Research

Transnational Critical Media Literacy for Democratic Citizenship

Watercolor by Alpha Elena Escobedo Women Faculty of Color in the White Classroom
What is it like for women of color to teach in predominantly White college classrooms?                             This project is about the pedagogical implications of diversifying the faculty of higher education.                             The anthology compiles narratives by women professors of color who interrogate their classroom experiences in predominantly White U.S. campuses to examine the impact of their social positions upon their classroom practices and their teaching-learning selves.                             The authors reflect upon their unique classroom challenges and talk about the teaching-learning strategies they use to find rewards in their interactions with students.                             The anthology explores the larger question of how social distinctions shape classroom social life, and it hopes to be a resource for those concerned with enabling the diversification of the faculty of institutions of higher learning.                            

Latinos, Media and Health

Representation of Latinos in the News

The Use of Radio by Ethnic Minorities in Mexico
This project examines the social value of participatory radio and the possibilities and constraints that participatory stations hold for improving the living conditions and the sense of self-esteem of the poor in Mexico.                             The book provides an ethnographic account of the social uses of radio created by several Mexican ethnic minorities by examining the matrix of interactions between a government-sponsored participatory radio network and its indigenous audiences.                             Vargas specifically emphasizes how and why the politics of race, ethnicity, class, and gender shape the extent and quality of people's participation in development efforts.                             Through an investigation of two Tojolabal Maya communities in Chiapas, Vargas reveals the conflicts and challenging contradictions typical of many participatory media projects.                             She argues that despite the rampant racism against indigenous peoples prevalent in the radio stations, groups like the Tojolabal Maya have found creative ways to make the best of the communication resources that this participatory project has made available to them.                            

Odds and ends in the web

© 2001-2004, Lucila Vargas. All rights reserved.

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This page was last modified on February 18, 2004.