She/Her

Évolet Aceves is a Mexican writer of fiction and non-fiction genres, poet, cultural journalist, psychologist, and photographer. She is part of the anthology Monstrua (UNAM, 2022), and her first novel will be published this year in Editorial Planeta. Évolet has studied in Mexico and Poland, and she’s currently part of the MA’s degree in Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico, Évolet is currently interested in Philosophy of Aesthetics, Fashion, and Trans Studies. She has a weekly opinion column at the Mexican diary Pie de Página, and has also multiple collaborations at different magazines, newspapers, and cultural supplements, such as Nexos, Este País, El Cultural (La Razón), Replicante, among others.

Anissa is a native New Mexican, raised in the small ranching community of Ojo Caliente, where she was given compelling examples of hard work.

She received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a minor in Media Arts, at the University of New Mexico. Soon after, she relocated to Prague, Czech Republic, where she worked, lived and traveled for five years. 

Her wondrous spirit found its way back home, where she rediscovered her upbringing, incredible culture and complicated history, and wanted to have a part in the preservation of her community’s way of life. 

She sought out the Chicana and Chicano Studies MA program because it closely aligned with her personal goals. She is honored to have a part in the trailblazing program, for herself, and for her people.

Valerie Chavez was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her family lineage is firmly planted in New Mexico and is a key influence in her academic interests.

Valerie graduated from UNM with her B.A. in Intercultural Communication and a minor in Chicana/o studies. After graduating, Valerie spent two years working within the development staff for a local non-profit that strives to end homelessness in New Mexico.

She is now part of the administrative team as well as a direct contact for organizations, students, faculty and staff with interest in the PNMGC program. PNMGC is a peer mentoring program for graduate students of color. The program’s main focus is the peer-to-peer mentoring but also includes leadership and professional development, community and cultural engagement as well as academic workshops. 

Valerie’s proposed research is rooted in her Nueva Mexicana identity. While studying, she plans on analyzing Nueva Mexicana Chola self-expression and its relation to Chicana feminism. Her focus will be to destruct and understand the importance of space/place within Chicana feminist identity.

He became a community activist at an early age. In high school he was a member of La Raza Unida Youth Committee, and participated in a solidarity march against Proposition 187 in California.

Jerome graduated from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in 2006, earning Bachelors of Arts degrees in Political Science and American Studies. He moved to Denver, Colorado afterwards.

In Denver, Jerome became involved in the Chicano/Mexicano community there, and continued doing work for social justice. He helped organize several events against war, against police brutality, and for immigrant rights and for international solidarity. He helped organize the Transform Columbus Day march in 2007 and the Recreate 68 counter-convention against the Democratic National Convention in 2008. In 2014, the 40th anniversary of the deaths of Los Seis de Boulder Chicano activists, he assisted in the Symbols of Resistance commemoration for Chicano Movement martyrs from Colorado. 

Considering himself an organic intellectual, he conducted much independent research on Chicano history and did many community presentations on this topic. In his academic work he hopes to bring up and give a thorough analysis of the history and social movements of the Chicano people that are often overlooked.

Jerome moved back to Albuquerque, where he lives with his black cat, and trains in kenpo karate.

Hello! My name is Phil Cioppa and I am a member of the MA in Chicana and Chicano Studies proigram beginning with the Fall 2022 cohort.

With my wife, Janie, I live in West Richland WA – located in the southeastern part of WA State. Originally from Albany, NY, I hold a BA in Greek and Roman Civilization and French and a MA in English.

I teach English full-time at Hanford High School in Richland, WA. (GO Falcons!) Additionally, I chair our school’s Equity Committee.  

Having worked in and with the Mexican-American community for some time, I have long wanted to increase my knowledge of Chicana and Chicano Studies and am most grateful UNM now offers the online program. Although studying for this degree later in life, I know it will give me a deeper understanding and sensitivity of this ever-growing community.

My name is Luis Oswaldo Esparza. I am originally from Tototlán, Jalisco, Mexico, but raised in the Inland Empire region of California. I identify as Queer, Joto, Xicano, and most importantly, a social justice warrior. I obtained an associate degree from San Bernardino Valley College in 2014. I then transferred to California State University, San Bernardino where I graduated with a BA in Media Studies and an MA in Communication Studies. Now, I am both happy and honored to be part of the UNM Chicana and Chicano Studies PhD program.

My experiences as a queer person of color have ultimately shaped the direction of my research. Much of my research is centered around de-colonial theories and methodologies. That is, de-centralizing European ways of knowing as 'universal knowledge' and centering subaltern and indigenous epistemologies. I also focus on rural queerness in los ranchos y los pueblos, Queer Indigenous studies, and Queer subversive complicity.

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, my pedagogy style has also been greatly influenced by de-colonial thinkers like Paulo Freire, Frantz Fanon, Gloria Anzaldúa, Bell Hooks, and Enrique Dussel, and Ramón Grosfoguel.  With my research, activist work, and methods of teaching, I seek to humanize and empower myself, my students, and our community in order to liberate and transform our world. I hope to one day see a world free of eurocentrism, racism, hierarchization, homophobia, transphobia, machismo, patriarchy, and any other kind of system of oppression. Un mundo Trans-moderno (Dussel, 1993). Un mundo sin fronteras!

I am Robert (Corky) Frausto. I was born and raised in South Texas and participated in my first Chicano Rights protest in Del Rio in 1969. I have a BA in Psychology (UTSA) and an MA in Special Education (UNM). I moved to Albuquerque 30 years ago. I teach Chicano Studies and Chicano Literature at Highland High School in Albuquerque. I also sponsor MEChA at Highland. 

The Chicano Studies Program at Highland is unique in that it is intended as intervention classes for struggling and at risk students. My research is focused on curriculum development for secondary education ethnic studies classes and on the development of the literary canon in Chicano Literature. 

I live in Albuquerque's South Valley with 2 dogs and 3 cats. I am an artist and host an arts, crafts and music festival at my home every October. Everyone is welcome.

She/Her

Cynthia Garcia is an instructional faculty and counselor at Mt. San Jacinto community college in Southern California. She has been a counselor for over 10 years. Born and raised in San Diego, California, she is a first-generation Chicana, coming from a single parent household and immigrant parents. Earning her Undergraduate degree in Communication from Cal State University San Marcos and both graduate degrees in organizational leadership and Counseling from National University. She is slated to complete her MA in Chicana and Chicano studies at UNM Spring 23 and plans to apply to a doctoral program in Chicana and Chicano studies in the Fall. Cynthia currently serves as one of the Puente counselors, co-coordinators and instructors for her college’s Puente Project, a transfer program for Chicana/o & Latina/o students. She also teaches the Puente Counseling success courses that combines college success strategies with Chicana/o & Latina/o identity and cultural development. For many years Cynthia, as a proud Chicana has advocated for her community, especially in the educational sector by helping students advocate for themselves, their identity, and their history. Through intentional collaboration and support, promoting growth by directly challenging systemic barriers that have impeded our communities she has ensured her students understand the importance of our history, cultural identity and that all that we aspire to is founded on the sacrifice of our ancestors. She hopes to continue to support, inspire and guide her community to educate the next generation. C/S – Que Viva La Raza

Research Interests

Cynthia’s current research focuses on Chicana and Chicano coursework and their growth, development and survival within our Chicana and Chicano studies programs at the higher education level. Through coding and analyzation of course outlines from different colleges and universities she hopes to provide the field of Chicana and Chicano studies a way to ensure we continue center our Chicana and Chicano studies coursework to El Plan de Santa Barbara while also honoring the present.

Research Topics

Chicana Identity | Chicana and Chicano Studies | Raza Studies

He/Him

Gustavo García was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His family migrated from a Zapotec community in the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca, San Baltazar Chichicapam. As the first in his family to continue with higher education, he began his journey at Santa Monica College (SMC) where he received an AA in Social and Behavioral Sciences. He transferred to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and double majored in Chicana/o Studies and American Indian Studies. After receiving an MA in American Studies at the University of New Mexico (UNM), he joined the inaugural cohort of Chicana/o Studies where he is currently pursuing a PhD. Gustavo has taught in the Chicana/o Studies department, mentored community college transfer student through the NM Humanities Now! Mellon Transfer Program and has worked with undergraduate students conducting research in the El Puente Research Fellowship. He has also received numerous fellowships that include Ford Predoctoral Fellowship, Crossing Latinidades Pre-Doctoral Mellon Fellowship, Center for Regional Studies Project Fellowship, El Puente Graduate Fellowship, and Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship.

CV

Click here

Course(s) Offered

CCS 2110: Introduction to Chicana/o Studies and CCS 460: Chicanx's and Latinx's in a Global Society

Research Interests

Gustavo’s dissertation project, “Constellations of Oaxacan Worldmaking,” analyzes subversive cultural expressions of Indigenous Oaxacan people across OaxaCalifornia. Through an analysis of contemporary forms of cultural expressions such as art, music, poetry, and zines, Gustavo brings together a rich archive of Indigenous Oaxacan cultural production to locate histories of dispossession, exploitation, and violence, while also revealing other ways of being, thinking, and existing.

Research Topics

Chicanx and Latinx Studies | Cultural Production | Oaxacan and Zapotec Studies | Indigeneity | Social Movements

Baccalaureate degree in Sociology, Master of Arts in Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies & Master of Business Administration 

I was born and raised in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. 

I grew up Chicago where I obtained an AS degree in mathematics with an emphasis in philosophy. 

In 1999, I obtained an undergraduate degree in sociology with an emphasis in theory, history, and power structures. 

In 2004 I obtained a master’s degree in Language Literacy and Sociocultural education with an emphasis on transnational networks.

In 2015 I obtained an MBA from UNM with a focus on international education. 

I also spent 3 semesters in Regional Planning where I studied community development and planning.  This experience led me to co-found La Plazita Institute, a community space for gang prevention, community meetings, and youth programs. 

From 2000 to 2010, I worked and managed the Iberoamerican Science Technology and Education Consortium (ISTEC), a center for network building with an emphasis on research in microelectronics. 

I am the founder and Advisor to the Board of Directors of the Center for Social Sustainable Systems (CESOSS) a non-for-profit community-based research and learning center that is serving our local community of Atrisco (South Valley).

Much of the work I do, both at the university and community level, is being done under three distinct theoretical frameworks: complex systems, critical consciousness, and network development. 

I have developed the Quadruple Helix (4H), which is a social paradigm to facilitate communication and strategic alliances between industry, goverment, academia, and multinational organizations to support the cultural, political, social, and economic develoment of local communities. 

I am deeply involved in my culture.  I have focused my studies, and currently use, Mesoamerican calendars, Mexican thought and symbolism.

My main goal at El Centro de la Raza is to empower underprivileged students and focus on issues related to identity, intercultural studies, and social entrepreneurship.

Diahndra Grill is a multimedia artist, educator, and feminista.

She is the co-founder of JustWrite (nowrongjustwrite.org), a non-profit organization focused in the education sector and in collaboration with those incarcerated and in transition, engaging visual and literary arts as catalysts for self-discovery, healing, cultural and self preservation, and community building.

Diahndra is the Program Manager for the UNM Film & Digital Arts Department. She also serves on the SAFE House Board of Directors, an organization that shelters and empowers survivors of intimate partner domestic violence and works to improve the way New Mexico responds to violence.

Diahndra’s art reflects the personal/political experience while engaging the power of interwoven relationships and storytelling to dismantle borders and to sustain and reimagine identity, culture, and purpose.

Lee Ann is a native New Mexican, born and raised in Albuquerque, in the South Valley. She graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Child Development and Family Relations, with a Minor in Spanish, from UNM. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from New Mexico Highlands University in 2002.

Lee Ann is currently employed as a School Social Worker supporting high school students diagnosed with mental illnesses, in a social-emotional support program.

Lee Ann has worked with undocumented victims of domestic violence, providing support and guidance for access to resources to assist with physical, emotional, and mental issues related to their situations.  She has also worked with programs who provide community outreach and advocacy for underserved individuals, including homeless populations and the mentally ill. Lee Ann has provided support for foster and adoptive care placements by performing assessments to ensure the child’s safety and security.  

He/Him

Ruben is originally from Mexico City, Mexico, but has spent a large portion of his life growing up in Los Angeles, California. His experiences in Mexico and the United States have motivated him to explore Mexican and Chicanx culture at UNM, looking specifically at the sociocultural effects of border art. 

Ruben has a BFA in graphic design from the Savannah College of Art and Design and hopes to incorporate some of his design abilities into this field of study while putting time into research. He wants to help in breaking borders and communicating important messages, and believes he will get closer to that goal through UNM and the Chicana/o graduate studies program which very much embraces this breaking of borders.

Research Topics

Integration of the U.S.-Mexico Border in Different Mediums of Art | Chicanx and Mexican Culture on a Global Scale | US-Mexico Relations | Chicanx Underrepresentation in Popular Media

My name is Jewell Martha Medina.

I am a social justice Chicana scholar.

My research interests include art as it relates to social movements with an emphasis on history and giving voice to women’s stories. 

I have a permanent collection of my protest art at the Arizona State University Chicano archives.

My masters thesis is entitled “Women Who Wake With The Roosters And Other Xicana Sacred Spaces: Our Art Is Our Weapon”.

She/Her

Dominique Rodríguez is a doctoral student and instructor in the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at the University of New Mexico and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Languages and Culture at New Mexico Highlands University. She holds an MA in Spanish with a concentration in Hispanic Linguistics. Her teaching experience includes courses in Chicanx history and culture, Spanish as a heritage language, and Spanish as a second language. Rodríguez is passionate about supporting students in their transition into university education and excited to support educational programs dedicated to the Chicana/o/x community. Rodríguez served as Senior Program Manager and Research Scientist at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. She worked for several years in clinical research studying the effects of stress, alcohol, and drug use during pregnancy on child development and maternal health. She contributed to the acquisition of funding and oversight of several contracts and grants focused on maternal-child health and harm reduction. She holds several collaborative publications in public health. Rodríguez’s leadership in statewide efforts to train Pharmacists on harm reduction techniques is reflected in her co-authored article, CONSIDER New Mexico: Effects of naloxone training among pharmacists and pharmacy technicians (2021).

Course(s) Offered

CCST 2110 - Introduction to Chicana/o/x Studies

Research Interests

Her current research interests in Chicana and Chicano Studies include examining the role of gendered power dynamics in Chicana/o/x spiritual beliefs, cultural norms, and traditional medicine practices. She is particularly interested in how spiritual healing practices serve as a point of resistance to systems of oppression.

Research Topics

Chicana Feminism | Spirituality | Health | Traditional Medicine

She/Her

Patricia Roybal Caballero, is a New Mexico State Representative, first elected 2012 re-elected 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and most recently in 2022; She is the former New Mexico House Democratic Caucus Chair and current National Treasurer of National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL), immediate past National Treasurer of LULAC (National League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Latino Civil Rights Organization, founded in 1929) Patricia is a 22 + generation Native New Mexican and tribal member of Piro Manso Tiwa Tribe, Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe, in Las Cruces, and is married to R. Carlos Caballero, former, New Mexico Public Education Commissioner, Dist. 1 and Mother of two adult sons, Yusef Sutton (television producer) daughter-in-law, Liliana Reeves Sutton (Bank Vice President), and Celestino Caballero (Independent Entrepreneur), and grandmother of grandsons, Yusef II and Nasir Phillipe Sutton and Evander Alaire Caballero and Jaylen Caballero, Brenda Gonzalez & Celestino Caballero, parents to Evander & Jaylen Caballero Patricia is an original founder of MEChA and Chicano Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso in 1969 and 1970 respectively. She began her community activism in the United Farm Worker/AFL-CIO and is a lifelong community and labor organizer and a certified community economic, housing and business developer, specializing in neighborhood and indigenous planning.

CV

Click Here

Course(s) Offered

Introduction to Chicana/o Studies

Research Interests

Patricia completed her Ph.D course studies in the UNM American Studies Program and transferred to UNM CCS Ph.D program when the program was finally approved in 2019. She is working on her Memoir as her dissertation tracing her lived experiences leading up to her Chicana Indigeneous activism as a founder of Chicano Studies and continuing her activism as a public servant. Her research interest includes examining the social cultural factors in lived experiences impacting social justice activism in community organizing and community development.

Research Topics

Community Participatory Approaches | Cultural studies | Politics and Social Justice

He/Him

Daniel Salcido is a Chicana/o/x-Mexicana/o grassroots community scholar-activist, he has been involved in various social justice movements. Born and raised in Denver Colorado with family roots in New Mexico, his activism career started as a historically underserved youth through the Tierra Amarilla Youth Leadership Institute, which transformed him into a promotoro and community leader within that organization. For Salcido, the awakening of a people’s history on what was considered liberated territory signified the connections between alternative forms of educational spaces, critical thinking, and cultural resistance to settler colonialism. Daniel has been mentored by local activists from the Chicana/o movement era who instilled in him the value of commemorating martyrs and others who suffered political repression. This has informed his ongoing work against the dismal social, political, and economic conditions that the Chicana/o/x-Mexicana/o people are currently subjected to. Daniel's academic work has also been informed by his activism. During undergrad, he served as the Beyond Chicanismo Oral History Project Event Coordinator, leading to four student-produced anthologies, two books, and over 100 oral history videos that detail the Colorado experience of los otros del movimiento. Daniel is currently seeking an M.A. in Chicana & Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico. His research interests include alternative education/critical and radical pedagogies, oral history, anti-colonialism, internal colonialism, and the Chicana/o/x -Mexicana/o radical tradition. He is also part-time Chican@/x Studies Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Chicana/o Studies at the Metropolitan State University of Denver teaching a Concurrent Enrollment Introduction to Chicana/o Studies course at West High School.

CV

Click here

Course(s) Offered

Research Interests

Research interests include: alternative education/critical and radical pedagogies, oral history, anti-colonialism, internal colonialism, and the Chicana/o/x -Mexicana/o radical tradition.

Research Topics

Critical Pedagogy | Oral History | Internal Colonialism | Decolonization | Social Movements

Keith Sánchez is originally from Belen, New Mexico, but due to his Father’s work with the University of New Mexico’s LAPE (Latin American Programs in Education), he spent the latter part of his youth in the midst of armed rebellion and civil war in El Salvador, Centro America.  

Witnessing stark injustice, political violence, and unfathomable economic disparity, Keith was naturally propelled towards a life in education and the arts with a mission to, as Paulo Friere stated,  “teach students to think democratically and to continually question and make meaning from, and critically view, everything they learn.” 

He is presently a Chicana/o Studies, English/Language Arts, and Music Instructor at RFK Charter High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

His eighteen years of experience as an educator include working in the Albuquerque NM, Oakland and Long Beach CA, school systems in the arenas of Bilingual education, Special education, Music, and English Language Arts. Keith earned a BA in Secondary Education and endorsements in Bilingual Education, and Communicative Arts.  

He is also presently the Founder, Director, and Chief Instructor of a non-profit community music program entitled the New Mexico Academy of Rock and Blues (NMARB). 

As a grassroots arts program, NMARB focuses on providing scholarships for students with limited access to Arts Programs in the community due to socioeconomic factors. 

Keith is also a career musician who has traveled the world as a performing artist. He was the lead singer, songwriter, lyricist and guitarist for underground political sensation Stoic Frame, boasting a #1 single on R&R’s national “rock en español” charts, with music featured on major network television such as MTV Latino, The Shield, Fuse Network and BET.

Through this unique lens of educational and applied community-based experiences, Keith has developed an Arts and Cultural Curriculum that forms the crux of his Chicana/o Studies Program in the heart of the historic South Valley Barrio in Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico. 

Keith will be pursuing an MA in Chicana/Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico.

Natalia M. Toscano was born and raised in Oakland, CA. She attended Santa Monica College and transferred to the University of California Los Angeles, where she received her Bachelors in Chicana/o Studies and American Indian Studies. Having received her Master’s in American Studies, Natalia is now a Ph.D. student in the inaugural cohort of Chicana/o Studies at the University of New Mexico.

 Currently her research centers the exploration of Chicana/o/x cultural production and the entanglements of nationalist ideologies and discourse amongst Mexican, Chicanx, and Latinx communities.

 A firm believer in building community on campus, Natalia works with several student initiatives on campus including El Puente an undergraduate research program and the student organization Quetzalkuetlachtli.

Chantel Trujillo was raised along the acequias of the Rio Grande in Tomé, New Mexico. She grew up understanding the importance of cultural expression and preservation and is an advocate for ethnic studies programs, beginning in early childhood. She believes that the lack of access to ethnic studies is a form of genocide and plans to hold schools accountable when they are not answering to the demand for ethnic studies.

Her heart is completely invested in social justice work. Her research interests include issues of social justice (locally and internationally), culturally relevant models and pedagogies, and land/water sustainability initiatives in New Mexico.

Chantel is an organizer, a mentor, and an educator in the community, and she is thrilled and honored to have been accepted as part of the Inaugural M.A. Cohort in Chicana and Chicano Studies at The University of New Mexico.

Tatyana Trujillo is an activist, artist, poet and social advocate for her community.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies with a minor in Pre-Law at Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado

She is a native New Mexican, born and raised in Albuquerque.

Since she was a young girl she was heavily involved with social justice and advocacy work.

She brought that into her adult life and now that is what she centers her studies around.

Currently she is invested in dedicating her time and education into food justice and working with migrant workers.

Moving forward with my education, I want to make a change especially for those who do not have the same opportunity.