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,”
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Mexican census 2010: Languages other than Spanish spoken in Mexico
H. Gutierrez
There are close to 7,000,000 Mexicans who speak languages other than Spanish in Mexico. You will observe that the numbers of native speakers of other languages have grown according to the last census.
Modern Language Association enrollments in foreign languages.
Dec 8, 2010 … Fall enrollments for 2009, released today by the Modern Language Association shows increased enrollments ..
Mexican American and Immigrant poverty in the United States
G. Garcia – 2011
… and health care applications • Methods and estimates for unique populations such as schools
and students Volumes in the series are of interest to researchers, professionals, and students …
Ginny Garcia Mexican American and Immigrant Poverty in the United States 123 Page 5. …
Issues in Mexican American Education: Addressing the Academic Needs of Mexican American Students at the Secondary Level
| Author: | Alvarez, Ricky A |
| Abstract: | In light of the growing number of ethnic minority adolescents in the United States, it has long been recognized that the level of educational attainment of Mexican-American students is below to that of other ethnic minority communities in the United States. From towering impoverishment rates, lower parental education, dilapidated neighborhoods and communities, to a clash of culture, marginalized education, and impersonal behaviors, Mexican-American students have endured an educational challenge that has become more difficult to win than imagined. Entailed by cultural identity, exceptionalities, language, gender, economic status, health, beliefs, values, and perceptions of education, this thesis will not only make possible recommendations for the plight among Mexican-American education, but will also investigate the socioeconomic, sociocultural, and the supplementary issues and factors that influence the academic advancement of Mexican-American students at the secondary level. |
Self-Knowledge and Identity in a Mexican American Counseling Course: A Qualitative Exploration
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences – December 15, 2010
Manuel X. Zamarripa, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Ileana Lane, Austin Independent School District
Eunice Lerma, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Lyle Holin II, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Abstract
This study explores the lived experiences of Mexican American graduate students who completed a course on Mexican American counseling and mental health. The experiences of Mexican American students taking a mental health course that focuses on their own ethnic group has not been previously discussed in the literature. Given the history of exclusion in the educational system and the increase in the U.S. Latina/o population, it is important to give voice to the experiences of these students. A phenomenological approach is utilized to reveal the essence of the students’ experiences. A total of 3 female and 3 male Mexican American graduate students participated in the study, and five themes emerged: history matters, personal connection, self-discovery, LGBT Mexican Americans, and “Wow!” The results of this study suggests that the course had academic and personal significance for these participants. Furthermore, these experiences may inform future course construction and training in the area of Latina/o mental health
Article at the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences: article link
Michigan State launches new Ph.D Chicano Studies Program
MSU offers Midwest’s first Ph.D. in Chicano/Latino Studies
Contact: Andy Henion, University Relations, Office: (517) 355-3294, Cell: (517) 281-6949, Andy.Henion@ur.msu.edu
Published: Sept. 26, 2007
Story
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University has launched the first doctoral program in Chicano/Latino Studies in the Midwest – and only the second in the nation.
The interdisciplinary graduate degree, which grew out of MSU’s undergraduate Chicano/Latino Studies program, is offered by the College of Social Science. Like many doctoral programs, it is starting small; five students are enrolled for the 2007-08 academic year.
Dionicio Valdes, program director and MSU professor of history, said the Chicano/Latino population is simultaneously the fastest-growing and least-studied major ethnic group in the United States. Hispanics are also the largest minority group at nearly 43 million people.
“This program is important for many reasons,” Valdes said. “But the biggest single reason is that it offers a much different approach to knowledge and an understanding of our increasingly complex society that academia has not yet come to terms with.”
Doctoral candidates will explore the historical and contemporary experiences of Chicanos and Latinos in social, cultural, political and economic contexts. Doctorate courses range from “Latina Feminisms” to “Globalization and Mexican Immigration to the United States.”
The University of California, Santa Barbara, offers the only other doctorate focusing specifically on Chicano studies.
Valdes said Michigan State’s relatively large number of Hispanic students and reputation for Chicano/Latino scholarship make the new doctoral program a logical fit. According to the provost’s office, 1,309 students are enrolled at MSU this fall – a 34 percent increase over 1997.
MSU also has the Cesar E. Chavez Collection, one of the nation’s largest library holdings representing the life and philosophy of the late civil rights activist and the Chicano/Latino community.
In addition, the Julian Samora Research Institute is located on campus. The institute, named after the former MSU professor and pioneer in Mexican-American studies, conducts research and projects targeting the needs of the Hispanic community in the areas of economic development, education, families and neighborhoods.
Rubén Martinez, who became the institute’s director on Sept. 1, said a deeper understanding of Chicano and Latino groups “will contribute to the betterment of the nation as a whole as it moves forward into the 21st century.”
“Previous scholarship has argued that the flow of Mexican and Latino immigrants into cities and states has coincided with their development and prosperity – both the people and the economies have benefitted,” Martinez said. “We see this in many communities in the South today, even though local institutions struggle to meet the educational and health needs of their newest community members.
“The scholarly work of doctoral students in the new program,” he added, “will enhance our understanding of these dynamics and ultimately contribute to the betterment of intergroup relations in this country.”
For more information on MSU’s doctoral program in Chicano/Latino Studies, visit www.msu.edu/~cls.
For more information on the Julian Samora Research Institute, visit www.jsri.msu.edu/.
For more information on MSU’s Cesar E. Chavez Collection, visit: www.lib.msu.edu/coll/main/chavez/.
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UTEP awarded $13 million
GEAR UP awarded $13 million
The University of Texas at El Paso has been awarded more than $12.9 million from the Department of Education GEAR UP Program to help more than 3,000 area middle school students prepare for college.
Now in its fourth year at UTEP, the program is expected to receive $2.15 million each year during the next six years.
The award will fund UTEP’s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) where students from 11 Ysleta Independent School District middle schools are enrolled.
GEAR UP is a federal program that helps youth from low-income communities obtain a postsecondary education through tutoring programs, standardized testing preparation and other programs. The course was enacted as a result of Congress’ passage of the Higher Education Amendment of 1998 where students in grades 6-12 are encouraged to stay in school and apply for college.
