Collection Guide
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Chicana and Chicano Studies Department Records
MS-0442
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & University Archives
Title: Chicana and Chicano Studies Department Records
Creator:
Chicana and Chicano Studies Department
Identifier/Call Number: MS-0442
Physical Description:
1.67 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1968-2003
Date (bulk): 1970-1979
Language of Material:
English
, Spanish; Castilian
.
The
Chicana and Chicano Studies Department Records (1968-2003) document the development and administration of the department and its curriculum. Highlights include materials
relating to the department's incorporation into the College of Professional Studies and the resulting backlash from students.
The majority of the material dates from the 1970s and details early department organization and curricula. The collection
includes correspondence, syllabi, memorandums, course files, faculty meeting minutes, and reports. The collection is filed
alphabetically.
This collection is open for research.
The copyright interests in some of these materials have been transferred to or belong to San Diego State University. The nature
of historical archival and manuscript collections means that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine.
Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. Requests for permission to publish
must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted,
permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are
made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the
materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
This collection was acquired from the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department (date unknown); material was added in October
2006 from Barbara Friedrich, wife of Dr. Will Kennedy, one of the founders of the Mexican American Studies Department.
2006-029
Rene Nuñez Memorial Collection, 1968-2008
Carmen Sandoval Fernandez Poster Collection, 1974-1983
Arturo Casares Papers, 1968-2007
Maria Garcia Papers, 1968-1997
Chicano Federation of San Diego County Records, 1968-1980
Center for Women's Studies and Services Records, 1947-1997
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Chicana and Chicano Studies Department Records, Special Collections and
University Archives, San Diego State University Library.
This collection was processed as part of the Chicano Studies Archives Project, made possible by a grant from the President's
Leadership Fund.
Initially developed in 1968 by students and faculty inspired by the Civil Rights and Chicano movements, San Diego State College
(SDSC) officially established the Mexican-American Studies Department, now known as the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department,
in 1969, and offered both a major and a minor. SDSC faculty and students followed
El Plan de Santa Barbara as a blueprint for the codification of Chicana/o Studies at the university level, which had been created at the 1969 UC Santa
Barbara Conference of Chicano students, professors, and activists. The purpose of the newly-formed department was to teach
an accurate and complete history of Chicanos and Mexican-Americans and their contributions to the United States. In addition,
the department hoped to recruit more Chicana/o students to the campus, and teach and develop skills that students could use
to help their communities politically and economically.
In the beginning, students under the guidance of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) ran the department.
They actively participated in departmental meetings and decisions, taught classes, hired and fired faculty, and helped to
develop the curriculum. In 1975, however, with San Diego State College's change to university status, SDSU incorporated the
Mexican-American Studies Department into the College of Professional Studies. As a result of this institutionalization, the
department's decision-making process became faculty and staff centered. Later, in 1980, the department became part of the
College of Arts and Letters.
Today, the department maintains a multi-disciplinary curriculum offering classes in film, history, anthropology, sociology,
literature, and politics. The curriculum also features classes in immigration and border studies, and encourages community
outreach through internships, cultural exchanges, research, and advocacy. Faculty and students participate in cultural documentation
projects, such as the Chicano Park Historical Documentation Project, oral interviews, and original research.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Institutional Archives
San Diego State University. Chicana and Chicano Studies
Chicano movement--California--San Diego