CSRC Newsletter - November 2013
Volume 12, Number 3
Director’s Message
Last month I had the privilege of taking a student to a small breakfast meeting with new UC president Janet Napolitano. Unlike most other faculty, I invited an undergraduate student. Accompanying me was Patricia Valdovinos, one of my mentees through UCLA’s McNair Research Scholars Program. This national program is designed to prepare students for doctoral studies and is open to undergraduates who are either low-income and also first-generation college students or members of an underrepresented group in graduate education. As I sat across from the new academic leader of the UC system, I realized that things would be changing for the better, if only because I sat next to a member of the next generation of Chicana/o leaders trained in that system. This month I turn over my message to Patricia Valdovinos.
Chon A. Noriega
Director and Professor
On October 12, 2013, I attended a breakfast meeting with UC president Janet Napolitano. It was eye-opening to see faculty, administration, and undergraduate and graduate students sharing a space in which we could engage with one another, voicing our concerns and offering our suggestions for improving the educational experience at UCLA. I enjoyed being part of a discussion that not only illustrated the positive aspects of UCLA but also focused on how we can make this university a better place for all students, faculty, and staff. Yet, I believe more could have been said about the need to increase campus diversity. A few of us brought up this issue, but we did not spend much time discussing strategies for increasing the number of people of color, low-income students, and underrepresented students on campus or how this would benefit the UCLA community. During the meeting, I stated that as a McNair Research Scholar I am aware of the importance of maintaining such programs because they are a critical step toward increasing diversity at UCLA. After all, Los Angeles is one the most diverse cities in the world and that diversity needs to be reflected on the campus.
Patricia Cortez Valdovinos
UCLA Fourth Year, Class of 2014
Chicana/o Studies Major
American Indian Studies Minor | Education Studies Minor
UCLA McNair Research Scholar
News
Spotlight: Ella Maria Diaz on the Royal Chicano Air Force
As the first segment of the CSRC Newsletter’s new spotlight on CSRC publications and partners, this month we preview an essay in the current issue of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies: Ella Maria Diaz’s article “The Necessary Theater of the Royal Chicano Air Force.” Diaz is assistant professor and graduate faculty member in the Department of English at Cornell University.
Ortega to participate in panel on L.A. food habits
CSRC associate director and UCLA Center for Population Health and Health Disparities epidemiologist Alex Ortega will be among the panelists contributing to the discussion “The State of L.A.'s Plate” at the Petersen Automotive Museum on Monday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m. Former Bon Appétit editor Barbara Fairchild, The Glutster food blogger Javier Cabral, and chef and radio personality Evan Kleiman will attempt to answer this question: “What does what we eat—and what we don’t eat—say about L.A.?” The event is sponsored by Zócalo Public Square and UCLA. For more information, visit the Zócalo site.
New art history text features images from CSRC collections
“No Apologies: Asco, Performance Art, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement,” chapter 23 in Nicolas Lampert’s recent release, A People's Art History of the United States (New Press, 2013), features images of the artist group from CSRC collections. In addition, the author quotes from the published writings of CSRC director Chon A. Noriega.
Asian American studies class visits CSRC Library
As part of the undergraduate survey course AAS 40, “Asian American Movement,” taught by professor and Asian American Studies Center director David Yoo, approximately 140 students toured the CSRC Library on October 23 to learn about the library’s collections and history.
Biennial features work by artist Donis
Los Angeles-based artist Alex Donis, whose archival collection at the CSRC was showcased last fall in the CSRC Library exhibition Alex Donis: Floating World, is featured in the second SUR:biennial, a three-venue exhibition open now through December 18. The venues are the Cerritos College Art Gallery, Rio Hondo College Art Gallery, and the Torrance Art Museum, where Donis’s work is on view. SUR:biennial focuses on new work by L.A. artists who have been influenced by the cultures of countries south of the US-Mexico border.
Doctoral student presents research on undocumented young adults
On October 23, Laura E. Enriquez, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology, gave a practice job talk in the CSRC Library titled “Undocumented Love Lives: The Social Incorporation of Undocumented Mexican-Origin Young Adults.” Enriquez’s research examines how undocumented legal status limits participation in dating, marriage, and parenting and promotes feelings of exclusion. She is the student of Vilma Ortiz, professor of sociology and CSRC scholar and Faculty Advisory Committee member.
CSRC in the News
“UCLA Takes Steps to Address Reports of Racial Discrimination against Faculty”
This article quotes CSRC director Chon A. Noriega, one of the initiators of a recent report on the effectiveness of current policies and procedures for addressing racial discrimination and bias pertaining to UCLA faculty.
The Daily Bruin, October 25, 2013 (PDF)
LA Plaza Spotlights CSRC
The CSRC received the first featured spotlight in the newsletter of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes newsletter, October 25, 2013 (PDF)
"John Rechy's 'City of Night' Turns 50”
David L. Ulin discusses the influence of John Rechy’s City of Night in this article, which was written following the CSRC-organized event that celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the groundbreaking novel. Ulin, one of the panelists at the event, is a Los Angeles Times book critic.
Los Angeles Times, October 24, 2013 (PDF)
"Instructions Not Included Director Rejects Tyler Perry Comparisons"
Chon A. Noriega, CSRC director and professor of cinema and media studies at UCLA, was quoted in a story concerning the box office success of Instructions Not Included and the future of Latino filmmaking in the US. (PDF)
Fusion TV website, October 21, 2013
“What's Working—and What Isn't—for the Young Latino TV Audience?”
CSRC director and cinema and media studies professor Chon A. Noriega was interviewed regarding the state of U.S.-produced TV shows for viewers seeking Latino characters and culture. Listen to the story here.
The Business, KCRW 89.9 FM, October 14, 2013
Apuntes features Noriega essay on Yolanda López
The online publication Apuntes: A Latino Journal featured the foreword to A Ver: Yolanda Lopez, volume 2 in the CSRC’s A Ver: Revisioning Art History series. The piece was written by CSRC director Chon A. Noriega.
Apuntes, October 13, 2013 (PDF)
“Jose Montoya Dies at 81; Leading Figure in California Latino Culture”
CSRC director Chon A. Noriega was quoted in this obituary for poet, activist, and educator José Montoya.
Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2013 (PDF)
All “In the News” articles are available in PDF format on the CSRC website.
Events
IAC Fall Forum and Reception
The IAC Fall Forum and Reception will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 4:30 -7:00 p.m., in the UCLA Faculty Center California Room. The annual forum honors the current year’s IAC visiting scholars, graduate and pre-doctoral fellows, and research-grant awardees. As part of the program, Javier Iribarren, CSRC assistant director, will interview Maurice Rafael Magaña, visiting researcher at the CSRC. Magaña’s research project is titled “Youth in Movement: Activism, Hip-hop, Punk, and the Production of Urban Space.”
NIYA and DreamActivist.org on West Coast speaking tour
Join us in the CSRC Library on Wednesday, November 6, 2:00 -3:30 p.m., when representatives from the National Immigrant Youth Alliance (NIYA) and DreamActivist.org will talk about their humanitarian work and direct actions for and by undocumented immigrants. Both organizations were featured in the June 21 episode of the public radio program This American Life. The stop at the CSRC is part of a two-week West Coast speaking tour.
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project lawyer to speak
Join Bruin, lawyer, and legal activist Malou Chavez for a pizza lunch on Tuesday, November 12, noon -12:50 p.m. in the CSRC Conference Room (179 Haines Hall), as she answers questions regarding her educational experiences and her legal practice. Chavez is a first-generation college graduate. While at UCLA she co-founded the organization Improving Dreams, Equality, Access, and Success (IDEAS) and participated in the Academic Advancement Program and the 2004–05 Law Fellows Program. After receiving her J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law in 2010, she was named an Immigrant Justice Fellow at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Chavez is now an immigration attorney helping the survivors of crime establish their lawful immigration status. This event is co-sponsored by the Seattle University School of Law and the Latina/o Pre-Law Society at UCLA. Please RSVP to Carol Cochran at ccochran@seattleu.edu.
Artist Saldamando to give talk
Join us in the CSRC Library on Thursday, November 14, 3:00 -5:00 p.m., when artist Shizu Saldamando discusses the exhibition When You Sleep: A Survey of Shizu Saldamando, currently on view at the Vincent Price Art Museum through December 7, 2013. Her drawings were also featured in the 2008 traveling exhibition Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, co-curated by CSRC director Chon A. Noriega. A sixty-four-page, full-color catalog of the artist’s work will be available for purchase at a discounted rate for students. For more information on the artist, visit shizusaldamando.com.
Professor to discuss Latina/os and mass culture
On Tuesday, November 19, 4:00 -6:00 p.m. in the CSRC Library, William A. Nericcio, professor of English and comparative literature and Chicana/o studies at San Diego State University, will give a talk titled "From Tex[t]-Mex to Mextasy to Eyegiene: Televisually Supercharged Hallucinations of 'Mexicans' in our Digital Humanities-laced, Technosexually Voyeuristic Tomorrow(s)." Nericcio’s book Tex[t]-Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America (University of Texas Press, 2007), on which this talk is based, serves as a textbook in current Chicano studies classes. This event is co-sponsored by the UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies.
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
Sal Castro exhibition on view
Sal Castro: Legacy of a Teacher, an exhibition of materials from the Sal Castro Collection, recently donated to the CSRC by the Castro family, remains on view in the CSRC Library and vitrine through December 13. Photos, awards, memorabilia, and ephemera from throughout Castro’s life and career are on display. Videos, including Susan Racho’s Taking Back the Schools (1996), provide dramatic context. The exhibition can be viewed during regular library hours.
New collections in process
The CSRC Library is proud to announce the addition of the Luis C. Garza Papers to its holdings. Garza is a Chicano photojournalist who moved from New York to Los Angeles in the 1960s and launched his career as an artist and documentary photographer. Garza was a staff photographer for the Los Angeles-based Chicano magazine La Raza. Garza’s collection contains a number of films that he produced, including episodes of the KABC-TV documentary program Reflecciones (1972–1974).
The CSRC Library has also added the Nikki Darling Papers to its collections. Darling is a Chicana music journalist and memoirist based in the San Gabriel Valley. Her collection includes her personal papers, manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera documenting her family history and career as a writer. This is the first collection acquired in conjunction with the CSRC Library’s collaboration with Marissa López, who teaches undergraduate course CS 191A, “Documenting L.A.: Oral Histories, Podcasting, and Future of the Archive.” In this research seminar students explore oral history as a genre of Chicano and Latino literature. López is the CSRC’s associate director and an associate professor of English and Chicana/o studies.
To learn more about these collections and projects please email your queries to the CSRC librarian, Lizette Guerra, at lguerra@chicano.ucla.edu.
CSRC Press
Filmmaker Varela is focus of new volume in DVD series
Video Art by Willie Varela, which was two years in the making, is here! This two-disc set, volume 9 in the CSRC’s Chicano Cinema and Media Art DVD series, was curated by the filmmaker and contains twenty-two works that span his career of more than forty years. Included is the feature-length Making Is Choosing: A Fragmented Life: A Broken Line (1989). Varela’s art emphasizes the art of looking over storytelling and places an emphasis on the relationship of the camera to the body, home environment, or nature.
Varela began making Super 8 films in the early 1970s after being exposed to the work of avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage. By 1991 he had made approximately eighty films and videos, which range in length from 30 seconds to 102 minutes. Most are in color, and most are silent, although some key works include sound. Varela is one of the most prolific Chicano filmmakers on record. His work has been screened at the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Cinematheque, and the Guggenheim Museum. A retrospective was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art in the spring of 1994. His video pieces were also included in the 1993 and 1995 Whitney Biennials. To purchase the DVD, contact support@chicano.ucla.edu.
Call for book reviews
Would you like to publish a book review in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies? This is a great opportunity to publish your writing and add your voice to the latest research in the field of Chicano studies. To be considered for a book review, please email submissions@chicano.ucla.edu. Briefly describe your research interests and note your institutional affiliation. You may also suggest recently published books that you wish to review. For more information about Aztlán, visit the CSRC website.
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Image credit: “Generals.” From left: Esteban Villa, Elias Alias, Lala Polendo (holding child), Ricardo Favela, José Montoya, Malaquias Montoya, and Juanita Ontiveros. Published in the Los Angeles Times, July 22, 1979. Clipping in the author’s collection. Photograph by Fitzgerald Whitney. Copyright © 1979 Los Angeles Times. Reprinted with permission.