In 2008, California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History began The Bracero Oral history Project, which has since collected over 700 interviews, dozens of photographs, documents, and artifacts that tell the story of the largest guest-worker program in U.S. history. CSUCI offered service-learning courses to students in History, Spanish, Chicano/a Studies, and Art who conducted oral history interviews with ex-Braceros and their families, researched newspaper archival records, scanned photographs, organized town-hall meetings, designed an exhibition, and conducted exhibit tours for high school teachers and students, community groups, and family members. This workshop for faculty and students will discuss the lessons learned from the Bracero Oral History Project. It will

• Identify the challenges of "crossing borders" within the university and to the Latino/a community
• Explore ways students and faculty can work collaboratively across different academic disciplines and with community partners in an attempt to bridge the university-community divide
• Emphasize the importance of understanding the current political climate when conducting community-based participatory research
• Examine how students and faculty can address social justice issues in response to local communities' needs

Jose M. Alamillo is the author of Making Lemonade out of Lemons: Mexican American Labor and Leisure in a California Town, 1900-1960 (2006) and co-author of Latinos in U.S. Sport (2011). He teaches courses in Chicana/o Studies, ethnic studies, labor and immigration, community service-learning and oral history. He has also worked closely with public libraries, community groups, and museums on oral history projects and exhibitions.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, January 26, 2011 to CommunityEngagement@cslanet.calstatela.edu or by calling (323) 343-5969

*Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics disciplines