CSRC Newsletter June - July 2009

The CSRC ends the academic year with a number of accomplishments… and many more on the way. We have five books going into production from three series and four other books nearing completion. We expect to release our hate speech report this summer, as well as reports on the state of Latinos in Los Angeles, Latino baby boomers and financial security, and other related topics. The CSRC will also host a summer-long Institute for the Study of Hate Speech. Later this year, the CSRC Library will launch a new online photograph archive that documents Chicano-Latino civic and cultural life in Los Angeles, and it will continue its Mujeres and LGBT initiatives through the development of new workshops and resource materials. We will also continue research on an ambitious three-venue museum exhibition project focused on Chicano arts in Los Angeles since 1945. A new educational program developed with the Glendale Community College Planetarium and supported by the Walt Disney Company will introduce local high school students to the creative possibilities offered when art and technology combine.

 

So, despite the considerable challenges facing the university and the state, CSRC begins its fortieth anniversary looking ahead to an exciting research agenda that includes a diverse array of publications as well as academic and public programs. Check us out and see what we have in store for next year and how you can be a part of the celebration.

 

 

An excerpt from Hate Speech on Commercial Talk Radio: Preliminary Report on a Pilot Study, CSRC Latino Policy & Issues Brief No. 22, by Chon A. Noriega and Javier Iribarren, appeared in the May edition of the California Latino Legislative Caucus Newsletter. The brief explains the research methodology that was developed for the CSRC’s ongoing study of hate speech and presents a preliminary assessment of the study’s findings. The research team identified four types of hate speech that are directed at vulnerable groups and the social institutions that are identified as supporting them. The brief is available on the CSRC Press website. A full report will be issued when the study concludes. This summer the CSRC and the UCLA Graduate Division will sponsor an Institute for the Study of Hate Speech. For information, contact Javier Iribarren, CSRC assistant director, at jiribarren@chicano.ucla.edu.

 

Turner Classic Movie’s ongoing series on race and Hollywood has been commended by Time Magazine in “15 Reasons to Love Turner Classic Movies.” The series explores Hollywood’s portrayal of different racial/ethnic groups. One of the film festivals in the series, “Race and Hollywood: Latino Images in Film,” was co-hosted by CSRC’s Chon A. Noriega. This festival aired last month, showcasing forty films that illustrate how the depiction of Latino characters and culture has evolved in American cinema. To read related articles, follow these links: PVS link and Filmjerk.com.

 

The Phoenix Art Museum and the CSRC are co-sponsoring a film series that will feature four CSRC-released films: Harry Gamboa Jr.: 1990s Video Art; Los Four/Murals of Aztlán; Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive!; and Frontierland. The films will be screened this summer in conjunction with Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement, an exhibition co-curated by Chon A. Noriega. The exhibition, which opened last October at LACMA, will be at the Phoenix Art Museum from July 12 through September 21. The films are part of the CSRC’s Chicano Cinema and Media Art Series, which offers feature films, historic documentaries, and video art in DVD format. For information about the series, or to order the DVDs online, visit the CSRC Press website.

 

Clara M. Chu, UCLA professor of information studies and a longtime member of the CSRC’s Faculty Advisory Committee, has been appointed chair and professor of the Department of Library and Information Studies at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. To learn more, visit the university’s website. We congratulate Clara on her appointment, and we will miss her. She has contributed significantly to our efforts, especially with respect to developing the CSRC Library.

 

The CSRC supports a visiting scholars program that attracts scholars from institutions throughout the country and researchers from abroad. Scholars conduct research on a wide variety of subjects. We are pleased to announce the scholars for the upcoming academic year.

 

C. Ondine Chavoya has been selected as the Institute of American Cultures (IAC) Visiting Scholar. Dr. Chavoya is an associate professor of art history and Chicana/o studies at Williams College, and he will be completing research on a major exhibition for LACMA as well as contributing to Los Angeles: The Mexican Presence in L.A. Art, 1945­–1980, an exhibition that is being organized by the CSRC.

 

Sandra de la Loza, MFA, California State University, Long Beach. Ms. de la Loza is a member of the research team for Los Angeles: The Mexican Presence in L.A. Art, 1945­–1980. Research interest: Chicano murals in Los Angeles.

 

Alvaro Huerta, PhD candidate in city and regional planning, University of California, Berkeley. Research interest: Mexican workers and their social networks.

 

Seraina Rohrer, PhD candidate in gender studies and lecturer in film studies, University of Zurich. Research interest: film and the border regions.

 

Laura Isabel Serna, assistant professor of history, Florida State University, Tallahassee. Research fields: transnational cultural history, American film history, Mexican cinema.

 

The CSRC co-sponsored a presentation titled “Migration, Work and Health in Times of Economic Crisis: Preliminary Findings of a Study of Migrant Women in Hermosillo and Los Angeles” on Friday, May 15, at UCLA. The presentation by research scientist Jane R. Rubin-Kurtzman explored a conceptual framework that considers the relationship between the multiple dimensions of Mexican women’s work and the process of women’s health, illness, care, and attention. Ms. Rubin-Kurtzman also looked at a comparative study of migrant working mothers in Hermosillo and Los Angeles.

 

The Center for Oral History Research and the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at UCLA organized a screening of Ama: The Memory of Time, a film directed by Daniel Flores Ascencio. The screening was followed with a presentation by Mr. Flores Ascencio, who discussed the future of indigenous peoples in light of the FMLN’s recent triumph in El Salvador. The event, which was co-sponsored by the CSRC, took place on Wednesday, May 27, at the Fowler Museum.

 

Vice-Chancellor Janina Montero, Assistant Chancellor Antoinette Mongelli, and the CSRC will co-sponsor the visit of a high school group from Homeboy Industries on Monday, June 1. Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth become positive and contributing members of society through education, training, and job placement. CSRC staff will give the twenty students a tour of the CSRC Library and talk with them about the programs and services that the CSRC offers. The purpose of the visit is to motivate the students to apply to institutions of higher of education.

 

UCLA’s Graduate Division will offer the workshop “Negotiating Your First Academic Job” on Thursday, July 16, to participants in UCLA’s Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program (GSRMP). Chon A. Noriega, who developed the workshop, will discuss the job negotiation process.

 

The CSRC Library is pleased to announce the addition of a new collection: The Maria Elena Piedra and Manny Gonzalez Collection of Vista en L.A. Papers. The materials document the organizational history of Vista en L.A., a contemporary Spanish-language entertainment magazine that circulated in Los Angeles and surrounding areas from the mid-1980s until the late 1990s. The magazine documented popular Latino and Latina music, theater, and film, focusing its stories on various artists and genres from Mexico and Latin America. The collection contains primary source information, including organizational papers, artist bios, personal interviews, articles, media kits, music, and films.

 

The CSRC Library will participate in the 3rd Annual Barrio History Symposium on Saturday, May 30, at Golden West College in Huntington Beach. Speakers include community and academic historians involved in the historical research and documentation of Mexican American communities. Participants will discuss the individuals and events that have changed the landscape of Southern California. Admission is free. The event is sponsored by the Orange County Mexican American Historical Society.

 

This will be a busy summer for the A Ver: Revisioning Art History series. The third volume, Celia Alvarez Muñoz, by Roberto Tejada, goes to the printer this month, with release scheduled for mid-August. María Brito, by Juan A. Martínez, will also be printed this summer; it will be available in the fall. Constance Cortez’s book, Carmen Lomas Garza, will follow a few months later. The A Ver series explores the cultural, aesthetic, and historical contributions of Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, and other U.S. Latino artists. Each book assesses the life and work of one artist. A Ver books are illustrated in full color and contain a list of the artist’s exhibitions and a full bibliography. For more information on upcoming titles as well as recent publications, visit the CSRC Press online. Books in the A Ver series may be ordered through the distributor, University of Minnesota Press.

 

Summer is a great time to submit a review to Aztlán. Aztlán publishes short reviews of books, movies, recordings, events, conferences, and exhibitions. Reviews submitted during the summer will be considered for the Spring 2010 issue. Authors who are interested in reviewing for the journal, or who would like to review a particular book or event, should query us in advance to ensure that the review fits into our editorial mandate. If you do not have a particular book in mind, we have a list of books that we can send to you. For more information, contact Erica Bochanty-Aguero, the review coordinator, at ebochanty@chicano.ucla.edu. If you are interested in submitting an essay or a dossier, please read the submission guidelines on the Aztlán website. Send queries to submissions@chicano.ucla.edu.

 

A year’s subscription to Aztlán includes not only two issues filled with research, writing, and reviews from Chicana/o and Latina/o scholars but also online access to every article published since the journal began in 1970. Subscribe online or by mail. Information is available on the Aztlán website.