Laura Pulido is the newest recipient of a Collins Chair

Editor’s Note: Laura Pulido is a CLLAS affiliated faculty member. This story originated in Around the O.

Around the O, February 21, 2020—Laura Pulido, a professor in two UO departments who has had a wide-ranging influence on campus and beyond, has been named a Collins Chair in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The Collins gift specifies that the recipient of the endowed chair be an outstanding scholar in the humanities disciplines or one who studies “aspects of the social sciences that employ historical or philosophical approaches.”

Pulido holds a joint appointment in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies, where she has also served as department head, and the Department of Geography. Her research focuses on how working-class people of color struggle for their rights within the confines of what she calls “racial capitalism,” the idea that racism is an endemic aspect of capitalist economies.

More recently, her work has shifted to structures of domination, especially white supremacy and nationalism and how they shape the U.S., including its historical geography.

“Dr. Pulido has a truly outstanding record of scholarly achievements, with an international profile,” said Bruce Blonigen, Tykeson Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who cited Pulido’s 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship, 2018 Harold Rose Anti-Racism Award from the Association of American Geographers, and 2018 Globe Book Award for Public Understanding of Geography by the Association of American Geographers as recent examples of her scholarly achievements and recognition.

Pulido’s arrival on the UO campus was heralded by colleagues across campus. Alec Murphy, professor of geography and Rippey Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences, noted that “Laura’s arrival was widely viewed as a coup for UO’s geography department because of her visibility as a disciplinary citizen and the far-reaching impact of her scholarly work on the geographic roots and implications of racial inequality.”

David Vázquez, department head for English and a specialist in Latinx literature, also was enthusiastic about Pulido’s contributions.

“She is one of the leading figures in both the study of race and social movements and in the field of environmental justice studies,” he said. “As one of the top researchers in the world on environmental justice, she further consolidates UO’s reputation as the premier university in the U.S. for environmental studies.”

Pulido has spent much of her career studying how activists create meaningful social and environmental change. She said her interest in political activism began when, as a child, she first learned about Harriett Tubman and the Underground Railroad.

“My inability to understand her courage and actions led me to study how people become activists, their visions for changing the world, how they create change and the obstacles they encounter,” she said. “The fact that the first person I ever admired was a black woman is also meaningful. Although my work is anchored by the study of ethnic Mexicans, I knew that I could never draw too tight a boundary around them. Consequently, I have written a good deal about comparative and relational ethnic studies.”

Pulido said she was delighted to be the recipient of a Collins Chair.

“The University of Oregon attracted me because it was an excellent fit intellectually, but I have found it to also be a very welcoming place.” She said. “As a faculty member of indigenous, race, and ethnic studies, I am especially pleased to be recognized in this way because far too often people do not think ethnic studies is a serious field of scholarship.”

Pulido joins David Li, Collins Professor of the Humanities, who has held the Collins Chair in English since 1999.

—By Lisa Raleigh, College of Arts and Sciences

Tags: Laura Pulido, UO

Eugene School District 4J Superintendent Dr. Gustavo Balderas Named Nation’s Top Superintendent

CLLAS congratulates Dr. Gustavo Balderas, superintendent of the Eugene School District 4J, for being selected as the 2020 National Superintendent of the Year. Dr. Balderas was a featured speaker in October 2015 at the CLLAS-sponsored event “Latina/os and K-12 Education: Bridging Research and Practice.”

February 14, 2020—“Dr. Gustavo Balderas, superintendent of Eugene School District 4J since 2015, has been named the nation’s top superintendent.

“In his acceptance speech, Dr. Balderas identified himself as ‘a proud son of a migrant family from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico’ and ‘a proud product of our public school system.’

“‘It is truly an honor to serve in the role of superintendent of Eugene public schools. I am blessed to be in my community,’ said Dr. Balderas. ‘Seeing that kids are succeeding because of the changes we’re making drives me. We, as leaders, need to be champions for our profession. Education is the backbone to our democracy.’”

For the full story, go to the 4J website article: https://www.4j.lane.edu/2020/02/gustavo-balderas-national-superintendent-of-the-year/

Tags: Gustavo Balderas, public schools

Gabriela Pérez Báez to receive linguistics award

Nov. 19, 2019 – Several faculty members in the University of Oregon Linguistics Department will be recognized for their work by the Linguistics Society of America in 2020.

Among those to be granted awards is CLLAS affiliated faculty Gabriela Pérez Báez, assistant professor of linguistics. She will receive the Early Career Award, which honors her documentation of Zapotecan languages, her raising awareness of language diversity and for her work to train speakers in North America and Mexico. —Source: Around the O: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/employee-awards-honors-and-accolades-fall-term-2019

“The Early Career Award, established in 2010, recognizes scholars early in their career who have made outstanding contributions to the field of linguistics. This award is bestowed for contributions to the documentation of Zapotecan languages, for raising public awareness of language diversity and endangerment, and for leading efforts to train members of speaker communities in North America and Mexico. The breadth of Dr. Gabriela Pérez Báez’s contributions is remarkable, and, as Curator of Linguistics at the Smithsonian Institution, she served for over eight years as a public face of the field within one of the world’s most important cultural institutions. Her leadership has allowed events such as the National Breath of Life Archival Institutes for Indigenous Languages to thrive, and her forthcoming Isthmus Zapotec dictionary will become a landmark publication.” — From LSA website: https://www.linguisticsociety.org/news/2019/10/08/award-winners-announced

Tags: Gabriela Pérez Báez, LSA, UO

Jesús Sepúlveda awarded a first prize in poetry

Aug. 1, 2019 – Jesús Sepúlveda, a Chilean poet and senior instructor I of Spanish in the romance languages department, was awarded the First Prize of Poetry in the II Concurso de Poesía Oregoniana 2019. The Instituto de Cultura Oregoniana, a nonprofit promoting the Spanish-speaking culture in Oregon, gave Sepúlveda the award for his poem “Retablo de las maravillas.” Sepúlveda has written eight poetry collections and three books of essays, most recently “Poets on the Edge,” and his works have been published in more than 15 countries. — from Around the O

Tags: Jesús Sepúlveda, UO

Ernesto Martínez’s short film “La Serenata” an award finalist

July 31, 2019—Ernesto Martínez’s short film, La Serenata, is a finalist in the Imagen Foundation Short Film and Web Series Awards.

You can support this film by voting below and inviting friends and family to vote as well (one vote per 24 hours). You could also watch the film at this site: https://www.imagen.org/vote/short-films/

Film synopsis: two parents struggle with their beloved Mexican musical tradition when their son requests a love song for another boy.  

Ernesto Martínez is an associate professor in the UO Department of Ethnic Studies. CLLAS supported Martínez’s work on this film and a related children’s book with its inaugural Latinx Studies Seed Grant.

Carlos Aguirre, Laura Pulido, and Sarah Wald among the 2019 recipients of UO’s Fund for Faculty Excellence awards

Editor’s Note: During winter and spring terms 2019, Professor Carlos Aguirre served as interim director of CLLAS. We are delighted that he is among those who were awarded a 2019-20 Fund for Faculty Excellence Award. We also would like to congratulate CLLAS affiliated faculty Laura Pulido and Sarah Wald, and other UO colleagues receiving the award.

From Around the O: 2019 Fund for Faculty Excellence award recipients announced

Fifteen UO faculty members have been selected for the prestigious Fund for Faculty Excellence awards.

The Fund for Faculty Excellence was established in 2006 with the generous support of Lorry I. Lokey and increases the university’s ability to highlight and encourage world-class research and teaching. Since 2006, more than 160 faculty members have received the awards, recognizing their excellence in creative accomplishment, education, research and scholarships.

“I am thrilled to celebrate our excellent faculty,” said Provost and Senior Vice President Jayanth Banavar. “Their scholarly and research efforts have great impact, and they inspire our students and all of us.”

Candidates are nominated by deans, with suggestions from faculty members and unit heads, and nominations are reviewed by the Fund for Faculty Excellence awards committee before a final determination is made by the provost. The award provides faculty members with a $20,000 salary supplement or $30,000 for research support.

Recipients of the Fund for Faculty Excellence awards for 2019-20 are:

• Carlos Aguirre, professor, history
• Wonhee Arndt, associate professor, product design
• Sonja Boos, associate professor, German and Scandinavian
• Erik Girvan, associate professor, law
• Volya Kapatsinski, associate professor, linguistics
• Brice Kuhl, associate professor, psychology
• Stephanie Majewski, associate professor, physics
• Brad Nolen, associate professor, chemistry and biochemistry
• Alexander Polishchuk, professor, mathematics
• Laura Pulido, professor, ethnic studies
• Eleonora Redaelli, associate professor, school of planning, public policy and management
• Dave Sutherland, associate professor, Earth sciences
• Nelson Ting, associate professor, anthropology
• Elizabeth “Liz” Tippett, associate professor, law
• Sarah Wald, associate professor, English and environmental studies