Chicanas in the Introduction to Chicano Studies Discourse Community

Introduction

The Introduction to Chicano Studies is a very inclusive discourse community that

collectively express and engage in topics that have been a concern for that community for many
years. The term Chicano Studies has been in constant change since it was first established, but as
of today, the goal of these classes are to create an image-building and power-showing
instrument which further involves the university with the Chicano community through agency
and community sponsored educational projects. (Rochin, 1973) Specifically, I found that the
Introduction to Chicano Studies course discourse community creates a space where people who
identify themselves as Chicanos can learn about the struggles of their community, as well as to
create a new consciousness to actively participate in the community to liberate them from these
struggles.
For this research I decided to focus only on the female Introduction to Chicano Studies
discourse community. As an active participant of the Introduction to Chicano Studies community,
I have learned through this class that women have created a big difference in shifting the
consciousness of this discourse community to be a space that is actively de-emphasizing the
biological claims to authenticity, yet accentuating its productive quality. In this respect, Chicano
refers to a space where subjectivity is produced (Fregoso, 1993) so I consider Chicanas a key
element of this discourse community.
The characteristics that define a group of individuals as a discourse community are that
they share common backgrounds, goals and interests, have mechanisms of
intercommunication, specific genres to communicate, as well as participatory mechanisms

primarily to provide information and feedback, a particular and defining vocabulary, and a
threshold level of members. (Swales, 1990)
After analyzing my interviews, I was able to conclude that the female Introduction to
Chicano Studies population is in fact a discourse community because they have gone through
several struggles based on their gender, but have also been involved in critical thinking through
the discourse communitys genres, like forums and emails, to analyze the challenges faced by its
members, and how to make this community a more inclusive, accepting space.

Method

I decided to interview two Chicanas that are engaged in the Introduction to Chicano
Studies course. I interviewed my Teaching Assistant and my friend. I tried to ask them similar
questions so that I could compare and contrast their experiences, but also noting their differences
in the sense that one has more experience in the field than the other. I asked them about their
background, the struggles they have as a female Chicana on campus and how they think the
Chicano Studies Department addresses these struggles. To support the idea that the Chicano
Studies Department is a specific discourse community I asked them what methods of
communication, or genres, they use for the course and why they are important.

Interview 1: Alicia

Alicia Garcia is my Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Chicano Studies. We casually

met in the Silo so I could ask her some questions about herself and what her current work is.
Alicia is a PhD student, focused on Latina and Latino students in the UC system who had been

dismissed and then returned to continue their studies. She is planning on gathering a group of
students and studying them to know more about what factors motivated them to come back after
being subject to dismissal. Shes planning on interviewing them and conducting surveys and
questionnaires about their interests.
Simultaneously, while planning her research, Alicia is participating as a Teaching
Assistant for the Introduction to Chicano Studies course. According to her, the Chicano Studies
Department is composed by faculty, staff, students and administrators, who are male and female
and work together. She mentioned that the department is very inclusive and she feels equally
valued as the male staff in the department.
I asked Alicia about the methods of communication she uses. She said that she mainly
communicates through emails or in person with both faculty and students. With faculty she
writes her email professionally even if she has a personal connection with them since they are
documented. With her colleagues she is less formal but still professional. Most of their emails are
about announcements of the Introduction to Chicano Studies class. With students she is still
professional but less technical with her word choice, and tries to make each email personal even
if several students have the same questions.
Next, I asked Alicia what her opinions were about the female Chicano community at UC
Davis. She said that as Chicana on campus she often feels like she has to prove herself (A.
Garcia, personal communication, November 15, 2016) more compared to other people, but in the
department this kind of feelings are addressed. The department is mainly composed of women
and the Chicano Studies classes make sure to include the gender gap topic. Personally, she thinks
that in her discussion section she tries to make clear that she doesnt value males over females or

females over males. She doesnt want to pretend shes blinded to the fact that in society these
differences exist, but in terms of the class she implements equal opportunities for everyone.

Analysis of Alicia

Alicia mentioned that she mostly communicates with students in person, since this is a
more efficient way of engaging with them and sharing views about the community, but I noticed
that she communicates with us with genres she doesnt notice.
Every discussion she comes to class with notes about what discussion is going to be
about and about themes important for the course. Her notes include her own opinions about the
themes we are touching on in lecture and questions to discuss with our neighbors. Her notes help
us engage with topics that are important for the Chicano community and it is a way for us to
communicate our thoughts, feelings and common interests with each other.
Ive sent emails to Alicia before and I can agree that even though I might ask simple
questions and we talk very informally in person, she has made sure to answer my emails in a
formal and appropriate manner.
Another thing to mention is the way Alicia checks our forums. She always makes sure to
provide feedback about their content so we are understanding the topics of the class properly.
She also comments on the style of our forums so we can do better on our future writings.

Interview 2: Alexis

I interviewed my friend Alexis Tostado through Facebook. Alexis is a second year animal
science major. She is currently taking Introduction to Chicano Studies and she feels like this

class has made her more aware about diversity and how the Chicano community has struggles
that cut across other communities.
Alexis explained to me that she applied to college because she always wanted to be a
veterinarian and because she wants to give her family a better life. She felt like the odds werent
on her favor because shes part of the Chicano community. She believes this is the reason why
she has always had to fight harder for opportunities compared to other people.
I asked Alexis what struggles she has been through since she got to Davis and she
answered that as a light skinned Chicana she feels like she has to prove herself (A. Tostado,
personal communication, November 16, 2016) not only to people outside the Chicano
community but also to people in the Chicano community because of the color of her skin. She
commented that when she first came to Davis she felt out of place and that most of her freshman
year she struggled to make friends because she didnt have anyone that shared her experiences.
I had no one to talk to about missing the tacos and tamales from home because no one else
really had that like I did (A. Tostado, personal communication, November 16, 2016)
Now taking Introduction to Chicano Studies, she feels like shes been more involved and
that she doesnt feel discriminated against for being a female since the class readings apply both
to females and males. She has been applying what she has been learning to her daily life and
shes aware of peoples experiences and the influences this causes in the Chicano community.
After I heard Alexis experiences I asked her about the writing processes she uses in the
Chicano community. She told me that for Introduction to Chicano Studies they have forums and
that theyre used for the students to be aware of situations the Chicano community has gone
through, and to keep them thinking about the issues faced and how to improve them. She
communicates in her forums what she interpreted from the readings, not only what the professor

gets from the reading, just like many other students in the class. She uses the forums as a way to
think for herself and analyze the topics of the readings to relate them to the community.
Alexis also mentioned how she has communicated with people from the Chicano Studies
department. She has emailed her Teaching Assistant with questions. She was very casual the first
time without noticing, but she made sure to be more formal the second time.

Analysis of Alexis

I have known Alexis since freshman year and we decided to take this class together. We
chose to take this class because we wanted to learn more about the community we are part of. We
both talked about how we are not completely engaged in the community because we are not part
of any Chicanx clubs or fraternities, but we both share similar culture and values that our parents
passed to us.
I noticed that me and Alexis share similar feelings regarding being light skinned within
the Chicano community. We both struggle with our identity within the community since others
have expectations of how we should look. Also, being a female brings out other concerns
regarding equality in our community.
Alexis briefly mentioned to me the forums as a way to communicate in the course. Since
I am also taking that class I can say that these are a way to effectively communicate what were
learning in lecture while providing our opinions and suggestions to the community. Every week
we have a different prompt to answer but its the same process: we use the material we learned
and engaged with in lecture, process it and relate it to ourselves, and then write a reflective
forum about the theme. I see this as the main genre of the class.

Conclusion

After analyzing the interviews it was very clear how the female Introduction to Chicano
Studies community is a discourse community. Both my interviewees expressed similar views on
what being Chicana meant for them before participating in this class, like the need to prove
themselves to others since they are part of a minority community, but also because of their
gender. According to Alma Garcia, race, class, and gender form the major axes with which to
analyze the experiences and conditions affecting Chicanas in the United States. (Garcia, 1984)
For example, Alexis interview gave me a sense of how other females see themselves trying
harder than others based on the fact that they are Chicanas, but also because she doesnt look like
one.
The Introduction to Chicano Studies course is limited every quarter to a certain number
of students, qualifying for the threshold number of members requirement. This community also
uses a recurrent vocabulary such as the words Chicano, subjectivity, praxis, reckoning with
history, community self-determination, Aztlan, Nepantla, mestiza, agency and many more.
To reflect on all the vocabulary of the course, the Introduction to Chicano Studies
community uses in the forum genre to participate in critical thinking to understand why certain
people dont feel included in the Chicano community. The teaching assistants help guide us to
understand all the material properly and help associate our personal experiences to what we are
learning in lecture. The TAs and students also interact through the email genre to communicate
with each other their questions about the class material or for announcements.
All members share the similar goals to learn about their community and create a place
where subjectivity can be produced. Females contribute to this space by sharing their experiences

and knowledge about the community, as well as actively participating in making the community
more inclusive for everyone.

References

Fregoso, R. (1993). The Bronze Screen: Chicana and Chicano Film Culture. University of
Minnesota Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttttjrs
Garcia, A. (1984). Studying chicanas: bringing women into the frame of Chicano studies.
National Association for Chicana and CHicano Studies Annual Conference. Retrieved
from http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/
Rochin, R. (1973). The short and turbulent life of chicano studies: a preliminary study of
emerging programs and problems. Social Science Quarterly, 53(4), 884-894. Retrieved
from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42859068
Swales, J. (1990). The concept of discourse community. Genre analysis: English in academic
and research settings, 21-32.