Conmemorando a la Comunidad

Digital humanities students share histories and materials from 赌博娱乐平台网址大全’s Latinx community

星期二，2024年5月7日

To be a member of the Latinx community at 圣赌博平台网站大全 is to be a part of a deep and resilient history. 现在,三位一体的 Mexico, the Americas, and Spain (MAS) program and the University Archives in Coates 图书馆 have partnered to preserve this history through stories.

Conmemorando a la Comunidad is a platform designed to present current Latinx students at 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 with histories in which they can identify and start to create a sense of belonging with people that came before them. The collaboration also invites alumni, 教师, and staff to revisit their experiences at 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 in a common history of resilience and validation through action. The project serves as a starting point to connect with similar projects around 圣安东尼奥 and situate the 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 experience within the larger Latinx community in the city.

我们问达尼娅·阿布鲁-托雷斯博士.D., Spanish professor and MAS主管, and University Archivist Schnur磨料, to share more about the community-driven project and the work being done by 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 undergraduates in the digital humanities to bring it to life.

Why is it important that 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 is supporting and undertaking this work?

The mission of the project is to bring to the forefront the presence of the Latinx community at 赌博娱乐平台网址大全. 多年来, we have heard Latinx students talking about their struggles to feel they belong to 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 and that 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 belongs to them. This lack of belonging comes from not knowing who was here before them, a lack of knowledge of pieces of our 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 history. By going into the archives and learning from Latinx alumni in their oral histories, Latinx students learn about the importance of the Latinx community in 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 history and the contributions they brought and are bringing to campus. 最重要的是, this is work done with students so they can develop ownership of 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 history as well.

Students interview playwright and 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 alumni Octavio Solís ‘80, who shared his experiences as one of only a few Latinx theater students under the last year of Paul Baker at 赌博娱乐平台网址大全.

What one thing do you want the community to know about the project?

This is a project for everyone. The voices we are highlighting are the Latinx voices, but the project is for the 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 community to learn and understand that the standard view that is usually portrayed about 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 isn’t all there is to share. Since the beginning, 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 has been a place of multicultural and diverse voices. Our work acknowledges the gaps and oversights that Latinx history has endured and brings back the stories and experiences to make them part of an equal history of 圣赌博平台网站大全.

What is something that has surprised you about the work?

We have been surprised by three things: one, how far back the activity and activism of the Latinx community at 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 is (between organizations, 跨学科的项目, 和编程, these students were everywhere); two, how involved and connected Chicano students at 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 were to the early Chicano movement here in 圣安东尼奥; and three, how art and culture are the primary manifestations of the Latinx 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 community activism and search for representation. The Latinx alumni have done so much to represent 赌博娱乐平台网址大全 values; we need to bring their stories to the forefront.