Chicano Studies Research Center

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

"Research That Makes a Difference"

By Chon A. Noriega (May 16, 2012)

Established in 1969, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) is a comprehensive research unit with library, archive, academic press, community partnerships, and a multidisciplinary research program. Current CSRC research projects focus on public health, education, immigration, law, economic security, media impact, and the arts. Our grants, fellowships, and visiting scholars programs support both basic and policy research across all disciplines, and we host 20 to 30 visiting scholars from around the world each year.

The CSRC Archive is the largest Latino-focused archive in the state of California. Our holdings consist of more than 3,000 linear feet of unique material relating to the Latino experience. Online digital collections include the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings, which houses over 45,000 Mexican and Mexican-American vernacular music and spoken word recordings from the first half of the 20th century. The CSRC also has its own press - The CSRC Press - that publishes the flagship journal in the field of Chicana/o Studies, Aztl�n: A Journal of Chicano Studies, as well as three book series, policy briefs, research reports, and a DVD series. We sponsor free public programs year-round, and recently organized the groundbreaking L.A. Xicano project, which consisted of four concurrent exhibitions at major art museums in Los Angeles.

The CSRC is a part of the Institute of American Cultures in the Office of the Chancellor at UCLA. Yet our reach is as broad and our mandate: Nationally, the CSRC co-founded the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR), a consortium of Latino research centers located at over twenty institutions in the United States. In 2003, the Center signed an international agreement with the five-campus University of Veracruz system in Mexico, which is renowned for its performing arts programs; it now has agreements with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In addition, the CSRC has ongoing partnerships with several community-based organizations.

The CSRC is a university-based center that receives its project funding primarily through government, corporate, and foundation grants. Publication sales support the activities of the CSRC Press. The research conducted and published through the CSRC includes both basic and policy research, and its scope can be local, statewide, regional, national, or international. We do not conduct opinion surveys or perform legal analysis, but have consulted on such projects through our partnerships. In addition to those already listed, some of our most outstanding research projects to date have been studies on Latinos and Social Security, and a continuing study of hate speech in the media that involved the development of an original methodology for quantifying hate speech in commercial talk radio and social media.

A list of CSRC research projects, many of which are ongoing, can be found here: http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/research/projects.asp.

A list of CSRC Press publications can be found here: http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/press/default.asp.

Looking into the future, the CSRC aims to diversify its support base for is broad research program. To that end, we have already begun actively seeking new partnerships and funding sources. The CSRC will always strive to balance interdisciplinary and applied research in ways that can impact traditional academic departments and disciplines. Through all of these efforts, the CSRC exemplifies UCLA's institutional priorities - academic excellence, civic engagement, and diversity - and remains committed to research that makes a difference.

Chon A. Noriegais Professor in the UCLA Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media. He is author of Shot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema (Minnesota, 2000) and editor of nine books dealing with Latino media, performance and visual art. Since 1996, he has been editor of Aztl�n: A Journal of Chicano Studies, the flagship journal for the field since its founding in 1970. In July 2002, he became Director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. His current research areas include cinema and art history, media policy, and hate speech. He can be reached at cnoriega@ucla.edu.

UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center

193 Haines Hall, Box 951544

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1544

310-825-2363

Fax: 310-206-1784

http://www.chicano.ucla.edu

Main contact: Darling Sianez - support@chicano.ucla.edu

Director: Chon Noriega, PhD

Assistant Director: Javier Iribarren, PsyD

Assistant Director Emeritus: Carlos M. Haro, PhD

Associate Directors:

Alex Ortega, PhD, and

Maria Elena Ruiz, PhD, RN, FNP-BC

Librarian: Lizette Guerra, MLIS

Senior Editor: Rebecca Frazier, MME

Communications and Events Manager: Rebecca Epstein, PhD