CSRC Newsletter - Spring 2026

As I conclude the fifth year of my appointment as director of the Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC), I am filled with pride. I am deeply inspired as I reflect on the many ways our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and supporters have collectively advanced the Center’s mission: to have a systemic impact on the campus, within higher education, and across society through original research on Chicana/o and Latinx communities in the United States.

 

Together, we have much to celebrate. Over the past five years, we have partnered with faculty and campus leadership to successfully recruit twenty-seven new faculty members whose research and teaching engage Latinx communities, and twenty-two postdoctoral scholars. We have administered nearly $1 million in internal UCLA research grants, strengthening scholarly networks. We have grown our Faculty Advisory Committee to more than ninety members for the coming academic year. Our programs have expanded in reach and impact. We have partnered with the University of California Press to copublish Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies and increased public access to our library’s archival collections, which focus on the arts and histories of Chicana/o and other Latinx communities. We have also charted new directions for the CSRC, including the development of innovative programming that expands education pipelines in STEM fields. This year’s inaugural “Quebrando Barreras: Breaking Barriers in STEM” conference brought together 270 scholars and students to address the gender, racial, class, and other structural barriers that impede academic and career success.

 

 

With the support of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, and in partnership with the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, we have elevated Latina-focused research, leadership, and community engagement through the Latina Futures 2050 Lab. This initiative has supported more than fifty junior scholars and amplified the policy-relevant work of senior scholars and research centers, advancing knowledge about social inequalities, promising interventions, and community contributions. Fourteen of these scholars contributed essays to the Dossier section of the Spring 2026 issue of Aztlán. This is the first of two Dossiers featuring research from Latina Futures 2050 Lab scholars (see News and Press in the full newsletter). With the leadership of the Latina Futures librarian, Krystell Jimenez, the initiative has also supported the processing of historical photos and documents and has allowed public access to women’s archival collections at the CSRC Library. These investments have created meaningful networking and leadership opportunities for students, Latina artists, low-wage workers, and professionals across California and beyond.

 

Hedy Torres, Lidia, 2024. Oil and acrylic on wooden panel, 12 × 9 inches. Photography by Hedy Torres. The artwork prefaces “Latina Identities in an Era of Social Upheaval and Collective Resistance,” the Dossier section of the Spring 2026 issue of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies.

 

During my time at the CSRC, we have advanced the university’s public mission through initiatives that generate new knowledge while investing in the next generation of scholars and civic leaders. Nearly half of Californians under age thirty—and 56 percent of K–12 students in public school—identify as Latina/o/x. In recognition of this demographic reality, I have prioritized positioning the CSRC as a leader in research and programming that speaks to the needs, aspirations, and contributions of young people. To date, more than 550 UC, community college, and high school students have participated in CSRC-supported training and internships, contributing to research that informs grassroots organizing, voter outreach, and public policy. This work has also resulted in peer-reviewed scholarship and policy-relevant insights that center young people. Our work has included supporting teacher training and curriculum development for ethnic studies in grades K–12.

 

 

These accomplishments clearly show the impact of our work and the importance of sustaining it. I do not take for granted the existence of the CSRC, which is now fifty-seven years old, particularly as ethnic studies initiatives continue to face political and ideological attacks. This moment underscores the urgency of our mission. As part of a broader ecosystem committed to preserving our histories, celebrating our cultures, and expanding opportunity, we remain steadfast in safeguarding and strengthening the CSRC while extending its impact for generations to come. I am confident that together we will ensure that the university remains accountable to the populations we serve and that our research and programming continues to illuminate, inform, and uplift our communities.

 

As we head into the summer, I wish you meaningful moments of joy and a sense of purpose as our national and global landscapes continue to evolve. I am grateful for our ongoing connections and all that we will continue to accomplish together.

 

In community,

 

««« Congratulations to the class of 2026!! «««

 

Join InnerCity Struggle and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center for “Rooted in Culture, Rising in Resistance,” a panel discussion on some of the most pressing issues facing Los Angeles’s Eastside residents. Speakers will be Lydia Avila, vice president of power building at California Calls; Chelsea Rosales, lead cultural organizer at InnerCity Struggle; Memo Torres, journalist and director of engagement for L.A. Taco; and Ysabel Jurado, Los Angeles city councilmember, District 14. CSRC director Veronica Terriquez will moderate the discussion. In addition to the panel, “State of the Eastside” will include cultural performances, art and healing activations, lunch from local vendors, and a silent auction. Tickets are available for purchase on a sliding scale. For more information, visit https://www.innercitystruggle.org/state_of_the_eastside.

 

The CSRC congratulates Laura Chávez-Moreno on winning the 2026 Anna Julia Cooper Award for an early career scholar from the American Sociological Association’s section on sociology of education. Chávez-Moreno is an assistant professor in the Departments of Chicana/o and Central American Studies and Education and author of How Schools Make Race: Teaching Latinx Racialization in America (Harvard Education Press, 2024). Congratulations are also in order for Jorge Torres, vice chair of undergraduate education, who received the 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award for Senate Faculty for Undergraduate Mentorship. Torres, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was recognized for his mentoring of diverse undergraduate students who are considering careers in science. Chávez-Moreno and Torres are members of the CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC).

 

This spring, the California Freedom Summer (CFS) Participatory Action Research Project, in partnership with area community colleges and the California Department of Education’s Work Experience Education program, engaged one hundred UC, community college, and high school students across the state in academic coursework and training in youth civic engagement and action research. CFS students learned how to promote nonpartisan voter education and registration efforts that focus on young voters. Together, CFS students registered 620 young voters in their schools and communities. CFS students also conducted field observations and interviews with young people as part of their research training and in preparation for research activities this summer. Eighty CFS students will participate in paid summer internships with twenty-four nonpartisan community organizations that are focused on environmental justice issues, workers’ rights, youth organizing, and multiracial civic engagement. 

 

On April 29, the CSRC partnered with Future Leaders of America to present research findings to community stakeholders on the barriers and opportunities for youth civic engagement in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. CSRC student workers and CFS students from high schools in Santa Maria and Lompoc presented at the event. On May 23, students enrolled in CCAS M129B: “Participatory Action Research in Youth Organizing for Racial Justice,” taught by professor and CSRC director Veronica Terriquez, participated in an immersive field trip to Tulare. Students met with civic leaders and youth organizers who are working at the intersection of environmental justice and multiracial civic engagement in the region. Representatives spoke about their nonpartisan campaigns and efforts to increase youth voter turnout. The event was hosted by Power California, a youth-focused civic-engagement organization, and the field trip was supported by the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center.

 

This spring, the Latina Futures 2050 Lab cosponsored the inaugural conference “Quebrando Barreras: Breaking Barriers in STEM” on the UCLA campus. The event took place on April 17 and 18 and drew approximately 270 attendees, who represented fifty-six institutions from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Organized by the CSRC and the UCLA Physical Sciences Division, the conference offered nine concurrent sessions. Personal stories of perseverance and professional success in STEM fields were highlighted. More information about the conference can be found at https://www.chicano.ucla.edu/about/news/breaking-barriers-two-day-inaugural-stem-conference-ucla.

 

Research by fourteen Latina Futures scholars is presented in the Dossier section of the Spring 2026 issue of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies .Titled “Latina Identities in an Era of Social Upheaval and Collective Resistance,” the Dossier presents essays that capture the lived experiences of Latinas, with a focus on Afro-Latina, Indigenous, and queer and/or trans identities and Latina youth. Contributors are Lourdes Alberto, Floridalma Boj Lopez, Jack Cáraves, Karina Chavarria, Mirella Díaz-Santos, Rebecca Foote, Celia Lacayo, Stacy I. Macias, Brenda Nicolas, Cecilia Nuñez, Bernardette J. Pinetta, Daina Sanchez, Hedy Torres, Laura Trejo, and Ariana J. Valle. Veronica Terriquez, CSRC director and Latina Futures 2050 Lab cofounder, wrote the introduction.

      

Faculty across the state continue to produce meaningful research that attempts to understand the lives of Latinas and other women and youth. Among them is Bernardette J. Pinetta, assistant professor of psychology at UC Riverside, who coauthored a study published in Psychology of Women, focused on understanding how girls and young women’s lives—as well as their identities and sense of self—are affected by their experience with race and gender-based discrimination.

María G. Rendón, associate professor or urban planning and policy at UC Irvine, authored an article in Life Sciences Education focused on the gender parity that has been reached in biology and biomedical sciences in the US. Rendón’s work focuses on diverse college campuses, often known as minority serving institutions (MSIs).  However, her research points to a crucial fact: despite gender parity in the field, race and class disparities persist among women in biology.       

 

The annual McNair Senior Symposium presentations took place at the CSRC Library on May 20, 2026. The UCLA McNair Research Scholars Program is a two-year research-based program that prepares undergraduate students interested in pursuing a PhD to excel in research and scholarship as undergraduate and graduate students.

 

On April 20–24, the UCLA Library welcomed fellows of Project STAND, a consortium of archivists, student organizers, and independent scholars from across the country who are dedicated to documenting student activism in marginalized communities. As part of the fellows’ four-day visit to UCLA, Xaviera Flores, CSRC librarian and archivist, hosted a workshop showcasing CSRC collections that pertain to student activism during the Chicano movement, including those that document the creation of the CSRC.

 

On April 9, the CSRC Library hosted students newly admitted to the doctoral program in the Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies. Students met with the CSRC director, staff, and librarian to learn how the CSRC supports student research and academic success.

 

Materials from the Chicano Newspaper Collection at the CSRC Library were featured in the pop-up exhibition Chicano in Print at the LA Art Book Fair, which took place May 7–10 at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Curated by Alexandria Canchola and Joshua Duttweiler, the exhibition explored the design of independent Chicano movement publications in the 1960s and 1970s. Xaviera Flores, CSRC librarian and archivist, contributed the article “Mírame: Finding Women in Latino Archives and Publications” to the exhibition guide. The guide was published as the Summer 2026 issue of En el Frente and is available as a downloadable PDF at https://chicanoinprint.com/About.

 

On March 21, Xaviera Flores was a guest speaker on the panel “Brown Futurity: Artists and Their Archives” at Whittier College. The panel focused on artists and how archives can serve as powerful tools for storytelling and self-determination. Joining Flores on the panel were artist and cultural worker Sandra de la Loza and mural and graffiti artist and cultural producer Man One. De la Loza is the author of The Pocho Research Society Field Guide to L.A.: Monuments and Murals of Erased and Invisible Histories, published by CSRC Press.

 

Xaviera Flores was among the speakers on the panel “Fear and Loathing in Aztlán” at WonderCon, held March 26–29 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The panel examined the impact that the writings of Hunter S. Thompson and the activism of the Chicano movement had on comics. Lalo Alcaraz, cartoonist and television producer, and Jeaux Janovsky, cartoonist and animator, also participated in the panel discussion, which was moderated by artist and educator Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca.

 

The Susan Alva Papers, which comprise approximately 31.5 linear feet (sixty-four boxes of materials), have been processed. The finding aid is now available through the Online Archive of California (OAC) at https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c81g0vkm. Alva is a human rights attorney whose work includes immigration and civil rights litigation.

 

The following current exhibitions include works from CSRC collections.

 

The CSRC Library says goodbye to another cohort of students graduating from undergraduate and graduate programs at UCLA. Nathalie, Marissa, Mikayla, and Pedro, we thank you for all of your hard work to make materials available for research and for your dedication to helping your fellow students navigate library resources. You are part of our legacy of preserving and stewarding our community’s stories for research and teaching, and your contributions will have a lasting impact on future generations. Gracias!

 

The CSRC Library will be closed to the public June 15 through September 18, 2026. Staff will be processing archival collections to make them available for research in the fall. We regret any inconvenience this causes.

 

 

The Spring 2026 issue of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies opens with an Editor’s Commentary by the journal’s new editor in chief, Joshua Javier Guzmán. In the essay section, Kelly Ferguson analyzes the presence of “Mexican Easter eggs”—cultural references that only Latinx audiences are certain to understand—in Disney-Pixar’s Coco and argues that they were largely responsible for the film’s popularity with a widely diverse audience. Esther Díaz Martín introduces schizophonic listening as a way of listening with a feminist ear in her close look at narcocorridos, ballads that recount the lives and deaths of people involved with the illegal drug trade. As mentioned in News (above), the Dossier, curated and introduced by CSRC director Veronica Terriquez, presents research on Latinas and Latina identity, and the essays explore the challenges faced by different groups within the large and heterogeneous Latina population. The work of Los Angeles–based artist Margaret Garcia is featured on the cover and in the Artist’s Communiqué. Aztlán is copublished by CSRC Press and University of California Press and is available in print and digital formats. For the current and back issues, and to subscribe, visit https://online.ucpress.edu/aztlan/.

 

Rebecca Frazier, senior editor at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, will retire this month after twenty-three years at the CSRC and a distinguished publishing career that also included service at University of California Press. 

 

Known for her exacting standards, editorial rigor, and deep commitment to scholarly publishing, Frazier played a central role in shaping the CSRC Press into a nationally recognized publishing program. Her expertise supported not only the CSRC but also the UCLA Labor Center and the Latino Policy and Politics Institute, where her careful attention to detail and commitment to excellence strengthened countless publications.

 

During her tenure, the CSRC Press published forty-six issues of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, over one hundred reports, and forty-five books, earning numerous awards and distinctions, including six gold medals from the prestigious Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards). These achievements reflect in no small measure Frazier's exacting standards as production editor and manager, whose meticulous oversight helped establish the Press's reputation for excellence.

 

Working closely with then-CSRC director Chon Noriega, Frazier was also instrumental in launching the award-winning A Ver: Revisioning Art History book series, which remains the only monograph series dedicated to Latinx artists. The series has helped redefine the field and expand the visibility of artists historically overlooked by mainstream art history.

 

Frazier's contributions extend far beyond the publications she helped produce. Through her dedication, precision, and unwavering commitment to quality, she established standards that will continue to shape the Press for years to come. The CSRC is profoundly grateful for her service.  

 

We wish Rebecca every happiness in her retirement and thank her for more than two decades of extraordinary contributions to the CSRC, UCLA, and the broader scholarly community.

 

“A New Photo Book Sketches a New History of Queer Nightlife—and Where It Might Go Next”

Cultured, June 5, 2026

 

“Jorge Torres Receives 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award for Senate Faculty”

UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, June 2, 2026

 

“How Queer Clubbing Has Shaped Fashion as We Know It”

Vogue, May 20, 2026

 

“Los Four y la construcción de la identidad chicana en California”

Artenea, May 16, 2026

 

“Muralismo chicano en California: memoria, identidad y resistencia”

Artenea, May 16, 2026

 

“David Alfaro Siqueiros en California: el muro como arma política”

Artenea, May 8, 2026

 

“Sacred Lessons in Accountability, Part 2”

 https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-sacred-lessons-with-mike-304426528/e...

Sacred Lessons, May 4, 2026

 

“César Chávez’s Legacy Is Tainted, but the Farmworker’s Victories Don’t Have to Be”

The American River Current, May 4, 2026

 

“Diego Rivera en California: pedagogía visual y totalidad social”

Artenea, April 29, 2026

 

“The Magnificent 7”

UCLA Magazine, April 28, 2026

 

“The Bruins Who Come Back”

UCLA Magazine, April 28, 2026

 

“José Clemente Orozco en California: tragedia, ambigüedad y condición humana”

Artenea, April 28, 2026

 

“Los tres grandes muralistas mexicanos en California: Orozco, Rivera y Siqueiros”

Artenea, April 27, 2026

 

“Sacred Lessons in Accountability, Part 1”

Sacred Lessons, April 27, 2026 

 

“International Migration Center Responds to New Circumstances”

UCLA Latin American Institute, April 22, 2026

 

“AERA Selects Daniel Solorzano to Deliver 2026 Brown Lecture in Education Research”

American Educational Research Association Newsroom, April 9, 2026

 

“Latino/Chicano(a) Identity and Working-Class Solidarity”

People's World, April 8, 2026

 

“The Reckoning over Cesar Chavez Signals the Perils of Building a Movement Around a Single Leader”

The Guardian, March 31, 2026