Understanding the Chicana/ Chicano Experience

Chicana/o Studies opens the door to selfdiscovery, fulfilling community aspirations, exciting careers.

Chicana/o Studies is important because it is a detailed, up-close look into the experience of the Mexicano, Chicano, and Hispanic people. Learning about one’s history and heritage can help someone understand their identity, sense of belonging, purpose, and cultural value.

At UNM-Taos, this interdisciplinary curriculum focuses on the Chicana/Chicano experience through the historical, economic, and social realities that influence the Hispanic community. Students draw upon the wealth of knowledge available through community memory and culture to enhance the classroom learning experience and broaden student perspective.

“What does it mean to be ‘Chicano,’ ‘Mexican American,’ ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latino’ in the United States?” posed Dr. Trisha Martinez, UNM-Taos Chicana/o Studies program director, post-doctoral fellow. “In Chicana and Chicano Studies, students engage with the depth of the Mexicano/Chicano/Hispanic experience in the U.S., more specifically within the Southwest.”

Chicana and Chicano Studies courses equip students with strong analytical, communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills that prepare them to work in diverse employment sectors. Chicana/o Studies majors pursue careers in business administration, education, museum studies and the cultural arts, non-profit management, social work, public health, as well as law and politics.

This area of study not only leads to interesting careers, but Martinez said it’s important to acknowledge what is happening in our communities and to bring those experiences into a space that helps to alleviate the pressures, and inspire dialogue and solutions. Martinez shared, “A former student stated, ‘I like learning and feeling relieved.’ When asked to elaborate he explained, ‘... the pressures of today, the pandemic, academic rigor, and demand. But in our courses, there is a sense of relief in knowing that you know, that you belong, and that you have the opportunity to expand on experience, inspire knowledge, cultivate growth, and write your own histories.’”

This important Area of Focus within Liberal Arts comes with UNM transfer pathways that afford students online options to obtain a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Chicana/o Studies without having to leave the Taos area.

This fall, Dr. Martinez will teach Introduction to Chicana and Chicano Studies (online, asynchronous: learn on your own schedule within a certain timeframe) and Introduction to Southwest Studies, a featured class in the Friday Early College Program. Chicana/o Studies is part of the People, Arts, and Culture Career Interest Cohort (CIC).

“What does it mean to be ‘Chicano,’ ‘Mexican American,’ ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latino’ in the United States?”

“In Chicana and Chicano Studies, students engage with the depth of the Mexicano/ Chicano/Hispanic experience in the U.S., more specifically within the Southwest.”

“It is such an amazing experience teaching curriculum and materials students connect with on a deep and personal level,” Martinez said. “Inspired from learning about their heritage in class, the students go home and ask questions, call their grandparents to learn more, and help further our understandings of our community. This demonstrates the Chicana and Chicano Studies principle that knowledge is circular. When students explore their selves, lives, communities, and histories they affirm their connection to ancestral knowledge and their life-producing energies. Students engage with their elders with a desire to learn and as the elders share, there is a reciprocal experience that is nurturing and life-giving.” For more information, visit taos.unm.edu, call 575.737.6215 or email Trisha Martinez at suenamtz@unm.edu.