These records document activities of the Women of Color Research Cluster, also known as the Women of Color in Collaboration and Conflict Research Cluster, from 1992 to 2008. The majority of the contents are related to the annual Women of Color Film and Video Festival, including festival posters, programs, film submissions on digital and audiovisual media, t-shirts, and planning materials. This collection also contains some documentation of speakers series, seminars, conferences, and other events that the cluster hosted, and publications that were produced, such as the compilation of essays entitled Beyond the Frame: Women of Color and Visual Representation, edited by Neferti X.M. Tadiar and Angela Y. Davis. Planning and curriculum development files for UCSC courses on the subject of women of color are also included, as well as related course materials from other UC campuses. Administrative files include meeting minutes, correspondence, and financial information about the cluster.

The Women of Color Research Cluster at UC Santa Cruz, also called the University of California Research Cluster for the Study of Women of Color in Conflict and Collaboration, was founded in 1991 by graduate students and affiliated faculty studying Women of Color on the UC Santa Cruz campus. According to their mission statement, the cluster was significant in that it "[departed] from critical perspectives surrounding the category 'women of color,' [and focused on] the study of the complexities of multiple, dispersed, and conficting identities." (http://www2.ucsc.edu/woc/mission.html) The cluster was funded in the 1990s by Professor Angela Y. Davis, UC Presidential Chair, and the Center for Cultural Studies. The largest ongoing project put on by the Women of Color Research Cluster was the annual Women of Color Film and Video Festival, which received submissions from filmmakers around the country and premiered several films before they were shown at national festivals. The cluster participated in curriculum development for courses in the Women's Studies/Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness departments on the subject of women of color, which were co-taught by tenure-track faculty and graduate student cluster members. The cluster also hosted speakers series, seminars, and other campus-wide events before disbanding in the 2000s. During the 2016-2017 academic year, graduate students from three UC campuses (Santa Cruz, Davis, and Berkeley) came together in the spirit of the original research cluster as the Women of Color (WOC) in Collaboration and Conflict Graduate Working Group to collaborate across disciplines to "co-author and co-edit a journal on the theme of witnessing and testimony as a decolonial feminist methodology." (https://ucscwocresearchcluster.wordpress.com/)

7.8 Linear Feet (7 boxes, including 56 unprocessed DVDs, 10 unprocessed CDs, and 1 unprocessed ZIP disk).

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Collection is open for research. Audiovisual media is unavailable until reformatted. Digital files may be made available in the UCSC Special Collections and Archives reading room. Some files may require reformatting before they can be accessed. Technical limitations may hinder the Library's ability to provide access to some digital files. Access to digital files on original carriers is prohibited; users must request to view access copies. Contact Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access to audiovisual media and digital files.