Department of Ethnic Studies

Department of Creative Writing

Rupert Costo: A Legacy at UC Riverside

kelvin — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:20:17 +0000

Rupert Costo: A Legacy at UC Riverside kelvin Wed, 08/26/2020 - 13:20 More Press Releases Lina Tejeda, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications August 26, 2020

Rupert Costo saw a vision to establish a university in Riverside. If you’ve ever visited Costo Hall on UC Riverside’s campus, you are familiar with Rupert Costo. Costo Hall, located near the Highlander Union Building and home to many Ethnic and Gender Program offices, is named after Costo and his spouse, Jeannette.

He was a local Cahuilla Native American man, born in 1906 in Hemet, California, and raised on the Cahuilla Reservation in Anza, California. He attended Riverside City College, then moved on to Whittier College and the University of Nevada.

“Rupert was very interested in establishing a university in Riverside because of the city’s proximity to many local Native American tribes,” said William Madrigal Jr., a local Cahuilla Native and a graduate student at UCR in Ethnic Studies.

“The Costo family had many members that were involved in activist organizations such as the Mission Indian Federation,” said Rose Soza War Soldier, a lecturer at Northern Arizona University whose research topics include Costo. “Rupert was an active member of the California Indian Rights Association, and lobbied in Washington, D.C., on behalf of many tribes. He was a young man, only in his twenties when he did this.”

In 1950, Costo founded the American Indian Historical Society and shortly after, Costo began to lobby University of California to establish a university in Riverside. He believed in the importance of higher education, according to Madrigal.

He married his spouse, Jeannette Henry-Costo, of Eastern Cherokee descent, in 1954. Jeannette Henry-Costo was a reporter for the New York Times and Detroit Free Press. Together, they founded the Indian Historian Press publishing house from their home in San Francisco.

In 1986, the Costos donated their entire library of books, textbooks, and publishings to UCR. The library became known as the Rupert Costo Library for the American Indian, located on the fourth floor of the Tomás Rivera Library, at the entrance of the Special Collections and University Archives.

After Costo’s death in 1989, his spouse donated the Rupert and Jeannette Costo Papers to UCR, which are part of the Rivera Library Special Collections.

Proceeds from the sale of their “Victorian-style mansion” in San Francisco created the funds for the Costo Endowment at UCR, which provides some funding to the Ethnic and Gender Programs within Costo Hall, according to Soza War Soldier.

“I spend much of my time in the Native American Student Programs in Costo Hall,” said Anthony Ruiz, a fourth-year student in Ethnic Studies. “We take the time to learn about the history and legacy of Rupert and Jeannette Henry-Costo. I believe Costo Hall embodies the heart and soul of Rupert and Jeannette’s passion for education.”

For more information about Rupert and Jeannette Henry-Costo, please visit https://library.ucr.edu/collections/rupert-and-jeannette-costo-papers

FEATURED PHOTO. Rupert and Jeannette Costo Papers (MS 170). Special Collections and University Archives, University of California, Riverside

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UCR Becomes First UC to Offer Local Cahuilla Language Series

kelvin — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 19:22:11 +0000

UCR Becomes First UC to Offer Local Cahuilla Language Series kelvin Wed, 06/24/2020 - 12:22 More Press Releases Lina Tejeda, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing & Communications June 24, 2020

In Winter 2019, UC Riverside offered CAH001, an introductory course to the Cahuilla language, a local Native American tribal language. UCR became the first UC to offer an Indigenous language series that fulfills graduation language requirements to all students. This series is especially important because UC Riverside is situated on the traditional lands of the Cahuilla people.

Cahuilla consists of three dialects that all differ slightly from each other, including Mountain Cahuilla, Pass Cahuilla, and Desert Cahuilla. Language revitalization is now becoming a common response for tribes all over California in order to reverse language shift.

“This class is one of the keys to the success of Native students in the UCs,” said William Madrigal, Jr., a graduate student in the Department of Ethnic Studies. He is of Cahuilla and Luiseño descent and grew up on Cahuilla Reservation in a culturally involved household. As a child, Madrigal learned Mountain Cahuilla and he and his father traveled to different reservations teaching the Cahuilla language to tribal community members.

The idea of creating an Indigenous language series had been discussed for years by UCR’s Native American community, but Professor Madrigal began to push the idea more seriously to the Chancellor’s Native Advisory Council, he said. In 2017, Madrigal’s efforts caught the attention of Mariam Lam, Associate Vice Chancellor & Chief Diversity Officer, who organized meetings with key faculty and Cahuilla community members to conceptualize and create the Cahuilla Language Series that would consist of four courses.

The Cahuilla series is open to all students interested in learning not only the language, but also about the culture and history of the local Cahuilla people. Madrigal teaches the first three courses: CAH 001, 002, 003, consecutively. The fourth, CAH 004 is taught by Ray Huaute, a community member of Cahuilla and Chumash descent and a PhD student in the Linguistics Department at UC San Diego. Huaute helped create the series because he had already created one of the first full local curriculums for Cahuilla.

“I learned about how language is such a vital part in any culture, especially Cahuilla, because it teaches Cahuilla world-view, and that helps with learning traditional songs, games, about the environment, and connects us more with the earth,” said Mallory Marcus, a fourth-year business major and Cahuilla Native. Marcus completed the Cahuilla Language series at UCR in Winter 2020. “We live in an age where we are not connected with nature, so bringing back our roots and traditions can help reignite it,” she said.

“It made me feel empowered as a Native scholar,” said Madison Garcia, a third-year UCR history major who is Kumeyaay Native and has completed all four courses in the Cahuilla series. “My favorite immersion experiences were when we got to play 21 and when we took the roles of animals,” Garcia said when describing the language immersion games. Students also participated in non-traditional games such as Uno and 21 using the Cahuilla language.

For more information about the Cahuilla language series, contact William Madrigal at wmadr001@ucr.edu.

FEATURED PHOTO. Photo courtesy of William Madrigal, Jr.
Members of Madrigal’s Cahuilla language class play a counting immersion game “Wash Tétewan” to help them learn Cahuilla

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Ethnic Studies Professor Chang receives distinguished award from Korea

kelvin — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 19:15:48 +0000

Ethnic Studies Professor Chang receives distinguished award from Korea kelvin Mon, 03/09/2020 - 12:15 More Press Releases Melissa Sagun, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications March 09, 2020

At 18, UC Riverside Professor Edward Chang immigrated to the United States. He had two goals: To learn English and get an education. Decades later, Chang has been awarded the Order of Civil Merit, one of the highest medals from the Republic of Korea, for his academic research promoting Korean culture in both the U.S. and South Korea.

The Order of Civil Merit is the fourth-highest medal given by the South Korean government. It is an annual award based on the recipient’s extensive services in the areas of politics, society, economy, education, art, or science in the interest of promoting national development.

Chang, a professor of ethnic studies and founding director of UCR’s Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies (YOK), received his award for his academic research of Riverside’s Pachappa Camp at a ceremony in San Bernardino’s Koreatown in October 2019.

Through research, Chang discovered that the Pachappa Camp on Cottage Street in Riverside was the first Korean settlement in the United States. The City of Riverside recognized the camp as its first point of cultural and historical interest in 2016 with a sign at the camp’s former location. Chang described it as one of the most important projects of his career.

“The Pachappa Camp was previously unknown until I published a book last year. No one knew of its existence, in Korea or the U.S…” Chang said. “I began to understand this is the first and largest Korean settlement at the time. It was a mecca of Korean independence and held sentiments of a family-based community...In a sense, it laid the groundwork for the early Korean-American immigrants.”

Chang’s project began with a Riverside map from 1905 which showed a Korean settlement. The area was founded by Korean independence activist Ahn Chang Ho. The community thrived, with job opportunities, religious services, and families with about 100 people calling it home until 1918. Chang and his research team confirmed the existence of the Pachappa Camp by collecting historical newspaper articles, a membership list from a local Korean church, and checking tombstones at a nearby cemetery.

Chang has also left a large impact on UCR’s campus by founding the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies in 2010. It was established for faculty and students to continue studying the culture and heritage of Korean-Americans.

Chang named the center after Young Oak Kim, who was a second-generation Korean-American who fought during World War 2 and the Korean War. Kim was a war hero who fought for the rights of minorities, women, orphans, and adoptees. Chang described Kim as a champion of civil rights who served as a role model for future generations.

“Working at the center helped me when I studied abroad in South Korea earlier this year,” said Jacqueline Aguirre De La O, a student intern at the YOK Center. “His research solidified my knowledge of Korean-American migration by moving away from the black-and-white binary, which I implement into my own courses in sociology.”

“Because of Professor Chang’s guidance and tutelage, I have really flourished and grown,” said Carol Park, YOK Center Administrative Assistant and Researcher. “Without his instruction and mentorship, I don’t think I would be where I am today. He is the kind of professor that most students dream to have.”

FEATURED PHOTO. Photo courtesy of Tanner Sebastian/CHASS Marketing & Communications.
Professor of Ethnic Studies Edward Chang celebrates his 2019 award for his research on Riverside’s Pachappa Camp, the first Korean settlement in the United States.

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Beyond Campus Walls: Inspiring Students in Alternative High Schools

kelvin — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 22:18:35 +0000

Beyond Campus Walls: Inspiring Students in Alternative High Schools kelvin Fri, 01/10/2020 - 14:18 More Press Releases Hannah Croft, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing & Communications January 10, 2020

“In my life, I received help from all kinds of good people to get where I am now, and I am determined to pay it back anyway I can,” said Assistant Professor of Anthropology Worku Nida.

For the past three years, Nida has been traveling to Central High School, an alternative school in Los Angeles, to work with students who have been kicked out of their primary high school.

Bi-weekly, Nida visits the school to teach and mentor students who have found difficulty in traditional classrooms in the hopes of making a difference. Nida takes the same lectures he gives to UCR students and tailors them to relate to the high school students, teaching topics of gender, race, power, and agency.

“I ask them, ‘What do you want to talk about next week?’ and they say gender or race or culture, any topic,” Nida said. “I will use the material that I use here at UCR to make connections to their own lives. When we talk about these structures of power like race, gender and sexual orientation, it allows them to talk about their own lives, because their own lives are structured by labels that society has created.”

Nida’s involvement with the school began when he met one of the primary teachers, Vitaly, at a social justice event. After exchanging information, Nida visited the school and immediately felt a connection with the students.

“The students come to our program with a range of challenges and traumas, often with a sense of alienation from adults and social institutions,” said Vitaly. “The curriculum is largely student-directed, and consensus decision-making is an integral part of how we build a sense of classroom community and come to understandings and decisions about who we are, what we need, and how to achieve it.”

“These kids are first-generation and marginalized,” Nida said. “Most of them are racial and ethnic minorities. They are marginalized on so many levels, and I can relate to their experience, as a first-generation student to go to high school and college. I didn’t have a role model, I didn’t grow up reading books and I can really relate to their struggles. This space gives me an opportunity to help, to make a difference in these kids’ lives. They are smart, really smart kids but they don’t have the resources.”

An art project the students were engaged in, assigned by one of their other school teachers, is now displayed at the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles. This impressive display highlights how truly unique the students are.

“It’s so rewarding and empowering [to see the students thrive],” Nida said. “It gives you the feeling that you are relevant. I am relevant to these kids’ lives. I’m helping them to see their lives in a new way. I’m here in a position to guide other young people in their life journeys, and I am trying to make a positive impact.”

Nida’s work caught the attention of Milagros Peña, UCR Professor of Sociology and Ethnic Studies and Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Peña recently visited the school and shared her own stories with the students.

“For me, having grown up in an inner-city environment, it was interesting to see what he was doing,” Peña said. “I shared with the students that I came out of similar neighborhoods where, community organization is an integral part of providing a space for students to learn and experience learning in a non-traditional setting, and how that is affirming of one’s beliefs and one’s potential. Something that was really inspiring to me was how receptive they were that I could be in their space. I felt very humbled and privileged that the students felt comfortable bringing me in.”

“ Due to their sessions with Professor Nida, these students have truly transformed their lives,” said Vitaly. “They have improved their self-esteem as well as their academic performance in other classes...It is real positive changes in the lives of students that make what Professor Nida does with students so invaluable...He communicates complex concepts clearly and is able to help students relate the material to their own lives, which they find empowering and illuminating...I am grateful to Professor Nida for his time and I look forward to continuing to work with him.”

Nida and Peña have brought UCR to the students but now hope to bring the students to UCR. The pair are working with Central High School to organize a field trip that will bring the students to Riverside and show them around campus.

“It’s an ability for us to share our space here,” Peña said. “We can share that there are students here who also come from our backgrounds and that UCR has an affirming presence for students who come from all kinds of backgrounds.”

Central High School students will be visiting during the winter quarter, and Nida is hopeful they will use this opportunity to foster relationships with UCR students.

“I am trying to bring the university to the community and the community to the university,” Nida said. “I’m an anthropologist by training, and I am trying to make anthropology relevant to the real world. It’s important to make a difference in real-world, social programs.”

FEATURED PHOTO. Photo courtesy of Worku Nida, Assistant Professor of Anthropology.
Professor Worku Nida stands outside of Central High School, the alternative high school in Los Angeles where he donates his time.

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African-American Studies has a long history and legacy at UC Riverside

kelvin — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 19:18:02 +0000

African-American Studies has a long history and legacy at UC Riverside kelvin Fri, 09/20/2019 - 12:18 More Press Releases Chris Fleming, Student Writer/CHASS Marketing and Communications September 20, 2019

African-American history and its study has been a cornerstone at UC Riverside since the 1960s. The Black Studies major was created in 1969, when a group of 60 students, led by Charles Jenkins, decided to further their pursuits for knowledge surrounding African-American culture, according to the website for UCR's African Student Programs. The major dissolved in 1970, transforming into Ethnic Studies.

Black studies emerged in San Francisco State University in 1968 and UC Berkeley in 1969, according to Professor Alisa Bierria, a UCR Ethnic Studies professor. "It happened in the midst of a lot of political movements. You had liberation movements, you had Black Power, you had anti-colonial movements all around the world, women's liberation, gay liberation… And students were a big part of that."

Ethnic Studies has since become an integral part of academia, not only enriching the global knowledge and understanding, but also helping communities where their centers reside. "People have argued that one key purpose of academia is to give back to the community," Bierria said, "not exploit the community for the kinds of knowledges they have for their papers and research."

UCR's Black Studies department became a natural gathering place for students of African descent and, by 1972, became the genesis of what we know as UCR’s African Student Programs office. UCR was the first University of California campus to have a professionally staffed Black student resource center and, in 2017, African Student Programs celebrated its 45th year.

"Over the last 46 years, ASP has been involved in teaching the African American legacy through culturally based programs and events geared toward promoting awareness, education and appreciation of the African and African-American culture," said Rhiannon Little-Surowski, ASP’s current Program Coordinator. Little-Surowski has been with ASP for 12 years, beginning as an undergraduate student. "We further teach the legacy through social justice and diversity trainings campuswide, as well as through our Pan African Theme Hall which is a residence hall in Pentland Hills."

Education about African-American culture extends into the classroom. The late Professor Sterling Stuckey, a pioneer in African-American Studies, came to UCR in 1989 as a history professor specializing in American slavery and African-American culture and history. Even before his arrival at UCR, Stuckey was a prominent scholar in African-American studies. His addition to UCR’s growing team of professors was no small event.

"[Professor Stuckey] put UCR on the map," said Professor Thomas Cogswell, chair of UCR’s Department of History and close friend of Stuckey's.

Scholars from across the nation took Stuckey's research and utilized it as a basis for their own studies, according to Cogswell. Stuckey’s work was important, and that enticed graduate students in the field to study under him.

During the ‘90s, Stuckey went to various Historically Black Colleges and Universities to recruit new graduate students to study and work with him, further bolstering the numbers of Black and African-American graduate students and faculty at UCR. One of these graduate students was Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, publisher of Black Voice News, in Riverside.

Black Voice News started in 1972 as a newspaper by a group of African-American students and has been a close partner of UCR and CHASS ever since.

"It was created by students on campus," said Brown-Hinds. "They were inspired by the courses they took in Humanities and Social Science, and created the newspaper. They wanted to take control of their own narrative."

The newspaper, inspired by the struggles of its progenitors, continues to support students on campus as an online news publication and helps promote events by African Student Programs. According to Brown-Hinds, Black Voice News also collaborates with faculty from different UCR departments.

"We've published graduate students and faculty," she said. "We provide a platform for them."

In 2010, Black Voice News collaborated with Professor Stuckey to hold a book signing for his work, Slave Culture: Nationalist Theory & the Foundations of Black America. Brown-Hinds credits the newspaper's relationship with UCR and Professor Stuckey for the ability to tell the story of the African-American community.

For more information about UCR’s Department of Ethnic Studies, visit ethnicstudies.ucr.edu. For more information about Black Voice News, visit blackvoicenews.com.

Photo courtesy of African Student Programs

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