SDSU Chicana and Chicano Studies

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SDSU Chicana and Chicano Studies For over 50 years, the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service.

In 1969, a small group of committed faculty members and students from San Diego attended the historic Santa Barbara conference where the Plan de Santa Barbara was born. This document established the blueprint for developing Chicano Studies departments. Since then almost every major public and private university or college in California has developed a Chicano Studies program or department. We are proud to be among the first departments established, and now celebrate over 40 years. The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service. The Chicana and Chicano Studies degree provides the student with a timely, interdisciplinary education regarding the nation's fast-growing ethnic group, the Chicano/Latino, and the interplay of culture, politics, economics and society in the dynamic U.S.-Mexican border region. The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies also endeavors to contribute to the development of knowledge about the Chicano/Latino populations and the border region through original scholarship on the part of its faculty and students. The department recognizes women and gender based issues as integral to a Chicano studies program.

Join us for two powerful documentary screenings, “Los Años de Fierro” (The Years of Fierro) and “La Libertad de Fierro” ...
10/08/2026

Join us for two powerful documentary screenings, “Los Años de Fierro” (The Years of Fierro) and “La Libertad de Fierro” (The Freedom of Fierro), directed by Santiago Esteinou. These films chronicle the extraordinary story of César Fierro, the longest-serving Mexican national on death row in the United States, who spent 40 years incarcerated in Texas before his release in 2020. Fierro has always maintained his innocence.

Together, these documentaries explore both Fierro’s decades-long fight for justice and his efforts to rebuild his life after returning to Mexico following deportation. The screenings will be followed by a conversation and Q&A with the director.

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Chicana/o Studies, the Institute for the Arts, Humanities and Social Justice, the College of Arts and Letters, and the Digital Humanities Center.

Los Años de Fierro (The Years of Fierro) OCTOBER 27 | 7:00 PM | Arts & Letters- 201

La Libertad de Fierro (The Freedom of Fierro) OCTOBER 28 | 4:00 PM | Digital Humanities Center, L61 (Bottom of the Dome)

For more information, contact Professor Vera-Rosas at [email protected]

Curious about joining the Chicana/o Studies Association? Building community. Empowering voices. Honrando nuestra cultura...
09/22/2026

Curious about joining the Chicana/o Studies Association?
Building community. Empowering voices. Honrando nuestra cultura.

Meetings are on Mondays at 3pm, and take place in the Visionary Suite (Third floor of the Student Union).

Connect, engage, and create change.
All are welcome!

The Department of Women's, Gender. & Sexuality Studies at SDSU Presents: Bread and Roses Feminist Research Colloquium Fr...
09/22/2026

The Department of Women's, Gender. & Sexuality Studies at SDSU Presents: Bread and Roses Feminist Research Colloquium

Frontera Madre(hood): Brown Mothers Challenging Oppression & Transborder Violence at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Dr. Cynthia Bejarano (Women's & Gender Studies; New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces)
Dr. Maria Cristina Morales (Sociology; University of Texas, EI Paso)
Co-editors of Frontera Madre(hood)

Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Adams Humanities 2108
4:00-5:30: Lecture ~ Discussion
5:30-6:30: Reception ~ Plática

"Frontera Madre(hood)" (University of Arizona Press, 2024) analyzes violence and resistance by Mexicana, Chicanx, Latinx, and Black mothers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. It features 37 contributors who share their lived experiences with trauma, as well as advocacy and scholarly activism, representing the span of the U.S.-Mexico border: California-Baja California, Arizona-Sonora, New Mexico-Chihuahua, Texas-Chihuahua, Texas-­Nuevo Leon, and Texas-Tamaulipas. "Frontera Madre(hood)" received an International Latino Book Gold Medal Award for ''Best Women's Issues'' (2025) and a Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association (2026).

*Dr. Bejarano and Dr. Morales are also presenting at SDSU's RE:Border Symposium:10:30am-11:15am in the Pride Suite

Centro Cultural de la Raza Celebrates the Legacy of Maestra Norma AlarcónBook presentation: "Forced by Circumstance: Chi...
09/18/2026

Centro Cultural de la Raza Celebrates the Legacy of Maestra Norma Alarcón

Book presentation: "Forced by Circumstance: Chicana Feminist Essays (1981-2024)"

Roundtable Plática with Special Guests:
Norma Cantú, Editor
Marisa Belausteguigoitia, Editor
Cherrié Moraga
Sandra Cisneros
Marcelle Maese

Saturday, October 3rd
10:30 am - 1:00 pm PST

At Centro Cultural (2004 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA, 92101)
or join the Youtube Livestream on Centro Cultural's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com//streams

Join us for a special, work-in-progress screening of Homeboys, a documentary by Alonso Garibay and Alejandro Bernal.Thur...
09/18/2026

Join us for a special, work-in-progress screening of Homeboys, a documentary by Alonso Garibay and Alejandro Bernal.

Thursday, September 24th, 2026
LL-430 - Leon Williams Room
5:30-7:30 pm

This event is co-sponsored by the Institute for the Arts, Humanities, & Social Justice, the College of Arts and Letters, the University Library, and the Department of Chicana/o Studies.

The screening will be followed by a conversation and Q&A session with the filmmakers and Marissa Montes, Associate Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic.

Synopsis:
Roberto Hernández, “Mr. Lucky,” was deported to Mexico, a country he barely knew. After surviving incarceration, substance use, and displacement, he founded La Casa de Vida, a shelter that for fifteen years has served formerly incarcerated, deported individuals with gang ties. When a profound crisis threatens his life’s work, Roberto must confront his past and ask himself whether it still makes sense to keep fighting for what he believes in.

For more information, contact Dr. Vera-Rosas: [email protected]

Thank you all for attending the CCS Open House yesterday! It was great to meet so many students and welcome back returni...
08/27/2026

Thank you all for attending the CCS Open House yesterday! It was great to meet so many students and welcome back returning students. We greatly appreciate President Adela de la Torre for stopping by!

Curious about Chicana/o Studies? Meet with CCS faculty and learn more about the department at our open house on August 2...
08/17/2026

Curious about Chicana/o Studies? Meet with CCS faculty and learn more about the department at our open house on August 26th from 12-2pm! Pan dulce will be provided as well!

Honoring the legacy of Gilberto Cárdenas (1947-2026) at San Diego State University ¡Aztlan esta de luto! The Department ...
07/31/2026

Honoring the legacy of Gilberto Cárdenas (1947-2026) at San Diego State University

¡Aztlan esta de luto! The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies (CCS) at San Diego State University mourns the passing of Dr. Gilberto Cárdenas, an internationally recognized sociologist, arts advocate, and avid collector and champion of Chicana/o/x art. We extend our deepest condolences to Dolores Carrillo Garcia, the extended Cárdenas family, and all who were touched by his life and work.

At SDSU, through Gil's decades-long friendship with CCS professor Dra. Norma Iglesias Prieto, we were fortunate to count on the support of Gil and Dolores, who generously loaned dozens of art pieces for our department's four-site transnational exhibition of Chicana/o art celebrating the department's 50th anniversary in 2020.

Dr. Gilberto Cárdenas leaves a lasting impact in the worlds of Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies and the broader Chicana/o/x art world.

Dr. Gilberto Cárdenas, 1947-2026 ¡¡PRESENTE!!

Congrats to Dr. Gretel Vera-Rosas on receiving the Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity Faculty Intramural Grant (...
07/24/2026

Congrats to Dr. Gretel Vera-Rosas on receiving the Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity Faculty Intramural Grant (2026–2027) for her project titled, "Imagining and Enacting a Politics of Sustenance: Visualizing Solidarity and Central American Migrant Illegality."

Congrats to the CAL Microgrant Award recipients of Chicana and Chicano Studies!
07/23/2026

Congrats to the CAL Microgrant Award recipients of Chicana and Chicano Studies!

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5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA
92182

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+16195946452

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