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Joseline Gonzalez
Hometown: Carson, CA
Major(s): English Literature
Minor: Chicano/a Studies
Graduate Interests: Representation in Literature; Border Studies; Queer Theories; Chicana Feminist Theories; Immigration; Gender and Ethnicity Identities in Literature
Scholarships and Academic Awards: Dean’s List; Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
MMUF Mentor: Dr. Roderick Hernandez
Research Project Title: “Forgive Me, Father!: The Relationship Between Women and Religion in Latinx Literature”
Research Project Abstract: The Catholic Church is a prominent religious institution in Latinx communities because of its historically violent implementation throughout Latin America. The “virtuous woman” trope stems from religious morals that have been further applied through male-led family structures. Helena Maria Viramontes’ collection, The Moths and Other Stories, shows women’s experiences under these pressures. Although the women in Viramontes’ stories seemingly succumb to restrictive gender roles and suppress their sexuality, they also appropriate religious iconography and scripture. They repurpose them by providing modern lenses and making them inclusive, despite the women previously feeling unwelcome. These women repurpose iconography because they want to create a modern, feminine, spiritual space.
The young women in Viramontes’ short stories choose to defy these rules imposed on them and attempt to define their identity. These appropriations are not uncommon in Latinx communities. In Goddess of the Americas, Ana Castillo gave authors a simple task: explain the significance of La Virgen de la Guadalupe in their lives and culture. It is no coincidence that women like Sandra Cisneros repurpose the virgin and dub her a “sex-goddess.” These different interpretations are also found in Latinx artists - most notably Ester Hernandez and her interpretation of the virgin and her creation of La Virgen de las Calles. Through this Hernandez and Cisneros show, like Viramontes' characters, the power and pressure of the Catholic Church. Women’s views of religious institutions change because they live in a post-modern United States and refuse to conform to orthodox institutions.
Matthew Hernandez
Hometown: Red Bluff, CA
Major(s): English Literature
Graduate Interests: Children's and Young Adult Literature; Minority Representation in Literature; Mixed Race Identity in Young Adult Literature; Graphic Novels; Speculative Fiction
Scholarships and Academic Awards: Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
MMUF Mentor: Dr. Helen Oesterheld
Research Project Title: "Please Don't Shoot Me: Racist Violence in Young Adult Literature"
Research Project Abstract: My research project concerns the presentation of racist violence in young adult literature. The novels that were selected for study were written and published after 2015, in the wake of the deaths of Aiyana Stanley-Jones and Michael Brown. These works, Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone and All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds and Brenden Kiely, both deal with fictional locales that are heavily influenced by racism and racist violence. The authors of these works make special note of the many deaths of unarmed people of color at the hands of law enforcement and the dominant society/social class that predicate them. The selection of these novels was made because of the central theme and how it is presented in two very different ways; a fantasy world in which only people of color exist and a realistic and perse American town, respectively.
The goal of my research is, by the examination of these texts through the application of critical race theory and literary criticism, to bring more attention to how these narratives are presented by modern authors and the prevalence (or lack) of pervasiveness and urgency found in them. In studying these works, specifically how such a sensitive topic is presented to readers who live in a world inundated by this type of violence, I would like to bring special attention to the counter-story often dismissed by critics and the dominant narratives within the genre. This research is also geared toward the type of calls to action present in each text, and how this social action might be taken up by the intended audience. The hope of this paper is that, through this type of study, we might open up new dialogues and stem the rising tide of racist rhetoric and violence in our current American society.
Other Interests:
Carpentry; Culinary Arts; Viticulture; The History and Practices of Distillation; Travel; Pedagogy.
Raquel Serrano
Hometown: Compton, CA
Major(s): Women's Studies
Graduate Interests: Women's Studies; Feminist Studies; Gender Studies
Scholarships and Academic Awards: Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow; Alisa Ann Ruch Scholarship
MMUF Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Brandt
Research Project Title: All Social, No Justice: “The Performativity of Social Justice on Social Media”
Research Project Abstract: Social justice carries weight in the way we reform humanity, and so it should also evolve as humanity does. The purpose of my research is to investigate the performativity of social justice demonstrated through social media; specifically, via Instagram accounts. Social justice movements have brought attention to and activism for racial, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic issues. I will analyze social justice through a feminist lens and its performance on Instagram because of the severity of possibilities that are at risk when masses of people are being reached. Through my research, I am exploring the origins of social justice, the language around social justice, its effectiveness, and its performance on social media. In America, not only is social media accessible, it is a platform that is commonly used as a news source and form of activism. I plan to further delve into extensions of social justice such as call-out culture and slacktivism, and also explore the potential for social justice to become toxic, disempowering, victimizing, or academically elitist.