California State University Channel Islands

Camarillo, CA. - CSU Channel Islands (CI) has announced the second program of the Fall 2009 Chicana/o Speaker Series. Guest speaker, Dr. Ana Elizabeth Rosas of UC Irvine, will discuss her research on women and the Bracero program entitled, “Ourselves-Our Children: Responsibility and Respectability across the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, 1942-1947.”

The program, which is free and open to the public, will take place Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 3 to 5:00 p.m. in the John Spoor Broome Library Room 1360 on the CI campus. The series of programs is sponsored by the Chicana/o Studies program, in conjunction with the Center for Multicultural Engagement and is funded by the University’s IRA (Instructionally Related Activities).

Dr. Rosas’ research on women, the Bracero program and its legacy, from 1942 to today, demonstrates the ongoing impact the program has had on Chicano families. A by-product of the program, which allowed Mexican nationals to take temporary agricultural work in the United States, was the separation of the families of migrant workers. For a female migrant worker it meant the lengthy absence of a mother from her children, as she worked to send money back to her family. This resulted in many children resenting the mother’s absence and feeling abandoned.

The separation of family members, some living and working in the United States and some living in their native countries; Mexico, Central or South America, has created serious emotional rifts within the families. It is a story of people living and working in one place with their hearts and lives in another.

Rosas sees these transnational, transborder issues as an increasingly widespread phenomenon. The result of many years of separation between mother and child is that the emotional bond between the two is frequently severely damaged or destroyed.

Dr. Rosas, born in Guadalajara, Mexico, but raised in South Central Los Angeles, focused her academic studies on Chicana/o history, comparative immigration, ethnicity, gender and race. She is currently working on a book on the Mexican immigrant experience and has won many prestigious awards and prizes, the most recent being a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Dr. Jose Alamillo, Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies at CI, said that the speaker series, “Crossing Borders, Linking Communities in Chicana/o Studies” seeks to showcase CI’s interdisciplinary research on transnational and transborder issues and create communication and connection among all communities.

Limited parking is available on campus. A daily permit is $6. Free parking is available at the Camarillo Metrolink Station/Lewis Road parking lot in Camarillo with bus service to and from the campus. Riders should board the CSU-CI VISTA Bus and the fare is $1 each way. Buses arrive and depart from the Camarillo Metrolink Station every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. For exact times, check the schedule at www.goventura.org.

For additional information about the Chicana/o Speaker Series, contact Dr. Jose Alamillo, Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies at CSU Channel Islands at 805-437-2586 or jose.alamillo@csuci.edu

CSU Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

CSUCI Mission Statement
Placing students at the center of the educational experience, California State University Channel Islands provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.