Mexican Women Past & Present, culminated in a final research paper comparing and contrasting the lives of one contemporary Mexican woman (born after 1940) and one historic Mexican woman (born before 1940). In preparation, students attended a research workshop led by Ethnic Studies Librarian, Harry Murphy, to locate at least 6 credible sources (e.g. books, magazines, journals, in print or digital versions), only three of which could be stand-alone websites. In small groups, students conducted research on one historical woman per group and produced a digital cajita, or PowerPoint presentation sharing items important to that woman's life and story. Then each student chose a contemporary woman to researched on their own utilizing library resources well as course readings. For their papers, students were encouraged to consider themes from class discussions and readings, such as the erasure of female stories, feminist historiography, intersectionality, gender non-conformity, female sexuality, religion, colonization, and anti-Black and anti-Indigenous sentiment in the Latinx community. These papers represent some of the strongest work produced by CHST 255, Autumn 2020.
-- Monica Viharo, Instructor