MALCS Archive

(MALCS) Women Active in Letters and Social Change

Entre Mujeres: a translocal music composition project

My name is Martha Gonzalez and I am a Chicana artivista, singer and songwriter for East LA based Quetzal. I want to invite you all to support a very important project that I have been working on.

Entre Mujeres is a translocal music composition project between Chicanas/Latinas in the U.S. and Jarochas/Mexican female musicians in Mexico. This project seeks to make the voices, ideas and translocal dialogues between Chicanas and Jarochas visible through the medium of song.

A song as a sonic and literary manifestation is life’s sound-scape, a unique cathartic memento, as well as a powerful political Entre Mujeres tool. Without question a song is also an important historical text. A person’s testimonio (testimony), life views, triumphs, and struggles can be expressed into song lyrics. In the end a song, like a testimonio is what stands as moment lived. Multiplied by community this can be an active exercise in consensus and knowledge production. As a collaborator in various songwriting moments I have witnessed time and again how this method and process creates space, builds community, challenges multiple patriarchal systems, and can potentially produce knowledge that is accessible.

Throughout this project there has been convivencia, trust, testimonios that have generated important moments of healing, and knowledge production. In these ways Entre Mujeres Project is a testament to the kind of collective knowledge generated across U.S. Mexican borders. [Read more…] about Entre Mujeres: a translocal music composition project

Chicana/Latina Studies names two new editors

From MALCS Chair Monica Torres:

Colegas,

Some good news from the journal. Chicana/Latina Studies: the Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social has appointed two new editors to its staff.

Elisa Rodriguez y Gibson has been named co-editor. Rodriguez y Gibson is an assistant professor at Loyola Marymount University. She teaches courses on Chicana/o literature, Cultural Studies, and feminist theory. She has written on the work of Lorna Dee Cervantes, Elizabeth Martinez, Carmen Tafolla, Naomi Quiñonez, Josefina Lopez, Joy Harjo, and Helena Maria Viramontes. She is the editor of Lorna Dee Cervantes: A Critical Anthology (forthcoming Wings Press, 2011) and has contributed to various reference works, including the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latino and Latina History in the U.S. and the Encyclopedia of Ethnic American Literatures published by Greenwood Press.

Linda Heidenreich, Associate Professor at Washington State University, has been named book review editor. Heidenreich teaches in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies. Her research and teaching interests include Chicana/Chicano studies and history, Queer studies, and the history and culture of 19th-century west, especially California history.

Congratulations to Josie and the national board of Chicana/Latina Studies for bringing these selection processes to a successful close.  –Monica

From Institute Site Chair: Your 2011-12 Accolades?

Hola Colegas!

We are now less than three months away from the Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) Summer Institute which will be held July 18-21, 2012 at UC Santa Barbara. One of the highlights of the Summer Institute is the Tortuga Award Dinner which honors  one special artist, scholar, activist every year, but in 2012 we also want to acknowledge the many significant accomplishments of all our members. Please send your accolades to my email address:  ude.bscu.tscihcobfsctd-838ef4@adia. We look forward to learning and celebrating with you this summer!

Abrazos,
Aida Hurtado, UCSB Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies and
Luis Leal Endowed Chair, 2012 Summer Institute Site Chair

MALCS Summer Institute at UCSB July 18-21, 2012

Planning for the “Todos somos Arizona: Confronting the Attack on Difference.”  Pending deadlines include:

The Summer Institute website with complete program, housing, travel, and registration information will be available soon. Until then, here are some preliminary housing and travel details to help your planning.

MALCS Summer Institute Call for Performers

DEADLINE TO APPLY: Monday, May 21, 2012

This year’s Summer Institute will be hosted at the University of California Santa Barbara, July 18-21, 2012. MALCS, in collaboration with the UCSB site committee, seeks performers for the Summer Institute’s Noche de Cultura, Friday, July 20th whose act reflects the values of MALCS and this year conference’s theme, “Todos somos Arizona: Confronting the Attack on Difference.”  The national anti-immigrant and anti-Chicana/o Latina/o legislation speaks to the continued fear of difference within the United States. Difference across race, genders, sexualities, abilities, religions, national origins, languages, and other social identities continues to draw attacks against our communities. The institute’s theme is inspired by organizations such as “Todos Somos Arizona,” a solidarity group that seeks to counter Arizona’s oppressive legislation.

MALCS invites self-identified Women of Color/Indigenous performers/artists, and/or collectives to submit. The chosen performers will be compensated for their time and travel, as well as gain publicity from promotional materials for the conference. Please inquire by Monday, May 21, 2012 to moc.liamgobfsctd-5815d4@bscu2102sclam. Include your name, address, email, phone number, short bio (200 words max), title of performance (if applicable), and video (if possible).   For more information, email moc.liamgobfsctd-6644e7@bscu2102sclam.

Submitted by Adrianna Santos, UCSB

SSGA 2012 Conference

El Mundo Zurdo: An International Conference
on the Life and Work of Gloria E. Anzaldúa
May 16-19, 2011
University of Texas, San Antonio

For more information contact:
Prof. Norma E. Cantú, Department of English, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249; (210)458-5134 (office)

CFP: MALCS Writing Workshop – How to Write The Academic Article

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social calls for participation in the Writing Workshop at the 2012 MALCS Summer Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara, July 18-21, 2012.

DEADLINE: Postmark June 13, 2012

WHAT: Feminist collaboration for publication!
The Writing Workshop is one of the Journal’s formal methods of creating a feminist editorial process. Following the spirit and mission of MALCS, the journal’s editors offer the workshop in order to energize through collaboration, programmatically link scholarship and leadership, and institutionalize mentorship. Participants bring their work-in-progress and depart with clearrecommendations for meeting internal criteria of Chicana/Latina Studies, specific direction about revision, andfirst-hand knowledge about our feminist editorial production process.

To create an intellectual community, prior to the workshop, participants read and commented on the material of the other writers. Attending both two-hour sessions (the first on Weds. July 18, and the second on Friday July 20) is required.

One Writing Workshop will be offered this summer: [Read more…] about CFP: MALCS Writing Workshop – How to Write The Academic Article