College of Arts & Sciences Annual Report 2006 2007

College of Arts & Sciences Annual Report 2006 - 2007

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  “Diaspora Study in the Yucatán”—Summer Study Abroad Course Offering (3^rd year)
  
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  “Alicia in Wonder Tierra”—Snowy Range Summer Theatre and Dance Festival Children’s Show at Vedauwoo State Park and State Fall Tour, Dr. Cecilia Aragón, Director
  
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  “Social Justice in the 21^st Century”—Freshman Interest Group (3^rd year)
  
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  “Underground Hip-Hop Show”—Free September Student Concert featuring Quanstar from the Metrognome and Adrian Molina
  
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  “Hip-Hop, Gender, and Feminism”—Open Forum facilitated by Adrian Molina
  
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  “Quinceañera and Other Coming of Age Rituals in Latino Communities”–Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture, Dr. Norma Cantu, University of Texas at San Antonio
  
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  “Teaching Civil Rights for Social Justice”—Paper presented by Dr. Margie Zamudio with Drs. Jacquelyn Bridgeman and Caskey Russell at the annual meeting of LatCrit: Latina/o Critical Legal Theory, Inc., in Las Vegas, NV.
  
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  Hip-Hop Lecture Series
  
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    “African, Jamaican, and Latino Roots of Hip-Hop,” Dewey Gallegos
    
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    “Hip-Hop in the Marketplace of Ideas,” Gracie Lawson-Borders
    
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    “In the Name of Justice: Hip-Hop’s Activist History,” Adrian Molina and Kathleen Vernon
    
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    “International Hip-Hop,” Lauren Neeff
    
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  “Hip-Hop Revolution II”—Shepard Symposium for Social Justice Opening Keynote Lecture by Jeff Chang
  
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  “Trabajo y sueños en todo los gneraciónes de mestizaje en Wyoming”—Wyoming Latino History Mural by Ruby Chacon unveiled at the 3^rd annual Cesar Chavez Dinner “Sueños para los Niñas/os,” commissioned by Movimiento Estudiantíl Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA)
  

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  “Assessing Chicano Studies Student Learning”—Workshop facilitated by Dr. Ed A. Muñoz and Adrian Molina at the annual meeting of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, San Jose, CA
  
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  “Phantom Discourse: Life, Death and Chicanism@”--A play written, produced, directed, and performed by Adrian Molina
  
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  “Latinos in the Diaspora: Education in Rural Settings”—Regional Conference hosted by UW Education Studies, Chicano Studies, and USA Funds
  

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  “Portraits of Latinas in Albany County”—Gala/Award Reception service learning project for Dr. Carmelita Castañeda’s CHST 3200: Perspectives in Chicana Studies recognizing outstanding Latina Leaders in Albany County
  

1. 
   The assessment of two Chicano Studies student learning outcomes began in the Spring semester. The four remaining student learning outcomes will be assessed in the upcoming academic year.
   

2. 
   In large part, the streamlining of the Chicano Studies Minor curriculum has been responsible for an upsurge in CHST minors.
   

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 desire for a more inclusive U.S. Latino Studies program.
   

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.
   

5. 
   The recent combined relocation of ethnic and women’s studies interdisciplinary programs has proved beneficial and should provide continued opportunities for synergistic collaboration with a number of events and program. In accord with CHST minors comments during exit interviews, the viability of a CHST and/or Ethnic Studies distributed major degree program will be investigated during the next academic year.
   

Student teaching evaluations show considerable praise for Chicano Studies faculty and course curricula. Nevertheless, an additional faculty line is necessary to offer History core curriculum courses on a regular rotation, to increase the level of distance learning, and to provide more USP supporting courses such as CHST 1030: Social Justice in the 21^st Century (I, D); CHST 1100: Intro to Chicano Studies (CS, D), CHST / HIST 2370: Chicano History, Origins to 1900 (CS, D), and CHST / HIST 4485: Latino Diaspora, Comparative History of the U.S. (WC, D). This becomes even more urgent considering reduced temporary teaching resources and the non-renewal of a shared teaching resources commitment with the College of Education (Rios and Castañeda) that carries the potential of hampering short- and long-term curriculum development.

The study abroad course “Diaspora Study in the Yúcatan” experienced continued success last summer and again was selected for 2007 Summer Course Initiative funding. This course combines a classroom component on the historical and contemporary Latino Diaspora with an experiential study abroad component in Mérida, Yúcatan, México. The past summer course had its largest enrollment (7) to date with the help of minority study abroad scholarships funded through a federally sponsored grant administered by the UW International Programs Office. The course’s outlook for the future appears sound as Dr. Muñoz received an International Studies Course Development grant to assist him in the institutionalization of the course as CHST / HIST 4485: Latino Diaspora, Comparative History of the U.S. It will be offered every other spring semester with alternating study abroad sites in Mérida, Mexico and San Juan, Puerto Rico around the spring break week. Finally, the possibility of Latino Diaspora being offered through the Honors Program is being investigated.

Additional efforts to broaden the curriculum at the programmatic, departmental, college, and university levels have proved successful. Dr. Zamudio’s CHST / SOC / WMST 3800: Chican@s in Contemporary Society, approved for USP status (CS, D), was taught for the first time last spring to excellent reviews. Her popular special topics course CHST 4990: U.S. Women of Color will be submitted for permanent curricular and USP status (CS, D) next year. Dr. Aragón’s CHST 4470: Studies in Chicano Folklore will provide additional USP support (CH, D) in the spring. She is continuing with the development of a Latino Children’s Theatre course that will support requirements for a theatre education certification with the College of Education.

There was continued success for the USP (I, D) course AAST / AIST / AMST / CHST / INST / WMST 1030: Social Justice in the 21^st Century. This course serves as the anchor course for the interdisciplinary Freshman Interest Group (FIG) Social Justice in the 21^st Century. A mainstay of the course and its success has been its continued collaborative service learning projects with the Lincoln Community Center in West Laramie. The Office of Academic Affairs once again has decided to offer Social Justice in the 21^st Century as part of its Fall 2007 menu of Freshman Interest Groups. Dr. Gracie Lawson-Borders will be the instructor of record for the upcoming semester.

There was high praise for College of Education faculty who taught CHST core and non-core courses through a shared resources agreement between the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences. In fact, Education Studies faculty members Drs. Francisco Rios and Carmelita Casteñada brought high visibility to the program with special events that were a large part of their students’ course requirements.

With funding assistance from USA Funds, Dr. Rios organized and hosted a regional conference entitled “Latinos in the Diaspora: Education in Rural Settings.” Conference presenters from institutions located in the inter-Rocky Mountain (i.e., Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming) and Pacific Northwest (Washington, Idaho) regions came together to discuss issues and best practices on educating Latin@ students in rural settings. Students in Dr. Rios’ online Outreach course CHST 4990: Latinos in Education actively participated in conference proceedings that were attended well by UW students/faculty/staff and non UW students/faculty/staff as well.

As part of their service learning project in Dr. Castañeda’s CHST 3200: Perspectives in Chicana Studies course, students secured grant funding for their gala award dinner reception from the Wyoming Humanities Council, ASUW, KOCA La Radio Montañesa, and the Chicano Studies Program. Past and current Latinas from Albany County were recognized for their leadership in their respective professions, and more importantly, for their volunteerism in the community.

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. A direct reward will manifest soon in the publication of a refereed journal article that will be submitted at the end of the summer. Indirectly, the Chicano Studies Program undoubtedly has established itself as a high visibility program that addresses some of the most pressing social, economic, and political issues in contemporary society. Evidence for this claim can be seen in temporary lecturer Adrian Molina’s recent ASUW Distinguished Service Award presented to a staff or faculty member for their dedication to students. Additional evidence manifests in the relatively high level of advising for undergraduate/graduate independent research (4), McNair Scholars (2), and Masters Thesis projects (4).
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 are highly variable due to the interdisciplinary nature of their work. Overall, CHST faculty members are making significant research and/or creative contributions to their disciplinary fields.

This year Dr. Ed A. Muñoz became the first University of Wyoming CHST faculty member to be tenured and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. As Dr. Munoz’ T&P external reviewers note, his scholarship demonstrates an insightful blend of the distinct academic disciplines his research contributes to—Sociology, Criminal Justice and Chicano Studies. In the past year, Dr. Muñoz had a referred article accepted for publication in the Journal of Criminal Justice and Ethnicity and an encyclopedia chapter in Latino America: State by State. His collaborative work on a traveling exhibit with the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Museum entitled Construyendo Latinidad: The Hispanic Mexican Influence in Wyoming, 17^th – 21^st Century, debuted on the University of Wyoming campus during Hispanic Heritage Month. A second showing ran during Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Days of Dialogue. Most recently, the Albany County Public Library and the Carbon County Museum have displayed the exhibit.

Dr. Zamudio has an active research agenda that has positioned her for continued success in the coming years as she is increasingly establishing her reputation as a leader in the area of Latina/o transnational labor and labor organizing with her work that examines the labor dynamics of African-Americans and immigrant Latina/os in the service industry. She is also in the preliminary stages of research projects focusing on immigration and economic development in Wyoming. Most recently, refereed journal articles accepted for publication in Sociological Perspectives and Equity & Excellence in Education have broadened her national audience among scholars investigating the manifestations and implications of modern racism in today’s “color blind” society. Equally important, this work has provided the foundation for UW Chicano Studies student learning outcomes. Her cross-disciplinary collaborations with scholars in Education Studies, American Indian Studies, African American Studies, and Women’s Studies on teaching Civil Rights for Social Justice is sure to advance her notoriety in critical race theory and pedagogy scholarship.

Dr. Aragón continues to be productive in both research and creative activities. This past year Dr. Aragón published a book chapter in Children of the Sun: Monologues and Scenes for Latina/o Youth. What’s more, her production and direction of Alicia in Wonder Tierra by Silvia Gonzales S. received local and regional accolades for its summer Vedawoo amphitheater and fall state tour performances. Dr. Aragon’s creative activities were supported by a significant grant from the Wyoming Arts Council. As of late, she is developing a line of research area that entails several manuscripts examining performance as pedagogy for social justice. This work revolves around her work in advising, directing, and producing local Hip-Hop events, as well as her participation with immigrant rights rallies and teach-ins. Taken together, this work will soon place her as a leader in the area of children and youth theatre performance.

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; Rawlins Fiesta Days; Rawlins 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 participated in U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin’s immigration forum, and conference proceedings with LatCrit: Latina/o Critical Legal Theory, Inc. Dr. Aragon presented theatre workshops at this year’s Shepard Symposium for Social Justice, and consultations for Wyoming High School Theatre Teachers and the Utah Arts Council. Dr. Muñoz continues to be actively involved in conference proceedings of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies and the Latina/o Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. Also this year, he was invited to be a Wyoming Humanities Forum lecturer.

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 collaborated on an experimental video conference offering of Intro to Chicano Studies. The ultimate 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.

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 the appointment of three tenure-track and four adjunct tenure-track and tenured faculty, the curriculum was broadened with attention to enhanced academic rigor. This faculty agreed that without any graduate teaching assistance, lower course enrollments were necessary in order to effectively instruct and assess academically rigorous courses that involved increased levels of reading comprehension, as well as oral and written skills for all core and non-core curriculum courses. The streamlining and regular offering of CHST core courses has allowed for a marked increase in CHST minors (300%) during the five-year time period 2001 (n = 2) – 2005 (n = 8) .

As mentioned earlier, the bulk of the program’s recruitment efforts are coordinated through better equipped student affairs units such as the Office of 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, one an incoming student and a repeat recipient from last year. The program sponsored the fourth annual Chicano Studies graduation reception and recognized graduates for their scholarly and extra-curricular accomplishments.

Thank you letters from the director and Hispanic Heritage Scholarship award recipients are a step in the right direction for added replenishing of the Hispanic Heritage Fund. However, additional work needs to be devoted to the development of a formal solicitation letter and an alumni data base to ensure the scholarships long-term survival. This work needs to be coordinated with other campus and non-campus organizations such as MEChA, OMA, and the Wyoming Latino/a Coalition.

The program does use a variety of public relations outlets to inform constituents about the program’s endeavors and successes. 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. The Chicano Studies Program and their faculty have been featured several times in various non-campus media outlets.

These newsworthy events will soon be 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 when completed, as well as 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.

With all the academic and non-academic activities the program engages in and the office assistant’s half-time status, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to efficiently meet all of the program’s immediate demands. Thus, we are forced to prioritize completing required tasks with jobs such as development, newsletters, brochures, and website maintenance receiving less attention than necessary. We are discussing strategies on how to better make use of work study employees and to streamline tasks for the upcoming 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 should produce healthy and reflective debate. Nevertheless, it is important to note that Chicano Studies minors are a racially/ethnically diverse group with 4 Latin@s, 3 whites, and 1 African American. The group has a gender imbalance of 1:3 males to females.

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.

The Chicano Studies “organic insight” student learning outcome was assessed through a CHST 1100: Intro to Chicano Studies written assignment, demonstrating the development of a contextual framework for understanding one’s own and others’ experiences in relation to the Chicana/o experience. The independent reader states that, “The students were very positive about their learning in the CHST 1100 class. They expressed many positive impacts on their own lives as well as the constant exposure to new knowledge and perspectives.” One student reflected about “the eye opening content taught in the class….Of course not knowing anything about Chicano culture I had a negative stereo-type in my mind about how all Chicano’s were. I think in my mind I had a picture painted of all Chicanos as gang banger homies. This negative stereo-type that I had, affected how I acted towards some of my Mexican co-workers. I now realize that I had no right to treat some of them how I did.”

The Chicano Studies “aesthetics” student learning outcome was assessed through a CHST 4470: Studies in Chicano Folklore final paper, demonstrating the development of an appreciation and awareness of the aesthetics evident in Chicano art, music, theater, literature, and other artistic expressions. The independent reader states that, “The students did a very good job linking what they had read and discussed in class to the various topics that they researched.  I believe that the five course goals outlined in the course syllabus were met. I enjoyed reading the papers.” The independent reader’s comments on one paper describes the impact of employing multimedia in developing persuasive arguments…”Interesting imagery in the PowerPoint slides – powerful - Great discussion on how the Virgin of Guadalupe is used to socialize women into the role of ‘good woman, wife, mother and nurturer’. The presentation of the contemporary images casting her in a more active role challenges the historical role.”

From this fall semester data it appears that CHST faculty are meeting student learning outcomes through their selected course materials and pedagogy. A more definitive statement can be made after analyzing data collected at the end of the spring semester. The “historical perspective” student learning outcome will be assessed through a CHST 2370: Chicano History, Origins to 1900 assignment, with “relational awareness” being assessed through a CHST 4990: Special Topics, Latin@s in Education assignment. In the Fall 07, the “power for social change” student learning outcome will be assessed through a CHST 1030: Social Justice in the 21^st Century assignment, with “intersectionality” being assessed through a CHST 4990: Special Topics, U.S. Women of Color assignment. The Spring 08 semester will be reserved to reflect upon the data and develop any curricular adjustments needed before we begin the assessment cycle again in the Fall 08 semester.

An informal dinner with CHST graduating minors was held at a downtown restaurant in April to supplement direct feedback on student learning. The invitation was open to all minors, but due to conflicting schedules only three females were able to attend. An attempt to hold brief informal individual exit interviews with graduating CHST minors proved unsuccessful. In general, volunteers had high praise for the faculty and the curriculum. There comments suggested that the faculty’s varied research and teaching expertise helped to broaden their knowledge about Chicana/o history, culture, and social status.

Even so, students voiced a desire for a broader curriculum that they realized could only come about with additional faculty resources in disciplines outside of the traditional core of Sociology, English, and History. Students also felt that a more inclusive curriculum with regards to other Latino ethnic groups would be beneficial in recruiting more students. And since students had taken other interdisciplinary courses that they felt connected with their Chicano Studies minor, there was interest in the possibility of an Ethnic Studies major.

When asked if they felt their Chicano Studies minor would benefit them in the long run, volunteers responded positively. One student voiced that her Chicano Studies courses improved her “cultural competency” that is becoming a skill increasingly desired by employers. Another student did not give direct credit to her Chicano Studies curriculum, but did state that she was in her current position as claims adjuster due to the fact of her Mexican ancestry and bilingual speaking ability. Noteworthy among three out of six graduating minors is their acceptance into graduate school programs at Iowa State University and the University of New Mexico to pursue advanced degrees in the field of academia.

Upon complete analysis of additional direct and indirect assessment data, a post-graduation survey will be developed and distributed to CHST alumni. A CHST alumni database is being developed with the help of the Office of Multicultural Affairs Hispanic Student Programming and the College of Arts and Sciences Development Office. In addition, assessment activities and results will be posted on the Chicano Studies website for viewing by prospective students, current students, and potential donors.