Other Projects and Activities
| Conferences | Graduate Student Research Training |
| Lecture Series | Undergraduate Research Training |
| Sponsored Lectures | Community Research and Public Service |
| Department Liaison Activities | Other Activities |
Academic Projects:
Conferences
The Routes of Culture: Chicana/o Arts in an Age of Displacements
Conference Organizer:
Carl Gutiérrez-Jones
A two day seminar held at UCSB on November 7th and 8th, 1998, this seminar brought twelve scholars from across the nation together with ten of UCSB's faculty in order to discuss the impact of migration on Chicana/o cultural production. This interdisciplinary gathering enhanced Chicano studies research on campus and intensified the research ties among Chicano studies scholars, on this campus, as well as nationally.
El Plan de Santa Barbara 1969-1999; Power, Resistance and Social Change
| Conference Organizers: Dr. Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval (Chicano Studies), Dr. Norma E. Cantú (Acting Director, Center for Chicano Studies), Dr. Yolanda Garcia, (EOP Director ), Dr. Francisco Lomelí (Chair, Chicano Studies), Pat Richardson (Administrative Assistant, Center for Chicano Studies), Dr. Denise Segura (Sociology) , Dr. Maria Herrera-Sobek (Chicano Studies) Student Organizers: Main Sponsors: Other Sponsors Include: |
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This conference, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Department of Chicano Studies, the Center for Chicano Studies, the Colección Tloque Nahaque, and El Plan de Santa Barbara was held on May 22, 1999, brought together scholars and activists to discuss some of the contemporary political, cultural, economic, and educational issues confronting Chicanas/os and Latinas/os today. Our goals included re-visiting and celebrating the 30th anniversary of El Plan, the Department of Chicano Studies, the Center for Chicano Studies and the Collection Tloque Nahaque through invigorating dialogues on Chicano Studies, community-based research, and possible future directions. The event was open to the pubic and attracted high school and college students, while also drawing participants from the community at-large.
University of California at Santa Barbara, May 21st - May 22nd, 1999
Seventh Annual Raza College Day
Program Organizers, El Congreso
Santa Barbara, CA, May 18th, 1999
This event was the seventh annual all-day event hosted by the Chicano/Latino student organization, El Congreso. Students from throughout Santa Barbara County were transported to UCSB to introduce them to the higher education experience through motivational speakers, workshops and cultural entertainment. An estimated eight hundred high school students attended.
A Gathering of Artists
Organizer:
Dr. María Herrera Sobek
Sponsors: Center for Chicano Studies, Department of Chicano Studies, Luis Leal Endowed Chair
In her efforts to support Chicana artists in their endeavors María Herrera Sobek called
for a gathering of a core group of California artists who met at UCSB. Con
Boca Acción: A Gathering of Chicana Artists brought 12 renowned artists to
share current work and plan for a future seminar. During the two-day seminar, the artists
shared 10 slides representative of their work and discussed issues that impact their work
and careers. included a discussion and planning of a forthcoming National Symposium of
Chicana Artists. June 11-12, 1999
| Chicana/o (Re)presentations & Performance: Visions
Lecture/Reading/Performance Series Program Organizers, Dr. Francisco A. Lomelí (Dept. of Chicano Studies) and Dr. Norma E. Cantú (Center for Chicano Studies) Santa Barbara, CA: November 17th 1998 - May 27th 1999 Nine renown writers and artists in the field of Chicano literature, art and film were brought to UCSB to engage in conversations with specific classes and to present their work to the community at large. |
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Ruby Nelda Perez, Performer, El Teatro de la Esperanza
Rosita’s Jalapeño Kitchen November 17th, 1998
Gronk: Los Angeles based Artist
Cinematic Identity: Film, Art and Performance November 19th, 1998
Rosa M.: Southern Californian Artist
Illustrated lecture on her work Southern Californian Chicana/o Art: Cultural Identity
and Contemporary Issues
January 13th, 1999
(show ran from January 4th 1999 through march 19th, 1999)
Alejandro Morales, Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Department at University of
California at Irvine:
A talk based on his short novel The Sign, "The sign" of Eliminationist
Ideology February 18, 1999
Monica Palacios, Performer
Super Sonic Chicana 2000, March 4, 1999
Montserrat Fontes: Author
Secrets told, lose their power March 11, 1999
Michele Serros: Author
Chicana Falsa, May 3rd, 1999
Graciela Limón: Chicana/o Studies Department, Loyola Marymount University
The Crafting of a Novel: A Personal Journey May 10th, 1999
| Lourdes Portillo: Independent Filmmaker:
Xochitl Films Corpus: A Home Movie for Selena May 27th, 1999 |
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Liaison Initiative between the Department of Chicano Studies and the Center for
Chicano Studies
This year, the College of Social Sciences, as part of a new Liaison Initiative between the
Department of Chicano
Studies and the Center for Chicano Studies, named Prof. Mario T. García to coordinate
activities between the research and
academic units on campus that work within the area of Chicano/a Studies. Prof. García's
charge included maintaining the
communication between the Department and the Center open and operational. Additionally,
upon consultation with the Acting
Director and the Chair of the Department, Prof. García agreed to organize activities and
seminars to foster the research
interests of faculty and graduate students; he instituted a series of seminar lectures and
invited distinguished speakers to
campus.
Mexico: The Global Economy and Underdevelopment
Ramón Eduardo Ruiz: Professor Emeritus of History, University of California at San Diego
The Department of Chicano Studies in conjunction with Arts & Lectures, the Center for
Chicano Studies and several other
programs hosted a two-day visit by Professor Ramón Eduardo Ruiz who is Professor Emeritus
in History at the University of
California, San Diego. One of the most distinguished historians of Mexico, Prof. Ruiz's
most recent book is On the Rim of
Mexico: Encounters of the Rich and Poor. In addition to his main public lecture attended
by over 400 people and which
focused on the topic "Mexico: The Global Economy and Underdevelopment," Prof.
Ruiz also presented an informal seminar in
the Department of History on the topic
"Mexico's Contemporary Crisis: A Historian's Perspective." Prof. Ruiz's visit
coincided with the announcement that he had
been named one of this year's recipients of the National Humanities Medal awarded by
President
Clinton. Last year Prof. Luis Leal of UCSB was honored with this prestigious award.
October 27, 1998
The Latino Vote in the 1998 Elections
Public Lecture by Professor Fernando Guerra: Associate Professor, Political Science and
Director for the Study of Los
Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. November 11, 1998
Second Annual Chicano/a Art Exhibit
| Rosa M. Organizer, Dr. María Herrera-Sobek Sponsors: Center for Chicano Studies, Department of Chicano Studies, Luis Leal Endowed Chair and the Multicultural Center Santa Barbara, CA, January 4th, 1999 through March 19th, 1999) The Center for Chicano Studies, the Chicano Studies Department and the Luis Leal Endowed Chair co-sponsored the second Chicano/a art exhibit for an entire quarter at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This event featured the renown artist Rosa M, a native of Chihuahua, Mexico who was raised in Southern California. Her work is rich in cultural images culled from ancient Mexico. The exhibit had an opening reception to which more than 200 people attended. The reception was followed by a lecture in which Rosa M discussed her work with a slide presentation. Again more than 200 persons attended the lecture. The three-month exhibit, in addition to attracting UCSB students was often frequented by community residents including elementary classes, high school and community college students. |
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Mexico: The Global Economy and Underdevelopment
Public Lecture by Ramón Eduardo Ruiz: Professor Emeritus of History, University of
California at San Diego
October 27th, 1998
The Latino Vote in the 1998 Elections
Public Lecture by Professor Fernando Guerra: Associate Professor, Political Science and
Director for the Study of Los Angeles (in what university?)
November 11th , 1998
Magic, Religion and Tradition in So Far From God by Ana Castillo
Public Lecture by Imelda Martín Junquera: Universidad de León, España:
November 12rd, 1998
UCSB Comparative Literature: Culture Hybridity in Latina Literature
Fatima Mujcinovic: University of California, Santa Barbara
November 23rd, 1998
At the crossroads of the world Mexican American Literature: A view from Siberia
Tatyana Voronchenko: Visiting Fulbright Scholar at University of California, San Diego
(visiting from the University of Siberia, Russia)
February 17th, 1999
The Origins and Status of Chicana Studies: A Personal Journey and History.
Cynthia Orozco: Scholar and Activist, Adjunct Faculty at University of New Mexico
February 19th 1999
Transterritorialization, Transculturation and Translation: A Mexicana Perspective
on Chicana Writings.
Claire Joysmith: Chair of the Latino Studies Project at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México and 1999 Visiting Professor at Earlham College Richmond, Indiana
April 26th, 1999
Rethinking Globalization from a Cultural Perspective
Maria Pia Lara: Professor of Philosophy, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City,
Mexico and Visiting fellow, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Stanford
University
May 12th, 1999
Beware drive-by journalism: Latinos, Politics and the Media
Ruben Salazar Memorial Lecture: Frank del Olmo, Award-winning Los Angeles Times
journalist
May 13, 1999
| "Canícula, Snapshots of a Girlhood en la
Frontera": A Reading and Platica Norma Elia Cantú, Acting Director,
Center for Chicano Studies and Visiting Research Scholar, on leave from Texas A&M
University, Laredo, TX |
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| Alianza y
Mestizaje (English translation) Dr. Alfonso Sánchez Anaya, Governor of Tlaxcala, México: June 4th, 1999 |
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Research Training Activities: Graduate Students
Faculty/Graduate Student Mentorship
Faculty who received funding through the Center emphasize graduate training and mentorship through a number of ways: (1) deepening discipline-specific research skills; (2) developing interdisciplinary research questions and skills by collaboration between faculty and graduate students; (3) co-authoring papers with graduate students; (4) developing specific skills that will enhance research dissemination; (5) developing skills that will enhance grant writing; and (6) developing a network among the graduate students and faculty that allow for cross-disciplinary sharing through the Center for Chicano Studies whose infrastructure becomes strengthened as the knowledge base of each participant deepens and becomes available to the Center.
Graduate Student Research and Travel Funding
In 1998-1999 a small amount of funds was set aside for a call for proposals from graduate students to assist them with costs associated with their research. Three awards were made: Juan Casillas, Marc Coronado, and Cecilia Montes-Alcalá. Graduate Student Support also involved short term assistantships with mentoring faculty. Lorena García and Socorro Castañeda, both new graduate students in Sociology, worked closely with Prof. Denise Segura in both her research projects and to organize the binational seminar with Dr. Zavella from UCSC. Marc Coronado, graduate student in English, worked with Professors Cantú and Gutiérrez Jones as a researcher and as the key staff support while organizing the Routes of Culture seminar. Marc García-Martínez, graduate student in English, and Juan Casillas, graduate student in Spanish, worked with Prof. Herrera-Sobek on the Center/Department newsletter and on her research and with Prof. Francisco Lomelí on his research. Socorro and Lorena both wrote successful grant proposals and will be engaged in research projects in summer 1999 that directly impacts on their graduate work. In addition to the awards made through the formal call for proposals, several graduate students were provided with Research Assistantships and Research Travel Awards to present their research at professional meetings. Yolanda Márquez and Marc Coronado, for example, traveled to San Antonio to present papers at the National Association of Chicano/Chicana Studies Conference.
Graduate Student Research Fellowships
As part of its mission and in conjunction with the UC Committee on Latino Research (SCR-43), the UCSB Center for Chicano Studies awards Graduate Student research Fellowships each year to outstanding proposals for research on topics pertaining to the Chicano/Latino working poor in the United States. The following graduate students were recipients of fellowships during the 1998-1999 year and presented their work at a Center for Chicano Studies Graduate Student Research Fellowship Colloquium and Merienda on June 3rd, 1999.
Auli Ek, English: Constructions of Chicano Masculinities in Contemporary American Prison Narratives
Katherine Elliott, Education: The Relationship between Acculturation, Family Functioning, and School Performance of Mexican American Adolescents
Marc García-Martínez, English: "Abject Narratives in Alejandro Morales' The Rag Doll Plagues"
Judith Huacuja Pearson, Art History: California Chicana/o Collectives and the Development of a Liberatory Artistic Praxis in America
Yolanda Loza Márquez, Education: La Universidad la Promesa del Futuro: A case study of the University of California Santa Barbara Department of Chicano Studies
Research Training Activities: Undergraduate Students
One of the most important mentoring activities done by the Center is training undergraduate students in research particularly on Latino working poor populations in the U.S. Research training activities occur in three settings: focused and personalized undergraduate student mentorship by faculty; informal meetings/brown bag lunches that bring together undergraduates, graduate students and faculty across research teams to share methods, theories, and findings to enhance the interdisciplinary approaches we are committed to developing; and an Undergraduate Research Internship Program where students and faculty work on one specific project learning the distinct methodologies and theories of the relevant discipline(s). The Undergraduate Research Internship Program is developing into a major arena to both develop undergraduates' research skills and facilitate faculty/student mentoring.
Undergraduate Research Internship Program: Research and Community Service
Using Center funds and SCR43 funding, the Undergraduate Research Internship Program flourished. This program has been so successful that two of the undergraduate researchers from 1995-97 secured permanent funding to construct a permanent site for the Isla Vista Teen Center for an after-school tutorial program for Latino youth and families. This project supports undergraduate researchers interested in developing projects concerning Latino youth and families. The goals of this program are to facilitate personal faculty mentorship, training and hands-on research and field study experience for undergraduates interested in deepening their research skills.
One segment of the program involves continuing research in the local community of Isla Vista and is directed by Professor Denise Segura. Seven undergraduates have been involved in doing participant observation in local schools, a Latino parent group, and in the formation of the Isla Vista Teen Center.
The Department of Chicano Studies offered a two-quarter community research methods seminar taught by Marisela Márquez funded partially through UC Committee on Latino Research (SCR43) funds through the Center. This course taught ethnographic field methods to undergraduates who focused on Chicano/Latino education in local schools, low income housing in Isla Vista, and health issues. The students who researched housing in Isla Vista have completed the draft of a pamphlet on housing conditions and renters rights focusing on Latino issues which the UC Committee on Latino Research (SCR43) Publications Unit plans to disseminate locally.
Other undergraduate interns are working with individual faculty. Professor Gutiérrez-Jones works with several undergraduates on affirmative action research, which they develop for the Affirmative Action Web Page. Professor Casas is working with undergraduates in survey research on local health issues. Professor Huerta works with two students interested in deepening their law research skills particularly in Latino civil rights cases.
The Internship Program has an international aspect as well due to the development of a UCSB/Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro Summer Session in Mexico directed by Raymond Huerta. This program selects 50 to 60 undergraduates to take classes and undertake a research project in Mexico co-sponsored by a SCR43 faculty in collaboration with a Mexican faculty member.
Community Research and Public Service Activities
Isla Vista Teen Center:
Former students Ramón Miramontes and Melinda Bravo (both trained under the aegis of the 1996-97 Undergraduate Research Internship Program) put together a series of extramural proposals to create a "Teen Center" for Isla Vista youth. These efforts, a collaboration between the students, the Center for Chicano Studies, Chicanos for Higher Education (CHE), and the Division of Student Affairs have resulted in funding to purchase a trailer, renovate it, and staff it beginning June 1998. Staffing will consist of students, community members, and UCSB professional personnel to provide tutoring and computer literacy skills to Isla Vista youth. This project supports undergraduate researchers interested in developing projects concerning Latino youth and families. The experience is mutually beneficial to the University student researchers and the public school students.
R.O.C.K. in Isla Vista: Reaching out to College Bound Kids
The Center for Chicano Studies supported the Fundraiser held at the Campus Activities Center on May 16,1999, as a public service activity that tied directly to the Isla Vista after-school tutoring program.
Acting Director, Norma E. Cantú
She presented a number of readings and lectures to community groups. Her involvement with Parents, Kids & Computers Project at La Patera Elementary School.culminated in the publication of Profundos Recuerdos: Educación y Cultura en Familia, a collage of photos and short personal narratives by the children and their parents. She also presented readings from her novel at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum and to students at La Cumbre Middle School. She also spoke at the Santa Barbara Associates Annual Dinner. Prof. Cantú was the Keynote Speaker at the Future Leaders of America Conference organized by UCSB students and gave the introductory remarks "Is Graduate School in your Future?" at the annual W. E. B. Du Bois Event on campus.
Professors Luis Leal, Francisco Lomelí, María Herrera-Sobek, and Victor Fuentes will serve as judges of a poetry contest involving the Oxnard School District during the "Fiestas Patrias" in September of 1999. Students from the ages of ten to thirteen have been invited to participate and three winners will be selected.
Other Activities
In addition to the above activities, the Center, through its Acting Director, participated in the following events not listed elsewhere on the report.
10/26/98 Norma E. Cantú y Maria Herrera-Sobek Día de
los Muertos: help set up the ofrenda
10/27/98 Merienda for Graduate Students, Researchers and Faculty
11/2/98 Norma E. Cantú y Maria Herrera-Sobek Día de los
Muertos: enjoy traditional food music, poetry
11/4/98 Norma E. Cantú: A reading from Canícula: Ellen
McCracken’s Class
11/17/98 Una recepción para celebrar la publicación del Numero 5 de
Ventana Abierta dedicado a 1848: Refrescos, Musica, Canciones
12/16/98 Fiesta Navideña: A Holiday reception for Graduate Students,
Researchers and Faculty
1/31/99 Norma E. Cantú: A reading from Canícula: Santa
Barbara Associates Annual Dinner
2/4/99 Norma E. Cantú, introductory remarks: W.
E. B. Du Bois Event: Is graduate School in your Future?
2/19/99 Norma E. Cantú: A reading from Canicula (book
signing) Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum
4/5/99 Recepción para la publicación del
Número 6 de Ventana Abierta with a presentation by Luis Leal of his new Book
5/1/99 Raices de mi Tierra: El grupo folklorico
de UCSB
5/1/99 El Congreso; Chicano/Latino Culture Week
1999
5/5/99 Sandra Cisneros: An Evening with the
Author: Opening remarks by Norma E. Cantú
5/27/99 Reception for Lourdes Portillo
5/27/99 Norma E. Cantú: A reading from Canicula and Hair
Matters
11/13/98 Barbara Herr Harthorn, Norma E. Cantú, et all: Workshop on
grant proposal development for new UCSB faculty in the Social Sciences…
