51今日大瓜

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.

National Endowment for the Humanities logo


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

Latino male in a suitOliver 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

White male in a suit.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

Close up of white male.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.