Ethnic Studies, Academic Freedom, and the Value of Scholarship

Dr. Joseph gives an introduction to the event including the participants, sponsors, and an overview of the day's program.

Abstract: Libraries that serve the public – school, community public, and academic – have certain intellectual freedom responsibilities to their clientele. That is, they must protect the rights of every individual to both seek and receive information without restriction. How librarians exercise these responsibilities within the different purposes, constraints, and governing structures of their parent institutions is quite different. Carla J. Stoffle has been Dean of Libraries and Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona since July 1, 1991. Before joining the University of Arizona, she was Deputy Director at the University of Michigan Library in Ann Arbor from 1985-1991. In 1972, she was employed as a Reference Librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside; by the time she left that institution in 1985, was the Assistant Chancellor for Educational Services. From 1969 to 1972, Ms. Stoffle was Head of the Government Publications Department at Eastern Kentucky University. Ms. Stoffle earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado. She received her M.S.L.S. degree from the University of Kentucky. She has completed course work for a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Wisconsin.

Franci Washburn holds Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts degrees in English, Creative Writing, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico. She writes poetry, short fiction and novels, and has published articles in Indigenous Nations Studies Journal, American Indian Quarterly, and Studies in American Indian Literature. Her first novel, Elsie's Business, will be released from the University of Nebraska Press in the fall of 2006. A book of poetry is ready for submission and a second novel is in progress as well as a non-fiction book entitled James R. Walker and the Lakota Creation Story. Her areas of interest include Creative Writing, poetry and fiction; Lakota culture, history and politics; American Indian Literature; Literary Theory; and American Indian Art, particularly American Indian beadwork.

Thomas E. Sheridan, Professor of Anthropology, Southwest Center and School of Anthropology, holds a joint appointment in the Southwest Center and the Department of Anthropology and have conducted ethnographic and ethnohistoric research in the Southwest and Northern Mexico since 1971. I directed the Mexican Heritage Project at the Arizona Historical Society from 1982-1984, and was Director of the Office of Ethnohistorical Research at ASM from 1997 to 2003.

Adela C. Licona Abstract: My talk, “Teaching & Learning at a Land Grant University: A Commitment to Local Knowledge,” begins with Steven Goldzwigʼs concept of “critical localism.” I consider how this concept calls us to become familiar with local knowledges, histories, discourses, and practices, and further consider what such a calling might look like in the rhetorical studies classroom. I argue that a pedagogy informed by critical localism is relevant and meaningful especially in land grant institutions and that such a pedagogy, coupled with the mission of the land grant institution, commit us to the teaching of Ethnic studies. I am especially indebted to Professor Steven Goldzwig for his work, and particularly his concept of critical localism, which continues to inspire and inform my teaching. Anyone interested in a transcript of the talk, or a complete list of references, should feel free to contact me directly. Dr. Licona is Assistant Professor in the UA's Department of English. She is a member of numerous professional organizations and has published extensively in the professional literature.

Abstract: Rhoades explores the ways in which the TUSD Mexican American Studies program is an academic freedom issue, a civil rights issue, and an issue at the core of what it means to be a public land grant university. Gary Rhoades, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Arizona's College of Education. Dr. Rhoades is also associated with the Center for the Study of Higher Education, Educational Policy Studies & Practice. Rhoades’ scholarship focuses on the restructuring of academic institutions and of professions in the academy, as well as on science and technology policy, and comparative higher education. That scholarship is informing his work with the AAUP. In addition to his books, Managed Professionals (1998, SUNY Press), and Academic Capitalism and the New Economy (with Sheila Slaughter, 2004, Johns Hopkins University Press), Rhoades is now working on a new volume, tentatively entitled, Managing to be Different: From Strategic Imitation to Strategic Imagination.

Jacqueline Lee Mok serves as the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff in the Office of the President. Her expertise is in music education and arts administration; her academic home is the School of Music. Dr. Mok also has participated in the HERS/Bryn Mawr Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration and the Management Development Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Antonio L. Estrada, MSPH, Ph.D., is Professor and Head of the Department of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona. He received his Ph.D. and MS degrees in Public Health with training in Behavioral Sciences/Health Education, Social Epidemiology, and Evaluation Research from the UCLA School of Public Health. His research interests include HIV disease among injection drug users and their sexual partners, prevention with HIV positives, and Hispanic/Latino health disparities. He has been the Principal Investigator on two R01 research grants, a NIH minority supplement, has served as Co-Principal Investigator on three NIH funded grants and has received State and private foundation funding for his research.

Abstract: Dr. Cammarota’s presentation focuses on Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and how the book proposes a critical pedagogy that structures learning around personal and collective emancipation. His talk also provides two propositions for implementing a critical pedagogy: 1) oppression is a current and persistent reality for many people and 2) the oppressed have the capability to liberate themselves from oppression. These propositions relate to the two goals of locating the causes of oppression and transforming both subjective and objective reality. Julio Cammarota is an Associate Professor in the UA Department of Mexican American Studies. Dr. Cammarota received his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education. He has published papers on family, work, and education among Latinos and the relationship between culture and academic achievement. Cammarota has also co-authored a seminal article on applying a social justice approach to youth development practices. Currently, he is the director of the Social Justice Education Project in Tucson, Arizona, and the Anthropology and Education Program at the UA.

Program for April 10, 2012 event. Distinguished University of Arizona faculty members spoke about their ethnic studies research, scholarship and pedagogies, as well as delivering informative presentations on the concepts of intellectual and academic freedom. A concurrent poster session featured graduate student research related to ethnic studies topics.