Chicana/o Studies

"Collects and makes available the oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964. Millions of Mexican agricultural workers crossed the border under the program to work in more than half of the states in America."

"The items in these exhibitions trace the history of Hispanic Americans in California from the Mission system and Californios into the 20th century: Mexican immigration into California, the farmworkers' labor struggles, and the Chicano Civil Rights movement and La Raza, which also resulted in an explosion of cultural art. Although a number of different Hispanic American groups now live in the state, the images in these exhibitions largely portray Mexican Americans, who have always comprised the majority of Hispanic Californians."

"Provides public access to oral histories, material culture, correspondence, and rare out‐of‐print publications for use in both scholarly research and the classroom."

"Collection of era photographs, documents, and oral history interviews."

"The Onda Latina Collection consists of 226 digitally preserved audio programs including interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns from the radio series "The Mexican American Experience" and "A esta hora conversamos" the Longhorn Radio Network, 1976-1982."

"Since its founding, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) has played a pivotal role in the development of scholarly research on the Chicano-Latino population, which is now the largest minority group and the fastest-growing population in the United States." The website features information on research projects, archival projects, and library exhibits, among other things.

Political Science 126A, Mexican-Americans & Politics also cross listed as Chicano/Latino Studies 143, Mexican-Americans & Politics This course examines the role of Mexican American and other Latino communities in shaping state and national politics in the United States. After we review the political history and political organizational strategies of Mexican Americans, we will examine their contemporary modes of political organization; analyze public policy issues that concern them; evaluate the successes and failures of Mexican American empowerment strategies; and measure the electoral impact of Mexican American votes.

Political Science 126C, US Immigration Policy, also cross listed as Chicano/Latino Studies 163, US immigration Policy. The United States is in the middle of a national debate over immigration policy and the outcomes of immigrant incorporation. The debate is not just taking place in the U.S. Congress, which has the power and responsibility to shape policy, but also in national politics, in state legislatures, and in community organizing. In some form, the current debate began in the early 1990s, but has achieved a new urgency in the last several years. Congress has debated significant legislative changes to immigration policy in 2005, 2006, and 2007, but these debates ended inconclusively which had the effect of raising even more the salience of immigration as a policy issue in the public’s mind. Congress will likely again debate immigration reform in 2009. Our goal in this class is to analyze what it will take for Congress to craft a “comprehensive” immigration reform. Although the need for comprehensive reform is debated (the status quo works for many in the society), the high level of popular dissatisfaction with current policies, the pressures put on the nation by demands for immigrant labor, and the high number of unauthorized migrants resident in the United States demonstrate the need for a thorough review of current policies.

This course will explore the rich diversity of women’s voices and experiences as reflected in writings and films by and about Latina writers, filmmakers, and artists. Through close readings, class discussions and independently researched student presentations related to each text, we will explore not only the unique, individual voice of the writer, but also the cultural, social and political contexts which inform their narratives. We will also examine the roles that gender, familial ties and social and political preoccupations play in shaping the values of the writers and the nature of the characters encountered in the texts and films.