Role and Mission of MSU Denver Department of Chicana/o Studies:
We are a program that has been characterized as a “second generation” program, on the path to developing “value added, bi-disciplinary” approaches to our curriculum in order to respond to the changing demographics and world of work challenges in American society and the world.
The role of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at MSU Denver has been to fulfill our vision and mission in providing academic content to our students and the metropolitan area about the Chicana/o and Latina/o cultures. The department explores new and innovative initiatives that bring value to the discipline. In teaching, we offer curricula that is multi-disciplinary in nature—including the social sciences and humanities—and which reflects the historical and contemporary complexities of our nation and world. In research, we foster studies to promote scholarly and theoretical understanding of the various issues about the past, present and future of our communities. In service, we offer opportunities for research-based assistance to the college and the metropolitan area to address the needs of our society, especially, but not limited to the status of the Chicana/o and Latina/o communities. By providing the “academic content to our students and the metropolitan area about the Chicana/o and Latina/o cultures” we fulfill a significant multicultural requirement that the graduates of MSU Denver—most of whom stay in Denver and throughout Colorado—are required to take within the curriculum guidelines of Metropolitan State University of Denver. Classes provide students with rigorous academic instruction about the burgeoning population. The department is in the process of developing service learning opportunities to its repertoire of academic programs. In advising, we offer students counsel and advice regarding classes, graduate school opportunities, and professional development. The department writes letters of recommendation and supports student activities that are both on campus and in the community.
We continue to enhance the quality of our teaching, service, and professional development; by preparing our students for their academic, intellectual, and professional futures. We constantly strive to engage them in critical thinking from various perspectives for studying multi-disciplinary subject matter relative to the Chicana/o/Mexicana/o/Latina/o experience., Departmental faculty works to meet the needs of curricula regarding the Chicana/o community in partnership with Denver Public Schools (DPS), for example, through El Alma de la Raza Project, a multicultural curriculum that addresses the contributions of Latinas/os to this great nation. To date over 75 curriculum units have been written, edited, authenticated by MSU Denver professors, and published; thirty-eight of them are on the Colorado Department of Education Website and fifty-five on the Denver Public School’s Website.
The department prepares students to teach in K-12 classrooms, with opportunities in obtaining teaching licensures, granted through the department. In May of 2001, CHS received Secondary Education Certification in Social Studies from the Colorado on Higher Education Commission (CCHE). This was a historical milestone and the first time that any department in an Ethnic Studies type program received such licensure in higher education in the State of Colorado. In the “Grow Your Own” Program, CHS collaborates with the Teacher Education Department in preparing students to obtain majors in Chicana/o Studies, minors in ESL and elementary school licensures.
The CHS department has a long history of involvement in the Latina/o and Chicana/o communities in its struggle for social justice. The department sponsors the Journey Through Our Heritage—an academic competition patterned after the Odyssey of the Mind-based on indigenous history and culture. This program has been revitalized and has been in continuous operation since 2004. Please explore the link to this program that is student centered, offering opportunities to both high school and college students.
The department assists the college in meetings one of its preeminence goals related to diversity. The department has offered the following programs in the last 3 years: 1) Café Cultura; 2) Journey to our Heritage; 3) Rudolpho “Corky” Gonzales Symposium; 4) Cesar E. Chavez Leadership Days; 5) Lalo Delgado Annual Poetry Festival;; 6) Richard T. Castro Distinguished Visiting Professorship; 7) Annual La Raza Youth Conferences; 8) Su Teatro: St. Cajetan’s Reunification Project: Colorado en una Noche de Navidad; 9) Return of the Corn Mothers; and 10) The Dance of the Flower Medicine: Danza Xochitl Pahtli – Mexican/Chicano Health Symposium These programs allow student participation in the development and implementation phases and provide cross cultural educational experiences. Other programs include “Beyond Chicanismo” and “Herederos of Change and Esperanza,” two programs coordinated specifically by students and supervised by an affiliate faculty member.
Lastly, the department is intimately involved in transforming Metropolitan State College of Denver into a Hispanic Serving (HSI) institution which translates into increasing Latina/o student enrollment to 25%.
WELCOME!!
