CSRC Newsletter Volume 1, Number 1
Director's Message
We start this year with a new monthly bulletin of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC). Below you will find information about news, events, and opportunities, as well as reports from our library and press. With the state budget crisis, and the exponential growth of the Latino community, 2003 promises to be a challenging time for Chicano/Latino studies research in the University of California system. Latinos account for nearly 50 percent of children now entering California schools (and 61 percent in Los Angeles) and 43 percent of college-age adults. Yet within the University of California, Latinos make up just 13 percent of undergraduates, 9 percent of graduate s tudents, and 5 percent of faculty. This equity deficit must be considered as important a policy issue as the budget deficit. L egislators and administrators must not trad e off one for the other. That is our challenge for the year.
Dr. Chon A. Noriega
News
Mexican American Study Project Finds New Home!
Professors Vilma Ortiz and Eddie Telles's Mexican American Study Project has moved to the CSRC. Now in the data analysis phase, this project--which extends the Grebler, Moore, and Guzman research of the 1960s--will provide a definitive longitudinal study of the Mexican-origin population. More information can be obtained on-line at Mexican American Study Project.
Faculty and Graduate Student Grants Available
The CSRC, in conjunction with the Institute of American Cultures, invites applications for support of research on Chicana/os for 2003-2004. The Institute particularly encourages proposals that will make a contribution to the UCLA ethnic studies centers. It also invites proposals on interethnic relations that will increase collaboration between the centers (Center for African American Studies, American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, and CSRC ) and/or between the c enters and other campus units. UCLA faculty, staff, IAC postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students are eligible to apply. Applications must be received no later that 5:00 p.m., April 30, 2003. Awards will be announced beginning in June. Application forms can be obtained from the CSRC or the IAC Office, or on-line at IAC.
Artist in Residence for Winter Quarter
Harry Gamboa Jr. will be the c enter's first Artist in Residence during w inter q uarter. The internationally recognized multi-media artist is the author of Urban Exile: Collected Writings of Harry Gamboa Jr. (1998). While at the CSRC, he will work on a photographic series on UCLA and give a public lecture in February. To learn more about his artistic work, visit his website Chicanoville.
Donation to the Center
UCLA alumni Angel Zapata has generously donated Ignacio Gomez's signature piece El Pachuco (2002), which was originally commissioned for the play Zoot Suit in 1978. This fine art print is from a limited edition of 250 signed and numbered by the artist. Richard Duardo, another UCLA alumni, and owner and master printer of Modern Multiples, pulled the print using 28 colors. Drop by the CSRC and see this stunning new addition to our growing art collection.
New Faces at the Center
This month we welcome Carlos Manuel Haro (Assistant Director) and Marisol Ramos-Lum (Archivist) to the CSRC staff. Haro previously served for eighteen years as Assistant Dean of International Studies and Overseas Programs; and Ramos-Lum is a recent MLIS of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and also holds an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. They will be an important part of our research agenda for the year
Events This Month
CSRC Faculty Exchange: Alicia Gaspar de Alba
This month the CSRC begins a new series of Faculty Exchanges, informal presentations on research by faculty members and scholars associated with the Center. Alicia Gaspar de Alba will speak on the topic of the Maquiladora Murders on Monday, January 13, 2003 from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM. In subsequent months, exchanges will include Lisa Catanzarite, Jose Alamillo, Laura Gomez, Clara Chu, Vilma Ortiz, and Edward Telles. Due to limited seating, please RSVP to Tanya Boykin. Lunch provided.
Graduate Student Workshop: Writing the Book Review
The CSRC will hold a three-session workshop with pizza for graduate students on how to write and publish a book review for the peer-reviewed Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. Meetings will be Tuesday evenings, January 21, April 1, and May 13. The instructors will be Wendy Belcher, managing editor of Aztlán ; Chon A. Noriega, professor of film studies and a long-time journal editor; and Alicia Gaspar de Alba, professor of Chicana/o studies and recently appointed co-editor. To enroll, e-mail your name, department, research interests, and year to Aztlan.
Library
The CSRC Library supports the development of scholarship, teaching, and research in Chicano Studies at UCLA. Extensive print materials, digital resources, and special collections document the history of Chicanos in the United States. The hours for Winter Quarter are Monday-Friday 10-12 and 2-5. To visit the library on-line, go to CSRC Library
Special Collections
The library welcomes Marisol Ramos-Lum as the Archivist of Special Collections. She will be in charge of processing the library's sixty special collections, in particular providing access to the UCLA Student Hunger Strike of 1993 Special Collection on its Tenth Year Anniversary!
Digital Reference
The library is now participating in the Digital Reference Project at UCLA, whereby UCLA community members can ask reference questions on-line. It is the first e thnic s tudies library to join this project, contributing to the master list of “Digital Resources for Digital References” and providing digital reference service to the campus. Reference services are also available through the librarian, Alma Ortega.
Press
The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press continues to lead discussion on Chicanos, one of Southern California's most important populations. Today, our publications reach an international audience, helping shape opinion, policy, and research. To order books, briefs, or journals, e-mail us at Aztlan. To visit the press on-line, go to CSRC Press.
Latino Policy & Issues Brief Series
Launched in 2002, the Latino Policy and Issues Brief is an occasional newsletter that highlights policy-related research on Latinos in the United States. It is released three to four times a year and sent for free to legislators, policymakers, and media outlets in California and around the United States. The series has already made an impact on childcare policy in California and hiring practices in media. In January, forthcoming briefs address Latinos and education in California, one by Daniel Solorzano, Chair, Department of Education, another by Lisa Catanzarite, Senior Research Sociologist at the Center. Briefs can be read on-line.
Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies
The fall 2002 issue is in print and available. The spring 2003 issue is at the printers. Alicia Gaspar de Alba is now co-editor at the journal, and a new editorial board has been appointed for 2003-2005. If you have not seen the journal recently, now is the time to subscribe! More information is available at CSRC Press.
Las Obreras: Chicana Politics of Work and Family
Now going into its second printing! This volume, edited by distinguished scholar Vicki L. Ruiz and building upon the best-selling volume 20 of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, continues to be very popular for the classroom. It is a proven resource and a new guide toward an interdisciplinary understanding of the "memory, voice, and lived experiences" of Chicanas within Aztlán, within the family, within the workplace, and within the nation-state.
The Chicano Studies Reader: An Anthology of Aztlán 1970-2000
One of the most popular books on Chicanos at Amazon.com, this edited volume anthologizes twenty ground-breaking essays from the first journal of Chicano studies. These essays shaped the development of Chicano studies and testify to its broad disciplinary and thematic range. "This volume should be required reading for any undergraduate or graduate course in ethnic studies." -Dr. George Sanchez, president of the American Studies Association.
Opportunities
The CSRC welcomes undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in Chicano s tudies to work as interns and volunteers in various areas of the Center. We are currently looking for a Graduate Research Assistant to help with our policy brief series. Social science and policy students are especially encouraged to apply. Send all inquiries to Tanya Boykin.
The Cesar Chavez Center is looking for a teaching assistant for this quarter (winter) for a one section assignment in the 101 theory course. Send all inquries to César Chávez.
Contacts
To learn more about the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, visit the CSRC home page.
SUBSCRIBE CHICANO STUDIES [first name, last name] (don't enter the brackets, just your name)
For general questions, e-mail CSRC.
