CSRC Newsletter - March 2003

CSRC Newsletter Volume 1, Number 3

Director's Message

On February 13, the four ethnic studies centers at UCLA, including the CSRC, submitted a faculty diversity initiative to Chancellor Albert Carnesale. We proposed increasing the faculty positions associated with our centers in order to expand our role in developing the research and teaching capacity of ethnic studies across the entire campus. The initiative lays out a comprehensive vision for UCLA with implications for higher education across the state. After all, despite the severe budget cuts ahead, student enrollment growth will also generate 3,000 new faculty positions in the University of California system over the next decade, a 40 percent growth in faculty! Now is the time to ensure that the university reflects the state's growing diversity through its teaching, research, and administration. I urge you to read the announcement below, but also to visit our web site and download and examine the entire proposal. Chancellor Carnesale is seriously considering our initiative and we would greatly appreciate your feedback and support. You can send letters of support to the CSRC.
 
Chon A. Noriega, Director and Professor
 

News

Faculty Diversity Initiative
The UCLA Faculty Diversity Initiative proposes to expand the historical leadership role of the four ethnic studies centers at UCLA in the recruitment and appointment of ethnic studies faculty across campus. The proposal asks for the allocation of twenty-four faculty positions, a small share of the new faculty positions being generated by UC student enrollment growth. The American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, and the CSRC would use these positions to appoint ethnic studies specialists across a wide range of departments and professional schools. This would make UCLA the preeminent university in the nation in ethnic studies scholarship, community-based research, and public service. The initiative is the product of significant consultation with students, faculty, alumni, and community leaders, and support from these sectors was demonstrated at a UCLA Town Hall meeting held February 18. It also addresses UC President Atkinson's call "for the University of California to recruit a faculty that will meet the expanding demands of the State of California in the new century." Click here for the full text of the initiative and related articles.
 
Search Underway for Research Series Appointment
The CSRC is seeking a Researcher for a 50 percent appointment for 2003-04 with the possibility of renewal. This temporary research series position has been established in the CSRC to contribute to the center's new research plan. The CSRC Researcher will develop public policy and applied social science research that enhances the center and promotes service to the community. Ideally, this position would be filled by a scholar with a solid record of research and who would bring or attract extramural funding to the CSRC. Candidates applying by April 30, 2003, will be given first consideration. Submit C.V. to  Carlos M. Haro.
 
Corridos Sin Fronteras Website Nominated for Award
The Corridos Sin Fronteras web site has just received a prestigious nomination as a finalist in the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival to be held in Austin on March 9, 2003. The web site is an online companion to the traveling exhibition Corridos sin Fronteras and is competing in the "best audio / radio web site" category. The exhibition and web site was organized by the CSRC in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives (SCLI). The web site was designed by Interactive Knowledge, Inc. A jury will decide this award. But the public can vote for the Peoples Choice award. Click here to view the website.
 
CSRC Director and Associate Director Under the Lens
CSRC Director Chon A. Noriega spent the month of February under glass at the UCLA Young Research Library. The library featured a glass-display exhibit of Professor Noriega's scholarship and exhibition curatorship. CSRC Associate Director Alicia Gaspar de Alba is the subject of the first chapter of an important new book on border writing: Debra A. Castillo and María Socorro Tabuenca Córdoba's Border Women: Writing from la Frontera ( Minnesota, 2003). Professor Gaspar de Alba's literary works are identified as "powerful texts" that reinscribe "concepts of gender righst in an uncompromisingly bilingual context" and that thereby expose "the weaknesses and bias of much Mexican, Chicano/a, and mainstream U.S. theoretical mediations on borders." Click here to view the book.
 
NACCS Annual Conference
The CSRC will once again be attending the NACCS annual conference, to be held in Los Angeles this year. Titled No More Wars: Sovereignties, Sexualities, and Human Rights, the conference is from April 2 to 6, 2003, at the Biltmore Hotel. The national conference is an important arena for scholars and activists to present current research findings about the Chicano community and to work to improve their material conditions. Students who are members of NACCS and willing to attend a one-hour training session may volunteer eight hours of service over the four days of the conference and thereby have their $40 registration fee waived. Contact Luis Moreno (luismoreno@committeeonrazarights.org) or Kelly Corrales (kellizy@hotmail.com).
 

Events This Month

CSRC Library Workshops
The CSRC library will be holding two workshops. The first workshop, titled “ILL & Paging: Demystifying Interlibrary Loan on Orion2 and California Digital Library (CDL),” will be held on Tuesday, March 4, from 3.30 to 4:00 p.m. in Haines 144. Learn efficient ways of searching for books, dissertations, and journal articles that are not on Orion2 or CDL. The workshop will cover: paging from SRLF through O2, Orion Express (fee based), and ILL requests and pages through O2 and CDL. The second workshop, titled “Archival Materials: How to Properly Cite Primary Sources” on Thursday, March 6, from 3:30 to 4:00 pm in Haines 144. This workshop will cover proper citation procedures for archival collections and correctly citing primary sources. Sign up in person, by telephone at 206-6052, or via email. Space is limited to 10 students, so reserve your spot early!
 
Legislative Community Forum
The CSRC continues its Community Forum series on Tuesday, March 11, by hosting a breakfast meeting with California legislators and legislative field representatives. The forums are part of our efforts to develop an ongoing dialogue with community leaders around key issues that inform the Center's research mission.
 
Los Tigres Del Norte Benefit Concert
The CSRC and the Los Tigres Del Norte Foundation invite you to a very special performance with Los Tigres Del Norte, Monday, March 17, 2003, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Hall, Washington, D.C. For more information about costs and times, please contact Jackie Miller at 310-206-7575 or email. Please respond by Friday, March 7, 2003. Proceeds benefit the LTDN Foundation and the Los Tigres Del Norte Fund at UCLA for the preservation and study of Spanish-language music in the United States.
 
Co-Sponsored Events
The CSRC will co-sponsor a reading by Graciela Limón, award-winning author of The Day of the Moon and Erased Faces, on Monday, March 3, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in the Kerckhoff Hall Grand Salon. The event is presented by the César Chávez Center for Interdisciplinary Instruction in Chicana/o Studies.
 
The CSRC is proud to co-sponsor the Eighth Annual Chicana/Latina Conference presented by Raza Womyn de UCLA on Saturday, March 1, 8:00AM to 6:00 pm. Registration is at the UCLA Court of Sciences. To register, table or help organize, call 310-825-1308.
 

Library

Search for Permanent Librarian
The CSRC is seeking a permanent Librarian for the CSRC Library, an integral part of the Center since its founding in 1969. CSRC Library holdings include 12,500 volumes, 3,000 reels of microfilm, an extensive periodical collection, an audiovisual collection, a poster and flier collection, and an emerging archival collection. The Library is currently implementing several preservation and conservation projects in its special collections in cinema, music and the arts. The Library serves faculty, students, visiting scholars, and other researchers and works closely with UCLA's highly ranked libraries to supplement CSRC library services and research activities. The Center's goal is to make the library into the premier Chicano Studies research collection in the nation. The Librarian reports to the Center's Director or designate and, under this direction, develops policies and procedures for the Library. The Librarian also works with a Library Advisory Committee appointed by the Center Director. An MLIS degree from an ALA accredited program and demonstrated commitment to Chicana/o Studies research and curriculum development are required. Anyone wishing to be considered for this position should write to Professor Clara Chu, Chair, Librarian Search Committee, Chicano Studies Research Center, University of California, 193 Haines Hall, BOX 951544, Los Angeles, California 90095-1544. Candidates applying by April 15, 2003, will be given first consideration. For inquiries, please contact CSRC Assistant Director, Carlos M. Haro, e-mail at  Carlos M. Haro.
 

Press

Latino Policy & Issues Brief No. 5
Despite being bilingual and mostly U.S. citizens, only a small percentage of California's Latinos have attained a college education or are currently enrolled in college, according to CSRC Senior Research Sociologist Dr. Lisa Catanzarite's study “California's Growing Latino Population: Census 2000 Dismantles Stereotypes.” To receive an electronic copy, please send an e-mail and include in the body of your message the line (and nothing but the line) SUBSCRIBE CHICANO STUDIES [first name, last name]. To receive a hard copy, e-mail your postal address to Press with the subject line “subscribe briefs.” Our next brief will be released in late March and will address critical issues in the preservation of Latino art history, by CSRC Arts Project Coordinator Rita Gonzalez. Click here to read the briefs on-line.
 
Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies
The spring 2003 issue of the journal is now in print. Subscribe now and read all about Latina sexuality, contagion in Chicano literature, colonialism and movies in southern California, medicalized representations of Chicanos, secular santos, and an amazing glass zoot suit. To receive a subscription package, e-mail your postal address to Aztlán with the subject line “subscribe Aztlán.”
 

Research

Race and Independent Media Project
Now in its second year, this project will hold a planning meeting at UCLA on March 14-15. This project challenges two tendencies in research on race in film and television studies: (1) racial groups tend to be studied either in isolation or on the basis of a one-to-one relationship with the dominant culture; and (2) Hollywood often serves as the critical framework and object of study. The project involves ten scholars from across the United States, as well as six Ph.D. students from UCLA, who are committed to developing a comparative analysis focused on independent media. To date, participants have produced several reports and are working on a book publication for completion during 2003-2004.
 

Opportunities

IAC Research Grant Program in Chicano Studies
The Institute of American Cultures (IAC) in conjunction with the CSRC, announces the availability of small grants for support of research on Chicana/os. UCLA faculty, staff, graduate students, and IAC postdoctoral fellows/visiting scholars are eligible. Application forms can be obtained from the CSRC or the IAC Office, or on-line at  IAC. The IAC particularly encourages proposals that will make a contribution to the CSRC. It also invites proposals on interethnic relations that will increase collaboration between the UCLA ethnic studies centers and/or between the centers and other campus units. Prior to submission of the research proposal, applicants are encouraged to email Carlos M. Haro to discuss their proposal. Applications must be received no later that 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 30, 2003. Awards will be announced beginning June.
 
Opportunities for Students
The CSRC welcomes undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in Chicano Studies to work as interns and volunteers in various areas of the Center. If interested, send an inquiry to Carlos M. Haro.
 

Contacts

To learn more about us, visit UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.
To subscribe to this newsletter, e-mail Press and include in the body of your message the line (and nothing but the line)
SUBSCRIBE CHICANO STUDIES [first name, last name] (don't enter the brackets, just your name)
 

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