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University of Wyoming

College of Arts & Sciences Annual Report 2007 - 2008

Chicano Studies Program

 

Introduction: Chicano Studies is an interdisciplinary field of instruction and inquiry that examines primarily the social, economic, and political experience of U.S. Mexican origin Latinos/as.  Since Latinos have become the largest non-white racial/ethnic group in the United States and because their continued growth is expected for years to come, the importance of a Chicano Studies degree has taken on increasing importance for the University of Wyoming.  The Wyoming Mexican American experience dates back to the 16th century through Spanish conquest, exploration, and colonialism.  Today Mexican Americans are the dominant non-white racial/ethnic group in the state and on campus.  In fact, recent census estimates show that the Latino growth rate (12.8%) was four times that of the state’s overall growth rate (4.3%) between 2000 and 2006. 

 

With guidance from its 2004 – 2009 academic plan and a dedicated faculty, the Chicano Studies Program continues to acquire local, regional, and national notoriety.  In particular, the Chicano Studies program assists the university and the College of Arts and Sciences in reaching goals related to diversity, interdisciplinarity, internationalization, access, and structure of the curriculum.  Below is a list of program highlights from the preceding fiscal year and summer.

 

·         The Little Death—Ross Hall Book Club Lecture by Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela

·         “Social Justice in the 21st Century”—Freshman Interest Group (4th year)

·         “Centeotzintli: Sacred Maize: A 7,000 year-old Ceremonial Discourse”–Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture, Dr. Roberto Rodriguez, University of Arizona

·         Fur—A play by Migdalia Cruz, directed by Anne Brownstead

·         “Indians and Immigrants: A State of Otherness in Wyoming”—Presentation by Dr. Margie Zamudio at the annual LatCrit conference in Miami, FL.

·         “Performing Culture/Performing Identity:  Oppositional Performances with Latina/o Youth in Laramie, Wyoming”—Presentation by Dr. Cecilia Aragón at the annual American Society for Theatre Research conference in Phoenix, AZ

·          “Trabajo y sueños en todo los gneraciónes de mestizaje en Wyoming”—Wyoming Latino History Mural by Ruby Chacon installed at the Wyoming Union with Movimiento Estudiantíl Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA)

·         “The History of Immigration Policy and its Impact on Wyoming”— Forum Speaker, Wyoming Humanities Council, Dr. Ed A. Muñoz

·         “Cultural Borders in Youth: Oppositional Performance in Public Spaces”—Presentation by Dr. Cecilia Aragón at the annual Shepard Symposium for Social Justice in Laramie, WY

·         “Latinas as Positive Images: Interviews with Ruby Chacon-Artist, J.J. Shinker-Scientist, Dr. Melendez-Physician, and Elizabeth Gamez-Cortez-Financial Advisor”—Keynote Lecture by Dr. Cecilia Aragón at the annual Latina Youth Conference in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

·         “Latino Diaspora: Comparative History of U.S.”—Spring Study Abroad Course Offering

·         “Performing for Social Change: Theatrical Politics of Oppositional Performances with Latina/o Youth”—Presentation by Dr. Cecilia Aragón at the annual National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies conference in Austin, TX.

·         “Immigration Politics and Policies: Differing Perceptions and Attitudes by Latino Ethnicity, Nationality, and Migration Status”—Presentation by Adriana Magaña and Dr. Ed A. Muñoz at the annual National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies conference in Austin, TX

·         “What Immigrant Raids Tell Us about Latino Families and the State”—Social Justice Research Center Inaugural Scholarly Presentation—Dr. Mary Romero, Arizona State University

 

Academic Planning Implementation: Below is a brief review of progress made towards action items listed in the Chicano Studies Academic Plan II.

 

CHST 1.        Assessment of the six Chicano Studies student learning outcomes has been completed.  Analysis of the data indicates that student learning outcomes are being met in lower- and upper-division and core and non-core courses.

 

CHST 2.        The streamlining of the Chicano Studies minor curriculum has facilitated the timely completion of requirements.  Exit interviews with CHST minors indicate the desire for a broader range of course offerings.

 

CHST 3.        A Freshman Interest Group, an Intellectual Community course, and a Study Abroad course continue to experience collaboratively success with other interdisciplinary programs.  Exit interviews with CHST minors indicate the wish for more courses dealing with other U.S. Latino ethnic groups.

 

CHST 4.        Interdisciplinary curriculum and faculty partnerships within and outside of Chicano Studies’ traditional core disciplinary areas of the humanities and social sciences have not made much forward progress since last year’s annual report.

 

CHST 5.        The recent combined relocation of ethnic and women’s studies interdisciplinary programs has proved beneficial and should provide continued opportunities for synergistic collaboration for a number of events and program.  A Chicano Studies graduate minor will be submitted for approval in the next academic year.  Exit interviews with CHST minors suggest that a CHST and/or Ethnic Studies distributed major degree program would be viable if created.

 

Teaching Activities: Drs. Aragon (Theater and Dance), Muñoz (Criminal Justice), and Zamudio (Sociology) continue to provide the majority of programmatic teaching and service support.  Additional teaching resources were provided by two temporary instructors (Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Law, Molina; Adult Learning and Technology, Duran), one graduate instructor (English, Johnson-Valenzuela); and two non-affiliated faculty (African American Studies, Lawson-Borders; History, Bauer). 

This instructional faculty was responsible for teaching two core courses (39 students) in the summer session of 2007; three core courses (46 students on campus, 33 Outreach) and one non-core course (24 students) in the fall semester of 2007; and one independent study project, four core courses (87 students on campus, 28 Outreach), two non-core courses (32 students), and one special topics course (8 students) in the spring semester of 2008. 

Student teaching evaluations show considerable praise for Chicano Studies faculty and course curricula.  Nevertheless, an additional faculty line is needed in order to offer a broader array of courses in all core areas in general, and the humanities in particular.  An additional faculty line also can help in increasing the level of distance learning, and in developing and providing more USP diversity courses.

Internationalization prospects appear sound as Dr. Muñoz moved closer towards the institutionalization of study abroad course through CHST / HIST 4485: Latino Diaspora, Comparative History of the U.S.  This course is an outgrowth of a successful summer special topics course and combines a rigorous lecture/seminar format with experiential learning in a migrant sending country of the Latino Diaspora.  This course was offered in the spring semester with 12 students being accepted for enrollment and travel to Puerto Rico.  Funding will be secured for a future winter session course offering for travel to Mérida, Mexico.   

Efforts to broaden the curriculum at the programmatic, departmental, college, and university levels continue to be successful.  Dr. Muñoz will submit Latino Diaspora for USP diversity (D) status early next year.  Dr. Zamudio’s CHST 4990: U.S. Women of Color special topics course will be submitted for permanent curricular and USP D status as well.  Dr. Aragón’s CHST 4470: Studies in Chicano Folklore was accepted for USP cultural humanities and diversity status (CH, D) this past year.  These courses will be dual listed for graduate credit along with CHST 4990: Special Topics and CHST 4975: Independent Study.  They will form the basis for a CHST graduate minor that is currently under development for submission early in the next academic year.

There was continued success for the USP intellectual community and diversity (I, D) course AAST / AIST / AMST / CHST / INST / WMST 1030: Social Justice in the 21st Century.  This course serves as the anchor course for the interdisciplinary Freshman Interest Group (FIG) Social Justice in the 21st Century.  A mainstay of the course and its success has been service learning.  This year the class collaborated with Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Laramie, Wyoming.  The Office of Academic Affairs once again has decided to offer Social Justice in the 21st Century as part of its Fall 2008 menu of Freshman Interest Groups.  Kendra Gage from Women’s Studies will be the instructor of record for the upcoming semester’s course offering. 

Finally, ongoing student learning assessment activities have worked to encourage high quality teaching as faculty members have engaged each other formally and informally in serious and reflective discussions about Chicano Studies student learning outcomes.  Work is nearing completion for the publication of a refereed journal article.  The many curricular and co-curricular events sponsored by Chicano Studies has brought the program high visibility as it addresses some of the most pressing social, economic, and political issues in contemporary society.  Additional evidence manifests in the many independent study projects and graduate student program of study committees the faculty are called upon to direct and/or serve on.

 

Research and/or Creative Activities:  Programmatic and departmental parallel tenure and promotion reviews have provided consistent assessment and feedback to CHST faculty whose research and creative activities can be difficult to evaluate due to its highly interdisciplinary nature.  Overall, the CHST faculty continues to make significant research and/or creative contributions both to Chicana/Latina Studies and their respective home disciplinary fields. 

This year Dr. Margaret Zamudio became the second University of Wyoming CHST faculty member to be tenured and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.  Dr. Zamudio has an active research agenda that has established her reputation as a leader in the area of Latina/o transnational labor and labor organizing.  Her work examines the role of immigrant Latina/o workers in the new labor movement.  She is currently working on a book titled entitled, The Making of Latina/o Working Class, to round out her research on immigrant Latina/o labor.  Most recently, refereed journal articles accepted for publication in Social Problems and in Latino Studies have broadened her national impact.  Her cross-disciplinary collaboration with scholars in Education Studies, American Indian Studies, African American Studies and Law has developed into a book contract with Routledge to write An Introduction to Critical Race Theory in Education.

            Dr. Cecilia Aragón has a very active research agenda that has positioned her for establishing a national reputation in the area of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) and in Chicana/o Studies.  Her article, “Niños y el teatro: Critical Perspectives of Children in Mexican American Theatre,” was recently accepted for publication in the national leading academic journal, Youth Theatre Journal.  A second co-authored publication, “Performing a Pedagogy of Place: Immigration Rights Protests in the Rural West,” appeared in Latino Studies Journal, Vivencias.  She has several other collaborative works well underway for submission to national and regional scholarly outlets, and her monograph, Borderlands Children’s Theatre: A History of Chicana/o Theatre for Young Audiences is under review at the University of Arizona Press.

            Dr. Ed A. Munoz’ continues to be productive in the fields of Sociology, Criminal Justice and Chicana/Latino Studies.  In the past year, Dr. Muñoz had two encyclopedia chapters accepted for publication in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime.  In press are the proceedings from the 2002, 2003, and 2004 National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies conferences, which he edited and wrote an introduction. Currently he is working with a McNair scholar, Adriana Magana, on two immigration reform articles.

 

Service, Extension and Outreach Activities:  The program plays a critical role in advancing the University’s commitment to diversity with numerous students, staff, and faculty providing their expertise and effort for various committees and projects at the programmatic, departmental, college, university, state, regional, and national levels.  The Chicano Studies Program works collaboratively with Movimiento Estudiantíl Chicano/a de Aztlán (MEChA), Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority, Inc., Multicultural Affairs, the President’s Advisory Council for Minority and Women’s Affairs, the Social Justice Research Center, and the Wyoming Humanities Council to develop and implement programming for campus and non-campus communities that highlight Latino history and culture (i.e., Hispanic Heritage Month, Cesar Chavez Celebration, and Semana Primavera, Humanities Forum Lecture).  A particular collaborative accomplishment this year was the unveiling of a Wyoming Latin@ History mural at the annual Cesar Chavez dinner.

In addition, the faculty is often called upon to provide keynote and inspirational remarks for ethnic/minority recruitment and retention programs offered by the Division of Student Affairs and non-campus entities (i.e., Minority Higher Education Day; Minority Student Leadership Initiative; Women’s Leadership Conference; Western Nebraska Minority Youth Conference).  This marked academic/student affairs collaboration allows for enhanced services, recognition, and honors for Latina/o students.

The faculty participates in a number of local, regional, and national academic and non-academic conferences/seminars/meetings/workshops Dr. Zamudio presented at the annual Latino Critical Race Theory conference in Miami, FL.   Dr. Aragón directed Que Onda?: Performing Border Identities in the American West at the UW 4th Annual Cesar Chavez Banquet.  She also serves as the faculty advisor for MEChA.  On the state and national levels, Dr. Aragón serves as an adjudicator for the Wyoming State Drama competition and as a juror for the American Association for Theatre Education, Dissertation and Research Awards. Dr. Muñoz was invited to be a Humanities Forum Speaker for a second year.  He also was invited to present a lecture at the Western Nebraska Minority Youth Conference in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  In addition to his editorial work with the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, Dr. Muñoz is a council member for the Latina/o Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. 

Presently, there is no Memorandum of Understanding with the Outreach School, nor is there an extensive community college articulation or relation.  However, this may change in the near future as the Chicano Studies Program and the Outreach School successfully collaborated on an experimental videoconference offering of Introduction to Chicano Studies, which led to a subsequent fall and spring offering this past year.  In addition to a fall videoconferencing offering during the upcoming academic year, a spring online offering of Introduction to Chicano Studies will be available.

Long-range goals are twofold.  In general, the program can assist in delivering more USP course offerings to community college students planning to transfer to UW.  In addition, CHST course offerings through the Outreach School can help in recruiting minority students who have been found to attend community colleges prior to attending a four-year institution at a higher rate than their non-minority counterparts.

 

Student Recruitment and Retention Activities and Enrollment Trends: Since the Chicano Studies Program has no official FTEs it is difficult to interpret OIA data with a reasonable level of reliability and validity.  In addition, the Chicano Studies Program offers only a minor degree program.  In any case, OIA data shows that student credit hours increased (561 – 880) by 56.9% (1.2%) from the 2001 – 2002 to the 2006 – 2007 AYs, while the average student class size (30.8 – 21.8) decreased by 29.2% during the same time period.  A relative trend towards stability in instructional resources can help explain the variability in enrollment data.

Prior to the 2004 – 2005 AY, most of the student credit hours came about through upper-level courses taught by a non-tenure track temporary lecturer.  Afterwards with instructional support from three appointed tenure-track faculty, and the assistance of adjunct and non-affiliated tenure-track and tenured faculty, the curriculum was broadened with attention to developing critical thinking through oral and written capabilities.  The faculty agreed that lower course enrollments were necessary in order to effectively instruct and assess academically rigorous courses that involved increased levels of reading comprehension and writing assignments for all core and non-core curriculum courses.  This philosophical and pedagogical decision, along with the streamlining and regular offering of CHST courses has allowed for a marked increase in registered CHST minors (300%) during the six-year time period 01-02 (n = 2; 2)  – 06-07 (n = 8; 6) and completed minor degrees (200%). 

The bulk of the program’s recruitment efforts are coordinated through better equipped student affairs units such as Multicultural Affairs and the Office of Admissions.  For example, a welcome letter from the CHST director and program flyers are part of student packets for programs such as Minority Higher Education Day.  Additional efforts have been cultivated through regular participation with Weeks of Welcome; Resource Fairs, Discovery Days, and the Summer Session Fair.  Other recruitment efforts include formal and informal efforts by affiliated faculty in the completion of their teaching, research, and service related responsibilities.  Faculty often make known the merits of a Chicano Studies degree in their courses, through collaborative independent research projects, at academic conferences and invited speaking engagements, and through non-academic organizational participation (i.e., Wyoming Latino/a Coalition).

Recruitment and retention are distinct, yet reciprocal efforts.  Because of this, programmatic retention efforts are inextricably tied with recruitment efforts that are outlined above.  In addition, the Chicano Studies Program formally administered the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship competition that produced two deserving recipients, both CRMJ majors and CHST minors and participants of the Latino Diaspora study abroad class—Casey Watkins and Kala Waddell. A faculty/student undergraduate research collaboration was facilitated through the McNair Scholars program and the generosity of the President’s Advisory Council for Minorities’ and Women’s Affairs—Adriana Magaña. Student excellence was recognized at the fifth annual Chicano Studies graduation dinner.  Adriana Magaña was the recipient of the first Chicano Studies/Board of Visitors student service award.

 

Development Activities and Public Relations: The beginning phases of a systematic plan for development are underway and expected to develop long-term gift giving to the Chicano Studies Program. In the meantime, Rawlins city councilman, Louis Espinoza, continues to play a crucial role in securing cultural programming, outreach, and faculty/student research monies for the program through Carbon County government agencies.  These monies are temporarily supplementing monies donated to the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship award.   We expect donations to the Hispanic Heritage Scholarship fund to increase with the help of a formal solicitation letter that will be sent out annually in November to a growing alumni data base that is being created with assistance from the Arts and Sciences development office.  A PACMWA planning grant will be submitted asking for seed monies to develop fundraising events such as a homecoming golf tournament and/or winter cross-country ski race.

             The program does use a variety of public relations outlets to inform constituents about the program’s endeavors and successes.  A brochure was created to showcase the program and is regularly disseminated at campus and non-campus events such as Discovery Days, Family Weekend, Orientation Resource Fair, and Western Nebraska Minority Youth Conference. A recruitment email was developed for the Office of Admissions to send to students indicating an interest in the Chicano Studies Program.  The inaugural issue of the program’s newsletter, El Clamor de Estudios Chicana/o will be distributed early in the fall semester.  Regular and special advertisements of the program’s events and programs are published in the campus newspaper.  Periodic updates about the program’s scholarly contributions are announced through the College of Arts and Science newsletter.  Faculty are been called upon to facilitate workshops, deliver keynote remarks and public seminars, and provide expert testimony for governmental and non-governmental agencies. 

            Many of these newsworthy events are integrated links on the CHST website that is maintained and updated by the CHST office assistant senior.  Our solicitation letter will be added to the website, as well as our newsletter.  Links to other relevant Chicano/Latino websites such as the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies and LatCrit: Latina/o Critical Legal Theory, Inc. are also available. 

 

Classified and Professional Staffing: The CHST office assistant senior plays a critical role in providing efficient administrative service. In addition to providing general receptionist support, he quickly and competently performs the various administrative duties associated with an academic program (i.e., budgetary items, course loading, event programming, etc.).  Efficient supervision of a student work-study allowed for increased participation in university wide extra-curricular activities (i.e., Discovery Days, Resource Fairs, etc.); flawless planning and logistical support for study abroad activities in Puerto Rico; and the creation of several aesthetically pleasing bulletin boards and display cases that highlighted the program’s many accomplishments, student learning outcomes, and upcoming events and award deadlines.

 

Diversity: The Chicano Studies Program did not conduct a faculty hire in the previous year, nor does it have a graduate study program.  Considering its limited resources, the program continues to be instrumental towards increasing diversity in the college and the university primarily through curricular instruction and extracurricular programming.  Collaboration with other academic units and across colleges have increased instructional resources, both Chicano and non-Chicana.  With the help of a PACMWA grant, prospects are bright for recruiting a target of opportunity hire in the coming year.

            Finally, efforts to increase diversity in the Chicano Studies program must take into consideration the implications of renaming the program to Chicana/Latino Studies.  This is an issue contained in the program’s academic plan and one that is producing healthy and reflective debate.  Once again, the program will look to PACMWA for assistance in this endeavor that has the potential of increasing the diversity of students, staff, and faculty through more curricular and co-curricular inclusiveness of other Latinas/os history and culture.

 

Assessment of Student Learning: The program’s mission, goals, and student learning outcomes can be found on the CHST (http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/ChicanoStudies/) and UW Student Learning Assessment websites (http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/AcadAffairs/assessment/pages/).  Assessment activities for the past year focused on completing data collection and analysis related to Chicano Studies student learning outcomes developed in the 2005 – 2006 AY.  In addition, the director and outside faculty member met over lunch with a graduating Chicano Studies minor.

            In terms of student learning outcomes, the faculty agreed to stagger the assessment of two student learning outcomes per academic semester.  In each semester, one student learning outcome in an upper- and a lower-division course would be assessed using an agreed upon assignment/activity rubric relevant to the outcome being measured.  Two independent readers were identified from the African American Studies and American Indian Studies programs to help provide unbiased evaluation of student learning outcomes from chosen course assignments/activities.

            All six student learning outcomes were assessed through written assignments.  Organic insight was assessed in CHST 1100: Intro to Chicano Studies (Molina, Fall 05); Chicano aesthetics in CHST 4470: Studies in Chicano Folklore (Aragón, Fall 05; historical perspective in CHST 2370: Chicano History, Origins to 1900 (Muñoz, Spring 06); and relational awareness in CHST 4990: Latinas/os in Education (Rios, Spring 06); intersectionality in CHST 4990: US Women of Color (Zamudio, Fall 07); and power for social change in CHST 1030: Social Justice in the 21st Century (Lawson-Borders, Fall 07).  Independent readers of written assignments from African American and American Indian Studies have concluded that CHST faculty members are meeting student learning outcomes.  A summary report of assessment activities by the independent American Indian studies reader is provided.

  

 Chicano Studies Assessment Report

2005-2008

Reiteration of the past three years: Click Here for Table 

 

Summary for 2007-08

H.  What are the department’s strengths when it comes to implementing its plan for assessing student learning? What is the department doing well?

The Assessment of the Chicano Studies Program is coming to an end after four years of planning and implementation. We have collected student learning data over the last three years. We have assessed the student learning through the outcomes set by the assessment team in January of 2006. These outcomes are identified as the relational, historical, organic insight, Chican@ aesthetic, Power for Social Change, and intersectionality. Though analysis of the data collected the outside reviewers have concluded that the outcomes are being met.  Additionally, the department is adjusting the course rotations to meet the needs of the students enrolled in the minor program. The minor curriculum has been reviewed and will be revamped to also meet the needs of the students in completing the requirements.

I.  What are the department’s weaknesses when it comes to implementing its plan for assessing student learning? What does the department need to work on? What are its challenges?

The challenge at hand will be to revamp the minor program in a way that will meet the needs of the students, allow for faculty input to make positive change for all involved, and catapult the program into the direction of a graduate minor and subsequently, an undergraduate major in the future years.

The department should also consider revamping its website to reflect some of the changes in its advisory committee and images of the students and events the program supports.

 

Informal exit interviews with CHST graduating minors provide additional and valuable assessment insight. A lunch invitation was open to all program minors, but only one graduating minor was able to participate during the busy finals week time period.  This year’s lone female participant confirmed much of the previous year’s participant’s thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of the program.  There was high praise for the faculty and the curriculum, whose varied research and teaching expertise helped to broaden their knowledge about Chicana/o history, culture, and social status. A desire for a broader curriculum and more faculty resources, however, remained a major concern.

More cultural studies, legal studies, health sciences, and business courses were high on this student’s wish list.  Even more so, was a methods course for those students who engage, and would like to engage, in faculty/student research projects.  Also, a more inclusive curriculum with regards to other Latino ethnic groups could make the university more competitive in attracting students and faculty. The student also felt an Ethnic Studies major would be most beneficial as students would be better able to make connections with regards to different peoples histories and struggles.  This could allow for more effective coalitions to bring about meaningful and resilient social, economic, and political justice.

            When asked about what was most beneficial about the program, the consultant replied that faculty members were excellent in helping her develop her potential.  

You could talk to them and they would understand what you were concerned about, and would provide advice.  They would write letters of support for opportunities they usually identified for you.  Most of all, they helped me understand more about my family’s history in Wyoming—from my abuelo’s Bracero experience in the 1940s, to my parents IRCA experience in the 1980s, to my research agenda and social activism here on campus.  Now I have to pass all this knowledge on to not only my family, but to others who have misperceptions of who we really are.  This is why we need more faculty, so they can help even more of us to get where we want to go. . . . Sometimes it’s kind of sad that they don’t go to all of the events we students put on, but then they are pretty busy with everything else.  I think if they were at more events they could help get more of the Latino community involved with the University.

 

Text Box:  

            Future assessment activities will include a second iteration of the planning cycle developed.  In addition, the feasibility of a post-graduation survey to be distributed to CHST alumni will be discussed.  Assessment activities and results will be posted on the Chicano Studies website for viewing by prospective students, current students and potential donors.

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