Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón
In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.
But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.
As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
Read More…
Former Segregated Texas School Becomes a National Park
“The designation as a national park provides permanent protection to help tell the history of Texas school districts that established separate elementary schools for Mexican American children, according to the Interior Department.
The school in Marfa, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of the U.S.-Mexico border and 455 miles (732 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, was closed in 1965 with the integration of the Marfa Independent School District, the Interior Department said.
“The school serves as a significant example of how racism and cultural disparity dominated education and social systems in the United States during this period of de facto segregation from 1889-1965,” according to the website…”
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/former-segregated-texas-school-becomes-a-national-park/2024/07
Report Endorses Early College Access for Mexican Americans
“The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute of Leadership, Equity, and Justice has released its latest report, “Reframing College: Mexican American Students, Higher Education, and Family Restorative Justice,” examining the impact of an early college program in San Luis, Arizona, that prepares Mexican American first-generation college-going students for success in postsecondary education by reshaping their perspectives through family engagement and validation of…”
Student Affairs Career Advice From the President
- “Take more risks,” said Sheila Edwards Lange, chancellor of the University of Washington at Tacoma. As a first-generation college student, Lange was hesitant to diverge from a safe path, such as holding a job, but she eventually quit a role to return to higher education for her doctorate. This was her first leap of faith and an investment in herself.
- “Be curious about the enterprise,” said Tomikia P. LeGrande, president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas. Higher ed…”
- https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/college-experience/2024/07/01/eight-considerations-rising-student-success
Expert on Latin American geography wins teaching award
“Honored for two decades of research, teaching and mentorship at UC Santa Barbara, David López-Carr, a professor in the Department of Geography, has won the 2024 CLAG
Teaching Award from the Conference of Latin American Geography.
Among López-Carr’s popular and highly rated courses, the Geography of Latin America is a favorite, he said, because “it’s a hybrid of physical and human geography that includes geology, climate, biogeography and geomorphology, and examines how humans have shaped their environments based on the natural endowments of the region and how they have responded to environmental change.”…”
How First-Gen Mexican American Students Define Success
“As higher education grows increasingly diverse, equity gaps in completion and degree attainment between different ethnic and racial groups, particularly among Hispanic learners, still exist.
During the 2022–23 academic year, completion among all Hispanic students fell 1 percent, the first time since 2015–16, and first-time completion fell 1.9 percent among Hispanic students, according to an April report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
First-generation students also face unique family dynamics that motivate students’ learnings but can also pull students away from the residential college experience…”
UCSB’s ÉXITO Program graduates third cohort of future ethnic studies teachers amidst rising attacks on ethnic studies
“In Spanish, “éxito” means success. At UC Santa Barbara, ÉXITO stands for Educational eXcellence and Inclusion Training Opportunities, a first of its kind program in the UC system that provides students with a clearly structured pathway to becoming K-12 Ethnic Studies teachers. Funded by a $3 million U.S. Department of Education Title V grant, the program’s third cohort is now graduating…”
Funds forNGOs Grants and Resources for Sustainability. Discover the Best Funding Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean This June!
“…Latin America Professional Award
Deadline: 10 January 2025
Set up to celebrate dynamic and inspiring photographic work currently created in Latin America, the World Photography Organisation and Sony Latin America created the Latin America Professional Award…[more]…”
University of Miami President Julio Frenk announced as UCLA’s new chancellor
“…Frenk will succeed outgoing Chancellor Gene Block, who announced his plan last August to retire at the end of this academic year after serving in the role since 2007. He will be the university’s first Latino chancellor…”
Mario T. García: A lifetime of achievement in Chicano/a history
“…García, who started teaching at UCSB in 1975, was among the first generation of professionally trained historians to excavate and document Chicano/a history, helping to set the foundation for emerging scholars during the past half-century. Among more than a dozen books, García’s recording of Corona’s testimonio would become “Memories of Chicano History: The Life and Narrative of Bert Corona” (UC Press, 1994), about the labor and community activist and organizer who, starting in the 1930s in Los Angeles, spearheaded the struggle for immigrant rights, particularly undocumented workers from Mexico…”
New student-created musical ‘DayDreamer’ fuses fantasy and Mexican culture
:
“…The musical, which will be performed as a stage reading at Macgowan Hall from May 24 through May 26, delivers a Mexican-inspired fantasy that tells the story of a teenage protagonist with fire powers who ventures on a quest to find her missing mother and defeat an ancient evil who has stolen the sun. Mario Vega, a graduate student in fine arts in the Department of Theater, Film and Television, said he developed “DayDreamer” with San Diego State University alumnus Eliza Vedar two years ago, and has since been workshopping it to fulfill their vision of an empowering and engaging musical that utilizes both fantasy and cultural elements…”
Abel Valenzuela Jr. appointed as dean of UCLA College Division of Social Sciences
“His scholarship has shaped research on itinerant workers, worker centers and immigrant work. His studies have engaged local stakeholders and community-based organizations, and influenced policy and legislation on issues related to labor, social stratification, race, poverty and neighborhood change,” Hunt said in the email…”
Job scams are targeting young professionals: What to look for
“One of the ways job scammers are targeting young professionals right now is by sending them an email from a professor.
The student will get a job offer recommendation from someone in their community, like a professor or an office at their college.
The emails are from fake accounts made to look identical, or, in some cases, scammers have hacked into the professor’s email, Wall Street Journal reports…”
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/job-scam-how-to-tell-if-fake-whatsapp-professor
Mexican-American choreographer reborn in challenging Madrid residency
“Atanta-based choreographer Angelita Itzanami Andrade spent last fall in a three-month scholarship residency with Madrid-based Descalzinha Danza. Though she knew the move would push her beyond her personal and professional comfort zones, Itzanami Andrade said she was nonetheless surprised by how the experience contributed to her evolving identity as a Mexican-American Latina artist.
When ArtsATL caught up with her in the studio recently, she and her company, SOMOS, were rehearsing for their second season performance, veintetrés, which will premiere on May 4 at the Kennesaw State University Dance Theater (Marietta campus)…”
https://www.artsatl.org/mexican-american-choreographer-reborn-in-challenging-madrid-residency/
Education & Exchanges
“Our nations share deep cultural ties exemplified by over 40 million Americans of Mexican descent who cherish their roots and cultural traditions, and millions of Americans who visit Mexico each year for tourism, study, or business. A key part of our commitment to strengthen bilateral ties between our nations is expanding opportunities for interaction in the educational and cultural spheres.
The United States Mission in Mexico oversees and implements several programs sponsored by the American people for Mexican citizens to support young leaders, students, civil society, journalists, teachers, and entrepreneurs. These programs focus on building people-to-people relations to foster mutual understanding, enhance professional partnerships and collaboration, and strengthen a healthy exchange of ideas across all sectors between our two countries…”
https://mx.usembassy.gov/educational/
“
Why do kids outperform their parents in this rural California town? A sociologist looks for answers.
“The Union Pacific Railroad runs through the heart of Dixon, California, a small town among the agricultural plains between San Francisco and Sacramento. Like in many rural towns its size, some neighborhoods are better off than others. But surprisingly in Dixon, from a certain point of view, there is no wrong side of those tracks.
The teenagers of Dixon generally do better than their parents. This upward mobility, as it’s called, doesn’t grab the attention of sociologists and economists as often as the more depressing statistics associated with small towns plagued by poorer outcomes…”
New Lydia Mendoza Graduate Scholarship Launched by CUNY Mexican Studies Institute at Lehman College
“The funds will provide students with financial support to complete a master’s degree in New York, as well as personalized tutoring, internships, and the opportunity to be part of a large community of professionals connected with NYC’s Mexican dimension,” said Dr. Miguel Reyes, CEO of CFE International, the U.S. arm of Mexico’s energy utility.
A key part of the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute’s mission is to highlight the impact of the Mexican community on New York City through academic training, research on Mexico and the Mexican diaspora in New York and the U.S., and the promotion of culture and education…”
https://www.lehman.cuny.edu/news/2024/New-Lydia-Mendoza-Scholarship-Launched-.php
Mayra Puente receives AERA award for ‘Platicando y Mapeando’ educational research methodology
“…Puente and Velez together developed the “Platicando y Mapeando” (talking and mapping) methodology in educational research, using Chicana/Latina feminist pláticas (conversations) methodology and geographic information systems (GIS) software and maps, along with U.S. Census quantitative secondary data to track the experiences of rural Latinx youth in pursuing higher education…”
Opening doors: Cuca Acosta’s journey from Santa Barbara High to college admissions leadership
“…Once she has the mic, Acosta is direct, practiced and enthusiastic. She describes the kinds of students who thrive in a University of California environment and which factors — academic and extracurricular — are considered in an admissions decision. And then she smiles, adding a gentle reminder that it’s a key time for them.
“Your GPA is going to come from sophomore and junior year. That’s right now — so no pressure.”…”
Choir School of Delaware set to celebrate Mexican-American culture with Chicana Collaborative
“…Embracing and celebrating Latinx culture, this free event will include authentic Mexican cuisine, selections from a new Cuban-led musical, Aztec dancing, poetry written by Chicana poets and a panel discussion centered around what it means to be Chicana in the United States…”
Community college bachelor’s degree programs positively affect Latino community
“…A key finding of the issue brief was that 64% of Latino students in CCB programs graduated and received bachelor’s degrees within two years, which is a similar graduation rate to non-Latinos in CCB programs…”
