CSRC Newsletter - December 2003

I recently ventured into the UCLA Archives and came across a document written by the first administrative coordinator of the Chicano Studies Center in December 1969. It was sent to the Chancellor's office and memorializes the then-recent negotiations to establish the research unit on campus:

"At no time did we conceive that the Chicano center would follow the classical guidelines of existing UCLA cultural centers that relegated them predominately to function as research units. In fact, in every phase of our negotiations, we have stressed a continuous examination of alternatives and avenues as a means of exploring, changing, or creating productive outlets for growth conducive to the betterment of the Chicano and the community."

 

This mission--wherein research is part of a larger strategy of serving the campus and community--resulted in a unique structure for the ethnic studies research centers. "In this way," the first annual report noted in June 1972, "the Center is able to work in conjunction with every department on campus yet remains administratively autonomous." For these reasons, the Center established a publications unit, research library (with archival holdings), research and academic programs (including faculty and student grants), and cultural and community affairs. That structure remains essentially the same today some three-and-a-half decades later.

 

What has changed--or decreased--is the level of campus support, while the community we serve has increased several-fold. When the center was founded, there were just two Chicano faculty members and 100 "Spanish-surnamed" students (or about 1 percent of the student population, whereas Chicanos then accounted for 14 percent of Los Angeles). Today Chicanos account for 14 percent of the student population and 4 percent of the faculty, but make up nearly 50 percent of Los Angeles.

 

Last weekend, CSRC hosted a meeting of directors of Latino-oriented research centers in the University of California system. These centers have similarly broad missions but with limited campus support. Their research and other activities provide a vital link between the University of California and the growing Chicano-Latino community. Now thirty-four years after the University of California first recognized the need for Chicano and Latino research, this work is more important than ever before.

 

 

Professor Juan Gomez-Quinones, professor of history at UCLA and former director of the CSRC, was awarded the Rosenfield Prize for his work in sustaining the Latino Museum of History, Art, and Culture; recently, the museum received a $1 million California Legislature appropriation to support educational programming for children and youth.

 

Raul Homero Villa, professor at Occidental College and visiting scholar at the center, received honorable mention for the MLA Prize in United States Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies for his work Barrio-Logos: Space and Place in Urban Chicano Literature and Culture, published by the University of Texas Press. The prize is awarded for outstanding scholarly study.

 

The CSRC is launching two joint searches this academic year. One is with the Department of Information Studies and will be announced in December. In addition, the CSRC and the UCLA School of Public Health are jointly seeking a tenure-track faculty member with a focus in the field of Latino health. Applicants should send their curriculum vitae, statement of research interests, and the names and addresses of at least three references to this address: Rebecca Wolfe, Coordinator, Latino Health Search Committee, Office of the Dean, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772; Phone: (310) 825-8508, Fax: (310) 794-1805, rwolfe@ph.ucla.edu.

 

Teresa Barnett, associate director of the Oral History Program, will conduct an oral history workshop for CSRC Affiliated Faculty on Wednesday, December 3, 1:00-5:00 pm, in the CSRC Conference Room (179 Haines). This workshop will introduce beginners to the basics of oral history interviewing through a variety of hands-on exercises. Topics to be covered include interview design, techniques, equipment, and basic legal and ethical issues. There are a limited number of spaces available. To reserve a space, contact the director.

 

 Yolanda Partida, director of the National Program Office of Hablamos Juntos, is giving a presentation entitled "Scene and Frames: Giving Text Meaning across Cultures" on Thursday, December 4, 12:00-1:30 pm, Factor Building #5-255. Contact rrendon@sonnet.ucla.edu or call 310-794-4947 to RSVP.

 

Alexander Ortega, associate professor and interim chair, Ohio State University School of Public Health, Division of Health Behavior and Health Promotion, will give a seminar on "Psychiatric Disorders and Symptoms and Asthma Attacks in Puerto Rican Children" on Friday, December 5, 12:00-1:15 pm, 16-059 CHS.

 

In November, the producers of the acclaimed documentary The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema donated their extensive interview footage and transcripts with some of the major Latino figures in the history of Hollywood. This material will be processed and made available for research and instructional use.

 

In order to continue our development of a state-of-the-art library serving the community, we are asking for contributions to the CSRC Library Fund. Donations will be used for (1) acquiring new books and reference works, (2) expanding the special archival collection, including the Hunger Strike special collection, (3) supporting library exhibitions in Chicano studies, and (4) enhancing on-line and computer services. You can make donations to the CSRC Library Fund on-line at the CSRC home page (then click on the CSRC Library Fund) or go to UCLA Giving.

 

CSRC Library now offers Document Delivery for more information go to CSRC Library Document Delivery.

 

Our two anthologies of Aztlán articles are being used widely for teaching. If you haven't already, you may want to consider using one in your classroom. First, The Chicano Studies Reader: An Anthology of Aztlán, 1970-2000, now in its second printing, has been called required reading for "any undergraduate or graduate course in ethnic studies" by George Sanchez, president of the American Studies Association. The anthology brings together twenty ground-breaking essays that shaped the development of Chicano studies. Each section is clearly introduced by one of the co-editors, five Chicano and Chicana academics who teach introductory courses and graduate seminars in Chicano studies: Chon A. Noriega, Eric R. Avila, Karen Mary Davalos, Chela Sandoval, and Rafael Perez-Torres. Second, Las Obreras: Chicana Politics of Work and Family, also in its second printing, has been a favorite for over a decade in classes on women's labor or Chicanas. Edited by noted historian Vicki L. Ruiz, this popular anthology was recently updated with four new essays and a brand new introduction.

 

You now have an easy, on-line way of subscribing to Aztlán and supporting the work of the center at the same time! Just go to UCLA Giving with your credit card handy and fill out the donation form. Be sure to list in the comment field that your money is to go toward the press. Those who donate $100 will get a two-year subscription to Aztlán plus our much-coveted Aztlán tote bag! Those who donate $500 will get Aztlán issues from 1970 to 1990! Those who donate $1,000 will get Aztlán issues from 1970 to 2003 and a two-year subscription to Aztlán plus our much-coveted Aztlán tote bag! Many of the back issues of Aztlán cannot be found anywhere else at any price, so own a piece of Chicano/a history and feel great about supporting the future of Chicano/a scholarship! E-mail questions to CSRC Press.

 

If you would like to receive electronic versions of the Latino Policy & Issues Brief or the CSRC Research Report, please email CSRC Briefs and Reports and include in the body of your message the line (and nothing but the line) SUBSCRIBE CHICANO [first name, last name] (don't enter the brackets, just your name).

 

The Institute of American Cultures (IAC) is now taking applications for the 2004-05 Postdoctoral/Visiting Scholar Fellowship Program in Ethnic Studies. In cooperation with the UCLA Ethnic Studies Research Centers, the IAC will offer one or two fellowships that focus on intergroup or comparative research on two or more of these communities in a local, national, or global context. The deadline for application is December 31, 2003. For more information, send an email to CSRC Assistant Director Carlos M. Haro or see the IAC website.

 

 Communications Workers of America (CWA) Foundation's board of directors has approved the awarding of thirty partial college scholarships of up to $3,000 each, and the winners also will receive second-year scholarships for the same amount, contingent upon satisfactory academic achievement. For more information, go to the CWA Joe Beirne Foundation Scholarship Program website.

The UCLA McNair Undergraduate Research Program is now accepting applications from qualified undergraduates. Eligible students must be low-income and first-generation college students (that is, neither parent has a Bachelor's degree) and/or African American, Latino/a, or Native American. They must show outstanding promise as undergraduate researchers and must aspire to attend graduate school and secure a PhD. For more information, go to the McNair website.

 

The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara is recruiting for a tenure track, full time assistant professor in Chicana-o/Latina-o Studies. Contact Pat Morrison, Business Manager, at (805) 893-5269.

The Chicano & Latino Studies Department at California State University, Long Beach is seeking a tenure track, full time assistant professor of Latino Education and Policy Studies. Contact Dr. Victor Rodriguez, Chair, at (562) 985-4644.

 

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, including the library, press, and its research projects. If interested, send an email to Carlos M. Haro.

 

To learn more about us, visit our website or email us. To subscribe to this newsletter, e-mail CSRC Newsletter and include in the body of your message the line (and nothing but the line) SUBSCRIBE CHICANO [first name, last name] (don't enter the brackets, just your name).

Please note that most e-mails at the center recently switched from @csrc.ucla.edu to @chicano.ucla.edu. For instance, it is now press@chicano.ucla.edu. If you need someone's new e-mail, please e-mail the front office.