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CSRC Newsletter - March 2015

Volume 13, Number 6

Director’s Message

When I heard that poet Philip Levine had passed away on February 14, I spent the day looking for his poem about his older sister. He knew about sisters and the hardscrabble life of the working poor, and for over thirty years he had taught poetry at California State University, Fresno, where Gary Soto and other Chicano poets were his students. And he knew how to bring the reader up short, as he did at the end of the poem I sought, admonishing, “You haven’t heard a word.” Levine’s death made me miss my younger sister, who died ten years ago. His poetry captured something that resonated with our childhood and worldview, and I wanted—no, needed—to read that poem again. And yet I could not find it, although I flipped through all his books twice, only to note for the first time that so many poems begin with the word brother in the first lines. I found I had overlooked one book, The Simple Truth, in which he has one poem about his younger sister and another about his older sister. There is nothing about these poems that describes my sister or our relationship. And Levine never had a sister, let alone two: he was one among three sons growing up poor in Detroit during the Depression. Even so, he conveyed a simple truth:
 
“Some things / you know all your life. They are so simple and true / they must be said without elegance, meter and rhyme…”
 
Philip Levine, presente!
Reni Celeste, presente!                                                
 
Chon A. Noriega
Director and Professor
 

News

Spotlight on Archival Research
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez researches the Ricardo Muñoz Papers
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez is an Arthur F. Thurnau professor of psychology and social work and a faculty associate in American culture (Latino studies) at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. Her current projects include identifying strategies for multicultural community-based research and practice, multicultural education for social work practice, and identifying effective methods for learning about social justice. She recently visited the CSRC to conduct research on a new project concerning twentieth-century Chicano/Latino leaders in social work and social welfare. She shared some of her findings:
 

In February I spent an afternoon at the CSRC looking at the Ricardo Muñoz Papers to find materials concerning his late father, Rosalio F. Muñoz, whose social work career included social work in schools, child welfare, and mental health services. Rosalio F. Muñoz was also the father of Rosalio U. Muñoz. The elder Muñoz received a BA and MA in education from Arizona State University​ and an MSW and PhD in education from the University of Southern California. He began work with the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1950, starting as a social worker and moving up professionally to ​director of pupil personnel services. During his tenure with the LAUSD, he was known for bringing a more comprehensive approach to the district’s student services. However, his professional work reflects only a fraction of his contributions to social work and his community. In my short time reviewing this extensive collection I was able to get a broader sense of Muñoz’s professional activities, including his work with the United Methodist Church and community organizations in East Los Angeles, among others. I look forward to spending more time at the CSRC to delve more deeply into these papers. ​

Vargas Bustamante receives tenure
The CSRC congratulates Arturo Vargas Bustamante, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, on receiving tenure. His research focuses on two areas: health care disparities (predominantly among Hispanics/Latinos and immigrants in the United States) and health policy in developing countries (primarily in Latin America). Vargas Bustamante is a CSRC faculty associate and a member of the CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee.
 
Carpio appointed to Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies
The CSRC welcomes Genevieve Carpio, Cassius Marcellus Clay Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University, as assistant professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at UCLA. Carpio holds an MA in urban planning from UCLA and a PhD in American studies and ethnicity from the University of Southern California. Her research interests focus on racial formation and its historical context and processes of urbanization in local and global arenas. Carpio will begin her appointment on July 1.
 
Gunckel publishes book
The CSRC congratulates Colin Gunckel, assistant professor of screen arts and cultures, American culture, and Latina/o studies at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, on his new book, Mexico on Main Street: Transnational Film Culture in Los Angeles before World War II (Rutgers University Press, 2015). Gunckel is a former CSRC arts project coordinator, editor of The Oscar Castillo Papers and Photograph Collection (volume 5 in the CSRC Press’s Chicano Archives series), and associate editor of the CSRC’s A Ver: Revisioning Art History series. Congratulations also go out to Daniel Gonzalez, artist and former CSRC administrative assistant, for the cover design.
 
Okada publishes book
The CSRC congratulates Jun Okada, assistant professor of English and director of film studies at SUNY-Geneseo, on the publication of her book Making Asian American Film and Video (Rutgers University Press, 2015). Okada was a graduate research assistant for the CSRC’s Race and Independent Media Project (2001–2005) and co-authored the CSRC research report Minority Filmmakers, Media Institutions, and Press Discourse: A Comparative Analysis (June 2005), which informed her latest publication.
 
IUPLR-Mellon dissertation fellows announced
Graduate students María de Lourdes (Marilu) Medrano, Department of English, and Yvette Martínez-Vu, Department of Theater, are the UCLA recipients of the inaugural dissertation-completion fellowships offered by the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR) and the Mellon Foundation. Medrano and Martínez-Vu join a national cohort of six outstanding doctoral students at four universities taking part in the program. Fellowships include a stipend, mentorship, and participation in the IUPLR conference and summer institute. The CSRC is a founding member of the IUPLR and led the effort to establish this fellowship program for students writing dissertations that are focused on Chicana/o or Latina/o studies and are based on disciplines in the humanities.
 
Students visit Great Wall
Undergraduate students participating in the Chicano/Latino theme community in Sproul Residence Hall took a field trip on February 21 to see The Great Wall of Los Angeles by artist and UCLA art professor Judith Baca. Charlene Villaseñor Black, faculty-in-residence and UCLA art history professor, and Michael Rodríguez, professor and vice chair in the Department of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, supervised the trip. While there, undergraduate Philomena Lopez, a McNair Scholar, talked about her scholarly research pertaining to the mural. Villaseñor Black and Rodríguez  are both CSRC faculty affiliates and members of the CSRC Faculty Advisory Committee.
 
Resurrection Boulevard to become telenovela
The scripted television drama Resurrection Boulevard, which focused on a Latino family in East Los Angeles and aired for three seasons on Showtime (2000–2002), is being turned into a telenovela that will be broadcast in Mexico and Guatemala. TV Azteca, which syndicates the original series, recently purchased the show’s format rights and will head the production. Original program creator Dennis Leoni will serve as a consultant on the new series. The CSRC has the Dennis Leoni Resurrection Boulevard Papers in its collections.
 
Ruiz publishes article
Maria Elena Ruiz, assistant adjunct professor at the UCLA School of Nursing and former CSRC associate director, is co-author of “Older Latinos: Applying the Ethnocultural Gerontological Nursing Model,” which appears in the latest issue of  Journal of Transcultural Nursing. The article was published online on February 3 but is not yet available in print.
 
Call for submissions: Regeneración Tlacuilolli
Regeneración Tlacuilolli: UCLA Raza Studies Journal invites submissions for its second issue, to be published in Summer 2015. The journal is committed to exploring intellectual, cultural, and historic issues pertinent to Chicanas, Chicanos, Latinas, Latinos, indigenous peoples, and Latin Americans. The journal’s interdisciplinary perspective enables a critical examination of the history and culture of these intrinsically related groups and the historic and social implications of colonialism, racism, capitalism, sexism, and homophobia for these communities. For information on submitting to the journal, see http://www.escholarship.org/uc/regeneracion_tlacuilolli or contact tlacuilolli@ucla.edu. Deadline for submissions: Sunday, March 15, 2015. Regeneración Tlacuilolli is sponsored by the CSRC.
 
Camille Guérin-Gonzales, presente!
The CSRC mourns the passing of Camille Guérin-Gonzales, professor emerita of history at University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the founding faculty members of the Chicana and Chicano studies department at UCLA. She was also a founding member of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS). A full bio and tribute to Guérin-Gonzales is on the MALCS blog here.
 
New videos on CSRC YouTube
 
  • Exhibition Reception and Artist’s Talk: Make ’Em All Mexican: Works by Linda Vallejo (January 21, 2015) (video) The Make ’Em All Mexican series uses humor and irony to question whether race, color, and class define our status in the world. Charlene Villaseñor Black, professor of art history and Chicana and Chicano studies, was the faculty curator of the event and led the Q&A with the artist.
 
  • Book Talk: Alicia Gaspar de Alba presents [Un]Framing the 'Bad Woman': Sor Juana, Malinche, Coyolxauhqui, and Other Rebels with a Cause (January 28, 2015) (video). Alicia Gaspar de Alba is a professor of English, gender studies, and Chicana and Chicano studies at UCLA and former CSRC associate director. Her new collection of essays focuses on the brown female bodies that have inspired her scholarly and creative writings.
 
  • Book Talk: Julie A. Dowling presents Mexican Americans and the Question of Race (February 6, 2015) (video). Julie A. Dowling is an associate professor of Latina/Latino Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her latest publication explores the disjuncture between federal definitions and regional constructions of race, examining Mexican American responses to the race question asked during the U.S. census.
 
  • Talk: Marjorie Agosín presents “Tales of Valparaíso: A Poet Remembers” (February 11, 2015) (video) Marjorie Agosín is the Luela Lamer Slaner Professor of Latin American Studies at Wellesley College. She is also a poet and essayist, and she made her debut as a novelist with I Lived on Butterfly Hill (Atheneum Books, 2014).

CSRC in the News

“The Color of Context”
In her editorial on viewing race in contemporary art, author Nikki Darling cites the CSRC exhibition Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement.
Los Angeles Review of Books, March 1, 2015 (PDF)
 

Events

Screening: Boi Hair
Monday, March 2, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
CSRC Library–144 Haines Hall
La Familia de Ucla presents a screening of the 2005 video documentary Boi Hair by Alma Lopez. The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Lopez and writer Claudia Rodriguez, plus a reception. This event is cosponsored by MEChA de UCLA and the CSRC.
 
A Celebration of the Birth of Ruben Salazar
Tuesday, March 3, 3:00–6:00 p.m.
Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032
The CSRC invites you to participate in a celebration of the birthday of late journalist Ruben Salazar, taking place at California State University–Los Angeles. As part of the program, CSRC librarian Lizette Guerra will briefly highlight a related collection housed at the CSRC Library: the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Investigative Files Pertaining to the Death of Ruben Salazar. Materials from the collection were used in the making of the documentary Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle, which will be screened at the event. For more information visit the Cal State LA website.  
 
All CSRC events are free unless otherwise noted. Programs are subject to change. For the most current information, visit the Events page on the CSRC website.
 

CSRC Library

Cypress College Puente Program visits CSRC
On February 26 approximately thirty students from the Puente Program at Cypress Community College visited the CSRC as part of the program’s annual UC Campus Tour. After a breakfast provided by AltaMed, students were given a brief tour of campus sites and an introduction to CSRC Library holdings by CSRC staff. The students also received books published by CSRC Press. The Puente Program is designed to assist students of all backgrounds who intend to transfer to four-year universities by providing preparation through workshops, tutoring services, and campus tours.
 
Addition to Yolanda Vargas Retter Papers
The CSRC announces the receipt of papers belonging to Yolanda Vargas Retter. Retter was the CSRC librarian from 2001 until her passing in 2007. In her obituary in the Los Angeles Times Retter was described as “an activist, archivist, and scholar who devoted [her] last four decades to raising the visibility of lesbians and minorities and preserving their history.” The CSRC would like to thank Leslie Golden Stampler for this donation.
 
Library exhibition in final weeks
Make ’Em All Mexican: Works by Linda Vallejo remains on view in the CSRC Library through March 20. The exhibition include works from Vallejo’s acclaimed Make ’Em All Mexican series, plus excerpts from critical essays, publications that feature the series, and objects from the CSRC’s portfolio of the artist in its collections. The Make ’Em All Mexican series uses humor and irony to question whether race, color, and class define our status in the world. The artist states, “It has taken my entire artistic career to fuse an image that defines my multicultural experience of the world and my place in it. Like most of my contemporaries I was taught the finer points of the Western classics, art, and architecture, but later found myself living and creating in a milieu where symbols of beauty and culture were manifest in a decidedly alternate circumstance.” The fall 2014 issue of Aztlán features an essay by the artist as well as works from the Make ’Em All Mexican series; an excerpt from the essay can be read here. Make ’Em All Mexican is on display in the CSRC Library and vitrine. The exhibition is free and open to the public during regular library hours, Monday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (A link to the video of the reception is in News, above.)
 
To learn more about CSRC collections and projects, please email your queries to the CSRC librarian, Lizette Guerra, at lguerra@chicano.ucla.edu.
 

CSRC Press

New issue of Aztlán is mailing soon
The essay section of the Spring 2015 issue of Aztlán opens with a fresh take on José Antonio Villareal’s Pocho that argues for a queer rereading of the novel. The other essays in this issue offer a decoding of the Latino characters in the hit television series Breaking Bad, an analysis of the value of work in the context of community gardens, and an ethnography of Latino youth activists who are using counter-spectacle to challenge mainstream conceptions about undocumented immigrants.
 
The evolution of the field of Chicano art history since 1990 is the theme of the dossier section, which is curated by UCLA professor Charlene Villaseñor Black. Essays range from discussions of the field’s growth and obstacles that continue to limit its recognition to descriptions of course content and instructional strategies. The dossier offers an online bonus: a selection of syllabi for courses in Chicana/o art history that can serve as instructional models. Education is also the theme of the editor’s commentary; here Chon A. Noriega’s musings about a prominent inscription in UCLA’s Royce Hall traverse Galton’s hierarchy of races, California’s sterilization laws, and the university’s enrollment of “underrepresented minorities.”
 
The artwork of Tlisza Jaurique is featured on the cover and in the artist’s communiqué.
 
Register for online access to Aztlán
Current subscribers to Aztlán may now register for online access to the journal through ingentaconnect.com. If you have problems accessing your account or questions about your subscription, please contact support@chicano.ucla.edu. 
 

Opportunities

IAC Research Grant Program in Ethnic Studies
The Institute of American Cultures invites applications from UCLA faculty, staff, graduate students, and IAC Visiting Scholars/Researchers for support of research on African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Chicana/os for 2015-16. The Institute also invites proposals on interethnic relations that will increase collaboration between the Centers and/or between the Centers and other campus units.

The Research Grant Program is on a reimbursement basis only. Ordinarily, faculty projects will be funded for no more than $10,000 and graduate student projects for no more than $7,000. Funds for the purchase of permanent equipment will be provided only under exceptional circumstances. Conference travel, whether the applicant is presenting or attending, is ineligible.
 
Eligibility
UCLA faculty, staff, graduate students, and IAC Visiting Scholars/Researchers.
 
Grant Period
July 1, 2015, through May 31, 2016.

Deadline
Applications must be received by April 20, 2015, 11:59 p.m. Awards will be announced by mid-June.
 
 
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45 for 45!
The 2014-15 academic year marks the forty-fifth anniversary of the CSRC. If you value our work, please consider giving a tax-deductible donation of $45. To give $45 for our 45th, click here. Any amount is welcome. Thank you for your support.