Video, YouTube Shorts, etc.).
The project will be divided into several phases to ensure a comprehensive and structured approach to facilitate students’ engagement with the assignment.
Students will submit three items as part of their final:
- The written version of their corrido.
- The audio-visual lyric video of their corrido (TikTok, Instagram Reel, YouTube Video, YouTube Shorts, etc.) along with an image that will be the art cover of their corrido.
- 500-700 word reflection on their co-creative process.
Click here to view the lyric videos of the corridos produced by the students in LTS 3012 – Latinas: Society & Cultural Survey (Fall 2023).
Acknowledgments
This teaching material was developed as a result of the CUNY 1969 Teach-in & Retreat that took place in Summer 2023.
This teaching material was inspired by the “Creative Writing Assignment: Write Your Own Corrido” for Introduction to Chicana/o Culture (CHI 50) taught by Prof. Maceo Montoya at the University of California, Davis, during Winter 2023.
© 2023. The work included in this site is openly licensed via CC BY-NC-ND.