Four Chicana/o Studies students at Loyola Marymount University presented original research at the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies’ Annual Meeting, held in Denver on April 4-7, 2016. The students presented on a joint panel entitled “Resisting and Navigating Institutionalized Power Structures within the Theories of differential consciousness and decolonization,” moderated by Yvette Saavedra, a visiting assistant professor of Chicana/o Studies. All four panelists were panelists in Saavedra’s course, “Chicana/Latina Theories.”
Amore Alvarenga ’17
“No Sanctuary: LGBTQ Issues in Immigration”
Alvarega studied the experiences and unique forms of discrimination faced by LGBTQ immigrants in the United States. Looking at U.S. immigration policy, quantitative data, and case interviews, Alvarega detailed the psychological and physical harm that LGBTQ immigrants experience, especially transgender immigrants, and proposed policy solutions to alleviate the problem.
Alvaro Gonzalez ’16
“Globalizing Bodies: The Impact Globalization had on Cultural Hegemony in Ciudad Juarez”
This work analyzes the destabilizing conditions Mexico underwent pre and post-NAFTA and the impact this destabilization had on women in Ciudad Juarez. By examining Mexico’s debt crises of the 1980’s, Mexico’s liberalization of its economy by cutting back on producer support, and the North American Free Trade Agreement it is revealed that the country’s globalization practices of the 80s and 90s carried serious implications for the everyday life of Mexican citizens.
Agueda Sofia Hernandez ’16
Hernandez studied women’s experiences in the community of El Florido in Tijuana, Mexico, a community that has built a long-lasting relationship with Loyola Marymount University through Campus Ministry’s popular “De Colores” service immersion trips there. Through interviews and stories, Hernandez studied women’s use of love as a tool to navigate power structures, build power and effect social change.
Araceli Palafox ’16
Palafox’s paper studies the ways in which Chicanas have used writing as a form of resistance. According to her abstract, she argues that “Chicana literature functions to disrupt dominant discourses that control and negate notions of race, sexuality, class, and gender.” Her research finds that “Chicana writers use literature as a vehicle to revisit their own experiences while giving voice to their communities.”