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CSULA News Release

Nov. 12, 2008

CONTACTS:
Sean Kearns
Media Relations Director
(323) 343-3050
or
Margie Low
Public Affairs Specialist
(323) 343-3047

Cal State L.A.
Office of Public Affairs
(323) 343-3050
Fax: (323) 343-6405

 

                                                                                                                                     

Media Advisory: 4:30-6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13

Panel of distinguished alums to address

the past, present, future of Chicano Studies

 

Cal State L.A. celebrates 40th anniversary of its

Chicano Studies department—the first in the nation

 

What:           A panel discussion featuring former Cal State L.A. student activists—including María Lourdes Baeza, board president of Mujeres Unidas en Justicia, Educación y Reforma (MUJER), from Miami, Florida—who helped to champion the establishment of the nation’s first Chicano Studies department.

When:           Thursday, Nov. 13, 4:30-6 p.m.    

Where:          Los Angeles Room, University-Student Union, on the Cal State L.A. campus.

Info:             For directions, go to http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/maps/. For details on the panel discussion, call 323-343-2190.

Los Angeles, CA – How has Chicano Studies reflected the changing culture of Southern California? How has the Chicano experience changed from what it was 40 years ago?

Four Cal State L.A. alums who helped to champion the establishment of the nation’s first Chicano Studies department will return to their alma mater to present a discussion on “United Mexican American Studies (UMAS) and the Founding of Chicano Studies at CSULA,” Thursday, Nov. 13, 4:30-6 p.m., at the University-Student Union, Los Angeles Room, on the Cal State L.A. campus.   

The panelists, all of whom have gone on to achieve considerable success in academia, are María Lourdes Baeza, board president of Mujeres Unidas en Justicia, Educación y Reforma (MUJER); Carlos Muñoz, Jr., professor emeritus of Chicano Studies at UC Berkeley; and Monte Perez, president of the Moreno Valley campus of Riverside Community College. Also, the moderator is Phil Castruita, a researcher and faculty in Chicana/o Studies at CSU Fullerton.

In celebration of the Chicano Studies department’s 40th anniversary, this panel will share how they, as students at the time, organized and garnered support for the creation of a Department of Chicano Studies at Cal State L.A. The audience will be invited to engage in a dialogue about the history of student activism at Cal State L.A., the current state of Chicano Studies and the issues facing Chicana/o/Latina/o communities. There will also be an exhibit commemorating the UMAS student organization on campus.

The Department of Chicano Studies at Cal State L.A. was founded in fall 1968. The courses and its program were originally referred to as “Mexican American Studies.”

Today, the Chicano Studies department at Cal State L.A. offers a major with four options, three minors, and an M.A. program. Its alumni frequently pursue graduate or doctoral degrees, while some become educators, professionals and organizers in the Los Angeles community.

For more information on the Department of Chicano Studies at Cal State L.A., call 323-343-2190 or go to http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/chs/index.htm.

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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 205,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu

 

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