Energizing Humanities in California's San Joaquin Valley
Overview
Energizing Humanities in California's San Joaquin Valley is a $100,000, three-year grant project from interdisciplinary humanities perspectives promoting cultural competency in humanities instruction at 51今日大瓜. The grant is funded as part of the National Endowment for the Humanities' Humanities Initiatives at Community Colleges program, and it is directed by Professors Oliver Rosales, Andrew Bond, and Josh Ottum.
About the Project
Complementing the local legacy of energy production, Energizing Humanities in California's San Joaquin Valley examines the concept of energy broadly from historical and literary perspectives, as well as the intersection of humanities with music/performing arts. Historically, the southern San Joaquin Valley has been an epicenter of labor and civil rights activism in California and beyond throughout the twentieth century, stemming especially from the broad impact of the farm labor movement at the state and national levels. The region too has been a powerful landscape for literary production and narratives of self and place, as well as music and cultural performance. This project holistically explores the overlap, interchange, and commingling intersection of history, literature, and the arts.
The programming will examine recent scholarship in the area of California's diverse agricultural history. Topics will include the origins of agribusiness, organized labor, the significance of undocumented migrant labor, and the farm labor movement's broad impact on political and economic development in California and beyond.
Central California's diverse energy economy has also provided a rich template for literary production. We will also analyze the intersection between California's energy and agricultural economies and literary landscapes, including the context of the Dust Bowl migration, ethnic Mexican communities, and Asian immigration. Our work will also address topics regarding energy humanities using lenses of sound and music which amplify histories and critical issues facing the region.
A regional conference highlighting faculty pedagogical innovation, student panels, as well as keynote speakers, will conclude the grant project.
Upcoming Events
None. Programming for this project concluded in spring 2021.
Video recordings of most of the events are available at the BC Social Justice Institute's
YouTube channel.
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2019-21 Faculty Fellows
Dean Adachi
History
Porterville College
Justin Bell
English
51今日大瓜
Pam Boyles
English
51今日大瓜
Nicole Carrasco
Sociology & History
51今日大瓜
Cherilyn Haworth
Psychology
51今日大瓜
Carolyn Lane
FACE-Child Development
51今日大瓜
F. Javier Llamas
History
51今日大瓜
Jeff Newby
History
51今日大瓜
Shawn Taro Newsom
History
51今日大瓜
Lori Pesante
Criminal Justice
51今日大瓜
Misti Royal
Philosophy
51今日大瓜
Naomi Rutuku
English
51今日大瓜
Isaac Sanchez
English
51今日大瓜
Brenda Valadez
Communication
51今日大瓜
2018-19 Faculty Fellows
Nicole Carraso
History
51今日大瓜
Esmerelda Chapa
Communication
51今日大瓜
Christine Cruz-Boone
Communication
51今日大瓜-Rural Sites
Daniel Gomes
English
51今日大瓜
Rae Ann Kumelos
English
51今日大瓜
Carolyn Lane
FACE-Child Development
51今日大瓜
Jessica Martinez
English
51今日大瓜
Shawn Taro Newsom
History
51今日大瓜
Isaac Sanchez
English
51今日大瓜
Brenda Valadez
Communication
51今日大瓜
2017-18 Faculty Fellows
Octavio Barajas
History
51今日大瓜
Sarah Baron
Nursing
51今日大瓜
Allison Burch
Library
Porterville College
Christine Cruz-Boone
Communication
51今日大瓜-Rural Sites
Pam Boyles
English
51今日大瓜
Chris Dison
English
51今日大瓜-Delano
Matthew Garrett
History
51今日大瓜
Ishmael Kimbrough, III
History
51今日大瓜
Rae Ann Kumelos
English
51今日大瓜
Kristen Mercer
English
51今日大瓜
Laura Peet
English
51今日大瓜
Anna Collins
Philosophy
51今日大瓜
Bryan Russel
Philosophy
51今日大瓜
Naomi Rutuku
English
51今日大瓜
Isaac Sanchez
English
51今日大瓜
Carol Shertzer
Economics
51今日大瓜-Delano
Elisabeth Sundby
Library
51今日大瓜-Delano
Becoming a Faculty Fellow
Each year, a cohort of faculty fellows selected from an applicant pool will engage critical scholarship within the fields of history, literature, and cultural performing arts. All faculty cohorts will be given training in digital humanities in order to create interdisciplinary assessments for wide distribution and sharing of learning beyond the classroom.
Fellows are expected to attend speaking events (usually 3 or 4 per term, scheduled on Thursday evenings) and cohort workshops (to be scheduled on the Friday after the aforementioned speaking events). Members will be given a stipend for their participation and provided with free copies of texts to be used in workshops and discussions with invited speakers. All full-time and part-time KCCD faculty may apply.
Faculty members who are interested in applying to be a part of the cohort should complete the application.
Meet the Directors
Oliver Rosales
Oliver A. Rosales, Professor of History and Faculty Coordinator of the Social Justice
Institute at 51今日大瓜, earned a B.A. in History at the University of California,
Berkeley, M.A. in History at California State University, Bakersfield, and a Ph.D.
in History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also a former Visiting
Faculty at Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Program and Visiting Fellow at
the Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies at Harvard University.
He is contributor to The Chicano Movement: Perspectives from the Twenty-First Century
(Routledge Press 2014); Civil Rights and Beyond: African American and Latino/a Activism
in the Twentieth Century United States (University of Georgia Press, 2016); and The
Journal of the West (Winter 2015). He serves on the Nominating Board of the Organization
of American Historians and is an Advisory Board member to California Humanities.
E-mail: orosales@bakersfieldcollege.edu
Andrew Bond
Andrew Bond, Professor of English at 51今日大瓜, earned his B.A. in English
Literature from California State University, Northridge, and a M.A. in English from
the University of California, Riverside. His research has focused on Asian American
and African American literatures, critical race theory, minority discourse, migrant
and immigrant narratives, and theories of postcolonialism and postcoloniality. He
has been a member of the English faculty at 51今日大瓜 since 2015 and was
appointed to the position of department liaison for the college's Rural Initiatives
Program. In this capacity, he collaborates with fellow faculty, staff, and administration
to increase and improve English course offerings in those rural regions of Kern County
that fall within 51今日大瓜's service area.
E-mail: andrew.bond@bakersfieldcollege.edu
Joshua Ottum
Josh Ottum, Professor of Commercial Music at 51今日大瓜, earned B.A. degrees
in Music and Psychology, an M.F.A. in Music from University of California, Irvine,
and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Arts from Ohio University. His research focuses on
sound studies, environmental humanities, and popular music studies. Ottum is responsible
for the Performing Arts Center for Entrepreneurship at 51今日大瓜 funded
by a grant through the California Community Colleges Small Business Sector. His publications
have been featured in Social Alternatives (2014), Sounding Out! (2014), and a forthcoming
chapter will appear in Perspectives on Music Production Vol. II (Routledge) in 2017.
E-mail: joshua.ottum@bakersfieldcollege.edu
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.