CSRC Research Grants, 2013-2014
Latino Cultures Network
Principal Investigator: Marissa K. López, UCLA Department of English and Cesar E. Chavez Center for Chicana and Chicano Studies
This IAC grant supported the ongoing development and future implementation of a website: The Latino Cultures Network. The Latino Cultures Network is a collaborative between faculty from eight different campuses from the UC System, representing areas of expertise in the histories of textual, visual, filmic, and sound culture among U.S. Latinos. As a permanent goal, the Latino Culture Network will create and curate an open-access website that will allow the linking of different forms of cultural expression in multiple media. This platform will facilitate research and instruction, as well as provide a venue for scholarly publication.
Complicating the “Mexican School” Narrative: School Segregation in Oxnard, CA, 1900-1975
Principal Investigator: David Garcia, UCLA School of Education
IAC funds supported the historical recovery of Chicano educational histories via a critical examination of school segregation in Oxnard, California. This was done via an examination of archival materials and the conduct of oral history interviews. Funds aided in the investigation of this historical recovery, paying particular attention to the 1974 Soria et al. v. Oxnard School District Board of Trustees, a legal case dealing with desegregation issues.
No Mas Bebes Interactive
Principal Investigator: Renee Tajima-Pena, UCLA Department of Asian American Studies
IAC funds supported the development of an interactive website project dealing with the history of women’s reproductive choice, particularly related to the history of sterilization practices in California and the United States targeting women of Mexican descent. This project had two goals.The immediate one was for this website to bridge the gap in public knowledge and academic scholarship on the importance and role of women of Mexican origin in the issue of reproductive justice. The longterm goal of this project/website was to connect the Los Angeles story to other histories dealing with reproductive justice, eugenics, and racism affecting other women from different vulnerable groups.
Building a College-Going Culture in an Under-Resourced High School: Implications for Latina/o College Choices and Enrollments
Principal Investigator: Nancy Acevedo, PhD student, UCLA School of Education
Funds from IAC and the Tamar Diana Wilson Fund funded a qualitative case study to reveal how school officials build a college-going culture, including what elements compose that culture. This project was deemed as having considerable salience to understand the academic predicament of Latino students.
"Border-HopPing Mexicans” and “Law-Abiding Asians”: The Consequences of Racialized Undocumented Immigration Status for Undocumented Students
Principal Investigator: Laura Enriquez, PhD student, UCLA Department of Psychology
This IAC grant funded in-depth interviews with 60 Latino and Asian American students on Southern California college campuses. This project intended to bring non-Latino undocumented student experiences to light, while also highlighting the consequences of racialized experiences among the student populations of these two groups.
Sistership as Survival: Looking after Sylvia, Marsha, and Queens in Exile
Principal Investigator: Jacob Lau, PhD student, UCLA Department of Gender Studies
IAC monies funded archival research in New York on key leaders of the LGBTIQ movement. Research particularly focused on the role of two important drag queens of color, one of them Latina. These figures participated in the Stonewall riots of 1969 and were figures in the Gay Liberation Front.
Examining the Identity, Social Interactions, and Academic Performance of Undocumented Latina/o Students
Principal Investigator: Ana Soltero Lopez, PhD student, UCLA School of Education
This IAC grant funded a qualitative study that employed Testimonios methodologies. Via this approach, the author gathered data from Latina/o undocumented students from high school, junior college, and university environments. The project explored, among other issues, how the U.S. discourse about "illegal" immigrants impact race/ethnic, gender, and class identities of undocumented Latina/o students.
The Educational, Economic, Civic Engagement, And Health Trajectories of DACA Applicants
Principal Investigator: Caitlin Patler, PhD student, UCLA Department of Sociology
IAC monies funded the exploration, via interdisciplinary and mixed-methods, of the different impacts exerted by immigrant legal status on educational and employment trajectories, community involvement, access to health care, and psychological well-being of undocumented young adults in Southern California. Project explored these impacts on this population before and after receiving deferred action through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
First Year Experience: Exploring How Students’ Cultural Toolkits Serve as Resources for College Persistence
Principal Investigator: Janet Rocha, PhD student, UCLA School of Education
This grant from the Carlos Haro Education Fund financed a study shedding light on how family attachment considerations may represent both challenges and advantages for first-generation college Chicanas. This project used a multi-method approach to qualitatively enquire the experience of first year college Chicanas.
Fieldwork for Mapping Survival and Accountability in Aztlán: On Feminisms and Politics of Violence
Principal Investigator: Patricia Torres, PhD student, UCLA Department of Urban Planning
This IAC grant funded research in libraries and archives in Texas and California, as well as the conduct of interviews and oral histories among Chicana indigenas. Project illuminated how violence within the family plays a role in the wellbeing of the community as well as in activist considerations.This project also integrated its findings into larger theoretical constructs, including immigration, transnationalism, and feminism.