6 minute read
Bold Ideas
BOLDIDEAS
by Valerie B. Johnson and Libby Castillo
In its second year, COEHD’s REGSS department continues to make its mark as a key player in UTSA’s commitment to inclusivity
Established in 2019, the Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies (REGSS) was born from student, community, and university activism. Since its inception, the department has remained committed to working with the UTSA and San Antonio communities to strive towards equality and social justice within the university and society as a whole.
In the fall of 2020. Alejandra Elenes, Ph.D., joined the Roadrunner family from Arizona State University to serve as chair. With a robust background in social, cultural, human rights, and women studies experience, she brings to the department a wealth of knowledge and expertise.
Elenes joined the department during a year fraught with challenges from a world pandemic, intensifying political division, and social unrest in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
The REGSS department continues to make strides in the community by providing courses important to current social discourse. Elenes has big plans for the REGSS department and is eager to continue the already growing legacy of the department.
“My long-term vision is for REGSS to become a national model for decolonial and intersectional scholarship and community engagement,” Elenes said. “I will advocate for the department seeking the necessary resources we need to serve our students. REGSS has an important role in the implementation of UTSA’s strategic plan and as a Hispanic Serving Institution.”
Special Guest Speaker
As part of the Black Lives Matter: Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality class, the College of Education and Human Development together with Academic Affairs invited former NPR Host and Special Correspondent, Founding Director of “The Race Card Project” and Washington Post Opinions Contributor, Michele Norris to speak to students and UTSA community. Students from the class spearheaded the speaking engagement and were invited to come up with questions to ask Norris, with some students moderating the special event. “Our Black Lives Matter class wanted Michele to come because of her background and what we wanted to learn from the experience,” Xiolani Turner, a student from the class said. “Our class has had many guest speakers, and we really enjoy being able to see different perspectives from several different people just like us.” Norris offered students an in-depth perspective of both her personal and professional experiences and spoke about the many powerful stories people share through her Peabody Award-winning initiative, “The Race Card Project,” which fosters conversation among individuals about their differences.
On May 25, 2020 an incident occurred in Minneapolis that sparked a momentous shift in the way race and inequality are viewed in our country and around the world. George Floyd was killed during his arrest after police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. The incident, caught on camera, led to months of protests and sparked conversations about social justice and the need for change. In response to the growing conversation, the African American Studies program in the Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies developed a new class; offered in fall 2020 Black Lives Matter: Race Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality. Led by Karla Broadus, director of the African American Studies program, the course was created to discuss the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and its historical and sociocultural contexts.
“It’s very important that we talk about Black lives and everything that’s involved because a lot of our students don’t understand the academic, cultural and sexual connections to the topic,” said Broadus. The course, which drew students across different disciplines and ethnic cultures, discussed current affairs and examined equality and social justice issues in academia, society and beyond. Differing views were also represented through the diverse speakers who often joined the class. Faculty from the REGSS department, community members and experts in the field often visited the virtual course to share their experience and knowledge with the class, including NPR Host and Special Correspondent, Michele Norris. This wasn’t the first Black Lives Matter class at UTSA. One was previously offered in 2017 in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts. However, Broadus said she felt it was important to have a resurgence of the course within the African American Studies program in response to the social conversation.
“I hope students can go out and deal with the social justice issues and maybe be better employers or employees when they leave this institution,” Broadus said.
From pop culture, to Mexican American Studies, one course receives national attention
In the fall of 2020, a course created by Sonya M. Alemán, an associate professor of Mexican American Studies caught the attention of the nation.
The course, Selena: A Mexican American Identity and Experience, within the Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, centered its focus on former Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla-Perez. The inaugural class, with almost 30 participating students in its first semester, explored various topics relating to Selena’s career, image, music, the Spanish language and Mexican American identity.
“This has been a dream for me for a long time because it engages the things that I already am interested in and have spent time studying, researching, writing and talking about,” Alemán said. “Issues about race, class, gender identity,” she continued, “about the racialized experience of being a Chicana and Mexican American—I just knew that all of that could be untangled and unpacked through the lens of looking at this iconic figure. Selena embodied all of those things in some aspect of her life and career.”
The class not only centered on Selena but also offered the opportunity for exclusive guest lectures and special guests. Students were treated to guest appearances from Coca Cola executive Elisa Gonzalez-Rubio who worked alongside Selena, and even had the chance to participate in a panel discussion with executive producer Jaime Dávila and San Antonio native and actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira of the Netflix show Selena: The Series.
Of the panel, Alemán stated, “anytime you can enrich your already existing relationship with Selena and her legacy I encourage everybody to take it,” she said. “We are all looking for moments of joy during these really challenging times. It’s been a hard year and even a small moment like this panel are needed.”
The course was well-received by students and was virtually successful in reaching Aleman’s goal of providing students with a greater appreciation of who they are, who their community is and why Selena has remained a legend 25 years after her death.
Christina Farias, a student of the class said, “this class has not only made me prouder to be a Latina but has taught me to embrace who I am and where I grew up. The way Selena took the Tejano scene by storm, made it her own, and how she continues to impact the Tejano community to this day inspires me to follow my dreams without any fears of worrying what people may think of me.”
