Why Ethnic Studies?
A History and Purpose of Ethnic Studies in California
Join us for a panel discussion with leaders across higher education to discuss the importance of Ethnic Studies. This will be an interactive panel that will provide insight on the history, teachings, and best practices for implementation.
We invite faculty, staff and students to engage in these timely and necessary conversations. For more information and the background on Ethnic Studies check out the Chancellors Office webpage.
Event Details
- Date: Friday, September 13, 2024
- Time: 10am - 12pm
- Location: Online via Zoom
Moderator
Carlos Escobedo, Ethnic Studies Instructor, Coastline College
Panelists
- Dr. Bucket Manyweather, Interim Director of the Black Unity Center at SF State
- Dr. Ziza Delgado Noguera, Associate Professor & Chair Ethnic Studies, Chicanx/Latinx Studies, Social Justice Movements, Women of Color Feminisms at Fullerton College
- Dr. Alberto Pulido, Department Chair and Professor, Ethnic Studies at University of San Diego
- Dr. Alexandro Gradilla, Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at Cal State Fullerton
This event is sponsored by the Ethnic Studies Grant.
Questions? Contact Leighia Fleming, Ed.D., Interim Dean of Students Lfleming5@coastline.edu.
Meet the Moderator
Ethnic Studies Instructor, Coastline College
Carlos Escobedo III is deeply committed to fostering educational opportunities and supporting students in their academic journeys. With a Master's degree in History and a focus on Chicana/o Studies from California State University Fullerton, Carlos brings a rich academic background to his role. He is an Ethnic Studies scholar who always seeks opportunities to immerse himself in the field as he credits it for “saving him” and providing an intellectual home for the lived experiences of the many communities he has had the pleasure of working with. At the core of what he calls “work of the heart” is his passion for educating students on the complex fields that make up Ethnic Studies and doing the work of mentoring.
Carlos's professional journey is underscored by a passion for social justice and community engagement, exemplified through his role as Co-Coordinator for the Escritores Promotores program at The Latinx Lab for Storytelling & Social Justice at California State University Fullerton. His commitment to student success and academic excellence is further demonstrated through his involvement in mentorship programs and community initiatives. Post-grad he kickstarted his career at the community college level as a Student Services Coordinator where he led student centered activities and coordinated leadership programs.
Through adjunct teaching at California State University Long Beach, he found his true calling of teaching and working with students in the classroom. What he loves most about the job is getting to learn from his students through their unique stories and supporting them to thrive after they leave his class. Carlos feels called to teach and hopes to contribute to teaching Ethnic Studies at Coastline College for many years to come. Outside of academia Carlos is a poet with over 100 written poems, an avid reader, and is a Dog Dad to his Chihuahua, Simba.
Meet the Panelists
Interim Director of the Black Unity Center at SF State
Dr. Manyweather is an accomplished academic and administrator with extensive expertise in higher education, ethnic studies, leadership development, and social justice. They hold a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where they published a Dissertation entitled “Voices of Change: Oral Histories of Ethnic Studies Leadership in Racialized Institutions”. They also received a Master of Education in Higher Education Student Affairs from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts in Black Studies from California State University East Bay.
Dr. Manyweather has held multiple faculty appointments across distinguished universities. Their academic career includes a position as a Part-Time Instructor for Ethnic Studies at Nevada State University, Las Vegas, where they taught "Introduction to Ethnic Studies." They have also served as an Instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, teaching Leadership and Social Justice courses and Second-Year Seminar, which explored influential literature and contemporary global issues. At San Francisco State University, Dr. Manyweather was a Lecturer in Race and Resistance Studies, focusing on the intersectionality of race, gender, and sexual orientation in "Coloring Queer Imagining Communities." They have also taught courses on Latinas in the United States and engaged communities of color through service-learning capstone projects at California State University, East Bay.
In addition to their teaching roles, Dr. Manyweather has made significant contributions in administrative capacities. They serve as Interim Director of the Division of Equity and Community Inclusion at San Francisco State University. In this role, they coordinate cultural events, develop comprehensive programming to address student needs, and collaborate with student organizations to foster community engagement and social justice. Their leadership is evidenced in their implementation of data-driven initiatives to enhance campus climate and support for underrepresented students.
Dr. Manyweather has previously worked as an Engagement Specialist at San Francisco State University, where they developed and executed numerous programs to increase marginalized students' sense of belonging and retention. They have extensive experience in advisement and retention, providing tailored support to help students navigate academic and personal challenges.
Dr. Manyweather has engaged in various research projects throughout their career, including assisting with national and institutional studies on ethnic studies and educational pathways. Their research spans topics from the oral histories of Black and Latinx educators to the impacts of implementing mandatory ethnic studies in the California State University system, demonstrating a deep commitment to advancing educational equity.
Dr. Manyweather is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and the California Council of Cultural Centers in Higher Education. They have contributed to numerous advisory committees and boards, showcasing their dedication to fostering inclusive and equitable educational environments.
Their scholarly work includes multiple manuscripts in preparation, such as "Voices of Change: Oral Histories of Ethnic Studies Leadership in Racialized Organizations" and articles focused on increasing Black student graduation rates through distributed leadership and addressing racism through race-based curricula.
A sought-after speaker, Dr. Manyweather has presented topics ranging from Ethnic Studies, equity, and community inclusion to the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in higher education. Various media outlets have featured their insights, reflecting their influence and thought leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Dr. Manyweather's comprehensive background as an educator, administrator, and scholar positions them as a critical advocate for social justice and equity in higher education, driving meaningful change through their multifaceted roles.
Associate Professor & Chair Ethnic Studies, Chicanx/Latinx Studies, Social Justice Movements, Women of Color Feminisms at Fullerton College
Dr. Ziza Delgado Noguera is an associate professor and the department chair of ethnic studies at Fullerton College. She is a community college alum and received her Ph.D. in comparative ethnic studies from UC Berkeley.
In her work, Dr. Delgado Noguera focuses on researching and teaching about various topics including the history of ethnic studies, social movements, transformative justice, women of color feminisms, and mother-scholars of color. Dr. Delgado Noguera has also worked with school districts across the country to improve their systems, structures, and practices on issues of racial equity. Since 2017, she has been developing programs and mentoring formerly incarcerated students, recently working to house the Rising Scholars program in the Ethnic Studies department at Fullerton College. Her research, teaching, and campus leadership center the potential of education to empower historically marginalized communities and serve as a tool for liberation.
As a mother-educator-activist, she hopes to support the next generation of leaders committed to transformative change and creating a more just and free society.
Department Chair and Professor, Ethnic Studies at University of San Diego
Dr. Alberto López Pulido is the founding chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies and has been on the faculty at the University of San Diego since 2003. He grew up in the South Bay and lived a life between borders and Fronteras that highly influenced his fronterizo ways of understanding the world. He received degrees in Sociology and Chicano Studies from the University of California, San Diego, and represents one of fifty-seven students who would graduate from the Mexican American Graduate Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Pulido aligns himself with several community organizations, none more important than the Chicano Park Steering Committee who serve as the stewards of Chicano Park in San Diego, California. He learned a great deal about community organizing through collective struggle and self-determination, which inspired him to direct and co-produce an award-winning documentary on the history and value of lowriding as a cultural expression in the borderlands of San Diego and Tijuana. Dr. Pulido’s scholarly commitment to relevant education rooted in a community epistemology guides his work as Director of the Turning Wheel Mobile Classroom Project – a project that provides a mobile space for supporting the urgent needs and challenges of our local communities. The Turning Wheel Project represents a partnership between the University of San Diego and the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. Dr. Pulido also serves as Vice-Chair of the CPMCC’s Board of Directors.
Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at Cal State Fullerton
Dr. Alexandro Jose Gradilla received his doctorate in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. His dissertation focused on the rhetoric and discursive practices that dehumanize the Mexican-origin population in the United States. His expertise includes medical anthropology, bioethics, political theory, decolonial theory, institutional racism, racialization, cultural competency, popular cultures, and futurity/utopias/freedom dreaming for people of color. He is also a media expert for TV and newspapers, speaking on topics related to his expertise. He has appeared on NBC (local and national), Spectrum One News, local Fox and CBS affiliates, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. He is now focused on helping students of color and first-gen students with the project of academic healing and "undrowning" which are sub-projects of his current work for the Latinx Lab.
Born and raised in San Diego (City Heights), California, Dr. Gradilla is a first-generation college graduate. His parents are from Jalisco, Mexico. He received two B.A. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, one in Chicana/o Studies and the other in Anthropology. He then received an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. Before joining the faculty at CSU Fullerton, Dr. Gradilla taught a fellow at the University of California, Irvine.
In addition to his research agenda, Dr. Gradilla is interested in issues connected to higher education policy, primarily focused on Latina/o student success, retention, graduation, mentorship, transfer student success, and other collaborations between student affairs and academic affairs. He served on the Academic Senate, representing the At-large constituencies for 14 years. He served on the Senate Executive Committee for six years. He is passionate about collegial shared governance and faculty leadership. Dr. Gradilla was selected as an inaugural Human Resources, Diversity, and Inclusion Fellow for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. For over 12 years, Dr. Gradilla, as appointed by the CSU Statewide Academic Senate, has worked on approving courses for the Social Justice Associates Degree for Transfer (ADT) and now Chicana/o Studies ADT, which helps community college students quickly transfer to a CSU. He currently is the CSU Chancellor's Office Area F (CSU Ethnic Studies Requirement) reviewer for Chicana/o Studies.
In 2022, the Mellon Foundation awarded CSU Fullerton's Chicana/o Studies Department $1.2 million to create The Latinx Lab for Storytelling and Social Justice. The Latinx Lab aims to inspire our students to use storytelling to uncover marginalized stories and experiences and share their narratives while building community and engaging in social activism. Our students’ stories are more important now than ever to address structural racism, find healing, imagine more just futures, and forge new compassionate and joyful relationships and experiences. Dr. Gradilla is the co-PI on the grant. He directs two Latinx Lab initiatives, Escritores Promotores, and the Social Justice and Storytelling Institute Summer Program. The Escritores Promotores is a program that helps all students to excel academically and personally. We believe that all students are writers, scholars, and storytellers, and we strive to affirm that all students bring skills, knowledges, languages, and assets from their homes/communities. Today is the beginning of tomorrow’s tomorrow–we shape the future today by understanding the past–all simultaneously. The SJSI fellows will explore the disciplines' key ideas, methods, theories, and traditions. Key lessons include the foundational humanities skills and practices that shaped Chicana/o Studies. SJSI fellows will also learn about the various community-based student movements that challenged higher education to change. One of the program's primary learning outcomes is comprehending the university's conflicted history with social inequality.