CSRC Newsletter - November 2007
Volume 6, Number 2
Director's Message
Below are the results of several Google searches of terms used to describe people of Mexican descent in the United States: Mexican American, Chicano, Hispanic, Latino, and also illegal and undocumented (with specific reference to Mexicans).
Mexican American 1,370,000
Illegal or Undocumented 3,062,000
Chicano and Chicana 5,020,000
Hispanic 38,200,000
Latino and Latina 199,661,000
It is notable, if not predictable given the current anti-immigration climate, that there were more than twice as many “hits” for Mexican undocumented immigrants as for Mexican American citizens. But it is also significant that Chicano was found almost four times more often than Mexican American. In any case, the figures for these terms pale in comparison to those for Hispanic, which has four times as many hits as all these other terms combined, a figure roughly equal to the size of the Hispanic population itself (44,300,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau). The prevalence of this term is due in no small part to its status as the U.S. official pan-ethnic category for peoples of Latin American descent. And then there is Latino. With just under 200 million hits, this term dwarfed even Hispanic, signaling its status as the preferred term within the Americas, where there are 548,500,000 Latinos. After all, it is the world wide web.…
One other figure is worth noting: 1,100,000. That is the number of Hispanic veterans of the U.S. armed forces. It is also the number of hits for the phrase “Hispanic veterans”—something Ken Burns and his research team missed in his latest PBS documentary series, The War. Sadly, the number also represents the number of hits for derogatory terms for Mexican Americans—such as spick, wetback, and f**kin’ Mexican. Obviously, some people don’t support our troops....
News
The CSRC Library hosted a screening of Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the Border on October 17. Forty students attended the showing of the documentary, which explores the rise of the Minutemen and the impact of their activities on U.S.-Mexico border communities. After the film, attendees participated in a discussion with two organizers from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Instituto de Educacion del Sur de California. Watch for more film screenings at the CSRC Library.
CSRC Events
Lecture and Book Signing
UCSB Professor Celine Parreñas Shimizu will discuss her recent publication, The Hypersexuality of Race: Performing Asian/American Women on Screen and Scene, on Thursday, November 1, 5:00–7:00 p.m., 362 Royce Hall. Dr. Shimizu’s book urges a shift in thinking about sexualized depictions of Asian/American women in film, video, and theatrical productions. Professor Purnima Mankekar, UCLA Departments of Asian American Studies and Women's Studies, will join the author for a conversation about these issues. This event is co-sponsored by the CSRC, the Asian American Studies Center, the Center for the Study of Women, and the Cinema and Media Studies Program.
Day of the Dead Ceremony and Story Circle
The CSRC will host a Day of the Dead Ceremony and Story Circle to honor the life and memory of Dr. Yolanda Retter Vargas on Friday, November 2, 12:00–2:00 p.m., CSRC Library, 144 Haines Hall. Students, colleagues, and all those who knew Yolanda are invited to bring an ofrenda or memento to place at Yolanda’s altar in the CSRC Library at any time during the fall quarter.
CRSC's Annual Open House
Join us for the CSRC’s annual Open House on Wednesday, November 7, 4:00–7:00 p.m., Haines Hall. The event will include a discussion by Acting Dean Reynaldo Macias on Chicano History, a mural painted in 1970 for the CSRC’s former home in Campbell Hall. The mural measured 12 by 22 feet and was painted on nine panels. It was taken down when the CSRC was moved from Campbell Hall to Haines Hall and has been in storage since 1991. It is an important example of Chicano muralism in the late 1960s and early 1970s, particularly since few Chicano murals were painted at universities. The muralists were Saul Solache, Ramses Noriega, Eduardo Carrillo, and Sergio Hernandez. Artwork by the two surviving artists, Mr. Noriega and Mr. Hernandez, will be on display during the open house. A certificate from Congresswoman Lucile Roybal-Allard will be presented to the CSRC in recognition of its thirty-eighth anniversary. Refreshments will be provided by Casablanca.
Lecture by Latino Novelist
Roberto Haro visits us on Wednesday, November 14, 3:00–5:00 p.m., CSRC Library, 144 Haines Hall, to discuss his latest books: Jolene’s Last Gasp (2007) and The Mexican Chubasco (2006). Jolene’s Last Gasp is a detective thriller about the seamy side of the pornography industry. The Mexican Chubasco is an expansive novel about the Mexican Revolution and its consequences for Mexico’s citizens. The author is a retired UC professor who is involved in Latino politics and lobbies for Latino issues. A catered reception will follow the discussion.
The third annual Bilingual Education in California Symposium will be held Saturday, November 17, 8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m., at the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School, UCLA. The conference is for educators, parents, community members, and advocates for English language learners. The $60.00 registration fee includes breakfast, lunch, and parking on campus. The CSRC will have a booth and publications at the conference, which is presented by the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies and the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School.
CSRC Library & Archive
Current and former members of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS), Joteria, and MEChA are helping the CSRC Library’s effort to record the activities of these student groups. Students are donating and cataloging administrative papers from these organizations, ensuring that their contributions to the UCLA community are documented.
CSRC Poster Collection
The CSRC Library has begun preservation work on the center’s poster collection. The CSRC has over 1,000 posters that chronicle the history of Chicano theater, artist collectives, and social activism. Some of these prints are rare, and a number are signed by the artists. Library staff are reorganizing these prints and putting them into protective sheets so that researchers can have better access to these historical documents.
CSRC Press
Forthcoming
Lisa Catanzarite and Lindsay Trimble evaluate the status of Latino workers in The Latino Workforce at Mid-Decade, CSRC Research Report No. 10. The report will be available online in early November. Dr. Catanzarite is a former CSRC Senior Research Sociologist.
Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies is available through our journal hosting site. Readers can browse all issues of Aztlán, from its inception in 1970 through the most recent issue, or search for articles by author, title, or keyword. Subscribers to Aztlán can read and print articles at no charge. Non-subscribers can browse tables of contents and download articles for a small fee.
Latino Research and Issues Briefs present recent policy-related research on Latinos in the United States. These four-page briefs, available in print and in PDF format online, are disseminated to legislators, policy makers, and media outlets. CSRC Research Reports offer original research in a longer format. Research reports are available in PDF format online. To see a full list of titles, visit the Press website.
CSRC DVDs, including Gronk’s No Movie and Efraín Gutiérrez’s Please, Don’t Bury Me Alive! are available for download through Filmfresh. Enter Chicano into the search field for a complete list of all CSRC DVDs.
Ordering from CRSC Press online is easy and fast. Visit the CSRC Online Store for our latest publications—including Gronk, the first book in A Ver: Revisioning Art History, a series that showcases the work of individual Latino artists—and CSRC Press bestsellers such as The Chicano Studies Reader, a collection of groundbreaking essays from Aztlán.
Coming soon: Watch for online access to CSRC Press publications that are no longer in available in print, including Floricanto en Aztlán (1971), a collection of Alurista’s earliest poems, and Furia y muerte: Los bandidos Chicanos (1973), an exploration of Chicano resistance in the mid-1800s, edited by Pedro Castillo and Albert Camarillo.
Opportunities
CSRC Fellows, Visiting Scholars, and Associates
Information on the Institute of American Cultures Postdoctoral/Visiting Scholar Fellowship and Predoctoral/Graduate Fellowship program is posted at the IAC website.
David G. Garcia, lecturer in Chicana/o studies, UCLA. Dr. Garcia received his PhD from UCLA in history.
Nao Bustamante, associate professor of new media and live art at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Luis Ortiz-Franco, professor of mathematics and computer science, Chapman University.
Alvaro Ochoa-Serrano, professor of history, El Colegio de Michoacan. Dr. Ochoa-Serrano received his PhD from UCLA.
Angela Ixkic Duarte Bastian, postdoctoral fellow at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social (CIESAS). Dr. Duarte received a UC MEXUS postdoctoral grant to conduct research at UCLA in collaboration with Professor Maylei Blackwell.
CSRC Research Projects
UCLA faculty, research staff, and graduate students may apply for the IAC-CSRC grants, which fund research projects at the campus level. Faculty and staff projects are funded at not more than $7,000, and graduate student projects at no more than $3,000. The deadline for applications is normally the end of April of each year. Detailed information on the IAC Grants Program is posted at IAC website.
Department of Chicana/o Studies and CSRC Postdoctoral Visiting Scholar
Project: Culture Clash: Critical Race Satire for Urgent Times
David Manuel Hernández
Department of Chicana/o Studies
Project: Subcontractors and Surrogates: Privatization and Defederalization of U.S. Immigrant Detention Practices
Carollee Howes
Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
Project: Bridging the Gap: Helping Latino Families Connect with Los Angeles Preschool Systems
Vilma Ortiz and Edward Telles
Sociology
Project: Ethnic Identity Among Mexican Americans
Ethnomusicology
Project: The Saxophone-Based conjunto Norteno: An Innovative Musical Genre Propelling Mexican American Cultural Appreciation and Awareness
Vanessa Ochoa, PhD student
Education
Project: What’s OK at Foshay? A Portrait of an Academically Effective High School’s Contribution to Latino Academic Preparation and the College Choice Process
David Sarabia, PhD student
Comparative Literature
Project: The Anthropological Texts of Juan Rulfo
Leticia Soto, MA student
Ethnomusicology
Project: Female Identity in Mariachi Performance
CSRC Latino Research Program Grants
Grants provide research support for UCLA faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students. Research proposals are submitted through the Institute of American Cultures (IAC) Research Grant Program—a campuswide research program. For more information, and to obtain an online IAC grant application, visit the IAC website.
Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
Project: The Impact of Tuition Discounting Policies on Chicana/o Students in California
Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
Project: Suenos indocumentados: The Educational Experiences of Undocumented Chicanas in California Higher Education