First-generation college student now pursuing doctorate at ASU

November 14, 2017

Angelica Amezcua was the first in her family to receive a bachelor’s degree. Then she was the first in her family to receive a master’s. Now, at Arizona State University's School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC), she is the first in her family to pursue a doctorate.

“This is my third year here in the Spanish linguistics PhD program, and I’m focused on heritage language pedagogy,” Amezcua said. Angelica Amezcua is a PhD student at the School of International Letters and Cultures and the first of her family to get a college degree. Download Full Image

Heritage language pedagogy focuses on inclusive teaching methods that work with students who bring language skills from home into the classroom. Amezcua points out this has many differences from teaching students who did not experience the language at home.

Each level of education presented unique challenges for Amezcua, but she credits support systems with helping her find the way. By the time she completed her undergraduate and graduate studies, she felt confident enough in her field to come to SILC.

A trailblazer in her family, Amezcua has had to adjust to each new level of education without much reference, finding at SILC a challenging but welcoming program.

“”[At SILC], the most challenging thing has been, as a first generation student, not knowing what to expect from a PhD,” Amezcua said. “It had been rough, a rough start … but I feel prepared, I have developed so many skills and abilities that I feel secure.”

The confidence shows. In her time at SILC, Amezcua has received honorary mention for the Ford Fellowship, earned funding through the Graduate College Fellowship and been recognized within the HASTAC fellowship. This recognition of her research and capability will support more academic work, conferences and other professional opportunities.

“Her creativity and resourcefulness make her classes engaging and effective," said Sara Beaudrie, director of graduate studies at SILC and associate professor. "Above all, her students appreciate how approachable and supportive she is, her enthusiasm and passion, and her kindness” Beaudrie said. “she has held several other leadership positions within her graduate program, which are evidence of her deep level of commitment to her program, department, and university and her high level of motivation, organizational skills, and excellence.”

Once finished with the doctoral program at SILC, Amezcua has no intention of slowing down, and plans to find opportunities to continue researching and teaching her passions.

“Eventually I want to be a full time professor, at a university where I can work with heritage speakers,” Amezcua said. “Especially first generation students … in every class I want to create a community.”

Gabriel Sandler

grsandle@asu.edu

Sun Devil Life

Young people learn how to create change at ASU event

Tempe campus

November 12, 2017

Obama Foundation training day teaches participants to collaborate and be inclusive to solve problems

To create real change, include everyone. That was the message sent to a group of young people who attended the Obama Foundation’s training day for civic engagement on Saturday.

The daylong event, held in partnership with Arizona State University, gathered 150 people ages 18 to 24 from the Tempe area at the new Student Pavilion building on the Tempe campus.

The young people talked about identity, shared their stories with each other, mapped out their strengths and met community leaders who already are working for change. The day involved several workshops that gave them practical skills for identifying and solving problems in their communities.

Randy Perez, an ASU student who is pausing his studies while he works for the Obama Foundation in Tempe, addressed the group, telling them how he pored over the more than 450 applications to be part of the event.

“Something I picked up on was what I’ll call the inspiration gap,” said Perez, who is working on a public policy degree.

“A lot of you said, ‘I’m looking to be inspired to do this work.’ It’s not my job to inspire you. It’s all of our jobs to inspire each other.”

In one session, the young people were asked to reflect on themselves by Steve Becton, associate program director at Facing History and Ourselves, a nonprofit that engages people on the topics of race and prejudice.

“We all have blind spots,” Becton said. “What you have to be is critically conscious. You’re not so much questioning everybody else, but you’re questioning yourself. Your biggest project is yourself.”

ASU student and peer adviser Odessa Clugston works with her group on how they perceive themselves during a session at the Obama Foundation's training day on Saturday on ASU's Tempe campus. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Odessa Clugston, a senior at ASU, was one of 24 peer advisers for the training, a group that spent weeks preparing for the day — including learning how to form a team, lead seminars and work on self-reflection.

“I think working on yourself is the hardest one, right? Knowing our own biases,” said Clugston, who is majoring in justice studies and political science and is working on addressing homelessness in Maricopa County.

“For me, being sustainable is a blind spot. I value the environment but don’t always recycle so I’ve been working on that.”

Megan Tom (left) and Stephany Esquivel, both ASU seniors, laugh as they share their self-perceptions during the Obama Foundation's training day at the Student Pavilion on the Tempe campus on Saturday.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Mesa Community College student Chelsie Begoody (left) learns the story of Jaideen Cobb, an ASU junior, during a workshop at the Obama Foundation's training day.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Steve Becton, director of equity and inclusion for the nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves, leads a workshop at the Obama Foundation training day. He told the participants: "Your biggest project is yourself.”

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Sarthak Bhat, an ASU student majoring in supply chain management, addresses the young people gathered at the Obama Foundation's training day on Saturday at the ASU Tempe campus.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Gateway Community College student Jevonne Taylor shares a story at the Obama Foundation's civic engagement training event at ASU on Saturday.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Another powerful exercise was meant to create empathy. The young people were paired and, led by facilitators from the Narrative 4 nonprofit, each told a three-minute personal story that was then retold by their partner. An African-American woman described her white partner’s experience of being disciplined in high school for sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance. Then the white woman described her African-American partner’s realization that a racially insensitive comment she received came from a lack of understanding, not malice.

In the afternoon, the participants worked on identifying assets — strengths in themselves and in their communities.

“Instead of ‘This is what my community doesn’t have,’ look at what it has,” said Ruthie Moore, a youth council director with Mikva Challenge, the nonprofit organization that led several of the workshops.

She asked the young people to consider the motto of the day: “One voice can change a room.”

“What if we put together more than our voices? What if we put together our assets? Assets help us take action,” Moore said.

The group texted their responses, creating a colorful word cloud on a giant screen, which included determined, diplomatic, resilience, library, public transportation, ASU. The word cloud was another lesson for the future changemakers — in how presenting information visually creates a bigger impact than just speaking.

All of the activities built a framework for learning to take action. The young people chose from a list of Phoenix-area problems, such as homelessness and food deserts, and created a storyboard, listing symptoms and causes, identifying decision makers, brainstorming solutions and agreeing on a first step. They gave one another feedback and envisioned what would happen when the problem is solved.

Among the key points that were emphasized: Be as inclusive as possible by taking a nonpartisan approach.

“Without a broad-based coalition, change can’t happen,” said Josh Prudowsky, chief program officer for Mikva Challenge.

Many of the young people at the training day have already identified community issues they want to address. Brandon Vaca, a psychology major at Chandler-Gilbert Community College, said his high school didn’t fully prepare students for college, so he wants to work with teenagers on college readiness.

“I want them to understand that college is an option. I never saw the bigger picture of how important college is until a few years after high school,” said Vaca, who will transfer to ASU next fall.

He said that networking with the other civically engaged young people in the room was one of the best parts of the program.

“I really liked getting to know all these other people,” he said.

Megan Tom, a senior at ASU, is Navajo and wants to help prepare tribal leaders to work together to preserve the environment. She attended the Obama Foundation training day to ensure that there was a Native voice at the event.

“I wanted to support any Native students who were here, as well as voicing the Native perspective because this is a prestigious opportunity and it’s something I believe can help ensure that indigenous voices are maintained in the civic-engagement dialogue,” said Tom, a senior majoring in English literature with a minor in public policy.

The Tempe training day was only the second one for the Obama Foundation. The first was last month in Chicago, and David Simas, the CEO of the foundation, said he was pleased with one marker of that day’s success: A survey done before the session found that one-third of the participants knew how to take steps to make changes in their community, and a survey after the training showed that 91 percent knew what to do.

“Today we give them inspiration, some skills and some connections that then begin to answer that question, ‘Do you want to get involved?’ This is the way to begin,” Simas said, adding that the foundation will refine the training-day format based on feedback from the Tempe group.

Former President Barack Obama showed up at the Chicago training last month, surprising the group. At Saturday’s ASU event, the day started with a video of Obama giving the same message he gave to the South Side young people:

“When I left the White House, I thought, ‘What’s the single thing I could do that would be the most impactful in this next phase of my life?’

“I realized that the best way for me to have an impact is to train the next generation of leaders so that I can pass the baton, and all of you can make change in your communities, in the country and in the world.”

Clugston, the peer adviser, said that when she learned about the training opportunity, she applied immediately.

“I want to be in community involvement for the rest of my life,” she said, and the Tempe training day was just a start.

“It’s about continuing to mobilize and never giving up hope that things could be better.”

Top photo: Facilitator Charles Miles (left) of the nonprofit group Narrative 4 concludes a session during the Obama Foundation's training day event at the Student Pavilion on ASU's Tempe campus Saturday. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Mary Beth Faller

Reporter , ASU Now

480-727-4503 marybeth.faller@asu.edu

Sun Devil Life

ASU coalition brings awareness, support to on-campus international students

Tempe campus

November 9, 2017

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of profiles on ASU's diverse student coalitions. Learn more about the Asian/Asian Pacific American Student Coalition and Black African Coali tion.

The Coalition of International Students (CIS) at Arizona State University aims to promote communication among all international student organizations in an effort to coordinate and consolidate activities of on-campus international students.

The CIS has nearly 40 full-time members and hosts various outreach events each year. Here, the coalition's president and vice president, Meitong Chen and Dickwyn Yong, share more information about the group.

Question: How did the Coalition of International Students start?

Answer: The coalition started quite a while back, and the main purpose for its inception was to represent international students as a union. We have gone through several changes over the years but our mission remains, which is to help international students feel represented at the university.

Q: What kind of activities does the coalition host?

A: CIS does quite a few things over the course of the academic year. We have Welcome Carnival, a Halloween party and our signature event, International Night each fall. In spring, we host a Career Prep Fair and Glo-Ball Night.

International Night is the coalition's biggest event of the year.

Q: What's your favorite part about the CIS?

A: Our favorite part of the CIS is definitely the events that we host. We are always around mingling to have conversations with the participants and are sometimes surprised to hear about the unique cultural background that some students come from.

Q: What's the biggest challenge your coalition has faced while you've been here?

A: The biggest challenge is definitely outreach. That was the biggest goal we set out to reach this year as we want to recruit and attract more international students. We have experimented with many different ways of outreach, but we are still trying to reach a group that we call "invisible" students. It's a growing problem as more and more international students come to ASU.

Q: What's your weekly schedule look like?

A: Our weekly schedule at CIS includes overlooking the internal and external operations of the organization. We work with some of our members on special projects and have conversations with other board members to keep everything on track.

Q: Do you have any events coming up?

A: International Night is just a couple weeks away. The event features a plethora of cultural food, performances and activities and will be at the Sun Devil Fitness Center's fields on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.

Q: How can people get involved?

A: We always need an additional hand when we're hosting an event, whether it may be small or large. Our social-media sites are a great way to look for opportunities to help during our events. [Find the group on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.]

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to people to know about the CIS?

A: While we are the Coalition of International Students, we always welcome everyone to our events and even to join as a member. Our office is located at the Student Pavilion (225J), and we're always there if you have any questions that you want to ask in-person.

Top photo: Representatives from the Coalition of International Students participate in ASU's Homecoming parade.

Connor Pelton

Communications Writer , ASU Now

cpelton2@asu.edu

Solutions

'Women Also Know Stuff' website raises profile of experts in political science

Downtown Phoenix campus

November 6, 2017

Professor tells ASU crowd that frustration over underrepresentation led to initiative

It started with a headline: “We asked six political scientists if Bernie Sanders would have a shot at the general election.”

Samara Klar, a political scientist who studies electoral behavior, was eager to click on the Vox story, which ran two years ago, and see which experts in her field were quoted.

Turns out, it was six men.

“I rolled my eyes and grumbled and moved on with my day, and later that same day I received an email about an upcoming political science conference within my subfield,” said Klar, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Arizona who discussed her “Women Also Know Stuff” initiative at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus on Monday.

Of the 10 experts on the panel, nine were men.

Frustrated, Klar decided to do something to raise the profile of the many qualified women in political science. She typed an email and sent it to 10 women in her field and asked them to send it to 10 more. It said:

“In an attempt to turn my eyeball rolling into something constructive, I’ve decided to start a website that lists women in political science who are great candidates for panels and for conferences and for interviews.”

Within 48 hours, hundreds of female scholars had registered with the site, called “Women Also Know Stuff.” The initiative had clearly unleashed a pent-up demand not only by women in her field but also from those who wanted to hear their perspectives, such as journalists and conference organizers.

The site, which now lists more than 1,200 female scholars in 59 areas of political science, includes 16 experts from ASU and 10 from the University of Arizona, which houses the platform. There’s also a Twitter feed, @womenalsoknow, which lists jobs and promotes achievements.

Mary Feeney, an associate professor in ASU's School of Public Affairs, introduced Samara Klar at the event. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Klar was taken aback by all the attention in those first few days.

“I did not want to be seen as a muckraking activist who does not focus on my research,” she said.

“But those fears were completely unsubstantiated. This experience taught me that academia is open to activism.”

Klar said that women are underrepresented because of “implicit bias,” an unconscious choice of who is viewed as experts, and an overreliance on already-established personal networks.

“Most people are not explicitly sexist,” she said. “You might be the most open-minded person on the planet and you still have implicit bias.”

She discovered this when, after launching the site, she quickly pulled together eight women to be on the editorial board and someone pointed out that they all were white.

“This was a perfect example of me being a culprit of the thing that I was complaining about,” she said. The board has since expanded the board to be more representative.

“I myself have organized panels. You’re organizing a panel on the Cold War and you can’t think of women who study that. It’s not that you don’t want them — you just don’t know any,” she said.

Klar noted that the issue is not just anecdotal. She listed several statistics:

In 2013, only 26 percent of guests on Sunday morning new shows were women.
Only 11 percent of assigned reading in all syllabi have a woman as the lead author.
Although 42 percent of graduate students in political science are women, only 26 percent of associate professors are female. For full professors, it’s only 14 percent.

ASU alumna Kaylyn Adams, chair of the Millennial Outreach Committee for the nonprofit group Stronger Together AZ, attended the talk Monday. “I’m 26 and when I go to political events, people older than me will say, ‘Oh, you’re adorable.’ Just because I’m 26 doesn’t mean I’m not qualified,” she said. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

“Witnessing someone like you engaging in an action is an important motivator,” she said.

“When young women see experts unlike themselves, they become less likely to pursue those intellectual endeavors.”

Klar said the women involved in running the site, which they do on a volunteer basis with no funding, are now working on a “how-to” for people interested in replicating the model. She said that other sites have been launched to promote academics who are people of color and women in the discipline of history.

One of the ASU professors listed on “Women Also Know Stuff” is Mary Feeney, an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs who also is the Lincoln Professor of Ethics in Public Affairs and the associate director of the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies.

“Many of us have been told and we really want to believe that the academy is a meritocracy, where good ideas, novel research and hard work are rewarded,” Feeney said in her introduction of Klar. “So why do male academics on average make more than female academics? Why do journalists review men’s work more favorably than women? Why are female job candidates asked more questions and interrupted more frequently during their job talks?

“We know there are structural and cultural barriers to the advancement of women in the academy,” she said, noting that the “Women Also Know Stuff” movement offers practical ideas.

An ASU alumna, Kaylyn Adams, attended the event, which was sponsored by the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at ASU. She is chairman of the Millennial Outreach Committee for the nonprofit group Stronger Together AZ.

“I think in a broader sense, this is very important,” said Adams, who earned a bachelor’s in criminal justice from ASU. “I’m interested in how I can build momentum to raise awareness.

“I’m 26 and when I go to political events, people older than me will say, ‘Oh, you’re adorable.’ Just because I’m 26 doesn’t mean I’m not qualified.”

Top photo: Samara Klar, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Arizona and creator of the "Women Also Know Stuff" website, spoke at ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus on Monday. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Mary Beth Faller

Reporter , ASU Now

480-727-4503 marybeth.faller@asu.edu

Solutions

ASU Project Humanities hosts 'Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes' educator Jane Elliott

Tempe campus

November 3, 2017

Anti-racism activist Jane Elliott hates what’s happened to this country lately.

“We are less civilized now than we were 500 years ago,” Elliott said. “We should be over this. I thought we would have reached the point where we all realize there’s only one race — the human race.”

Best known as the elementary school teacher behind the famous “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes” exercise, Elliott is coming to ASU to help people recognize, identify, and appreciate the differences on which power is assigned, and some of the ways in which we are conditioned to develop some of our self-perceptions and perceptions of others.

ASU’s Project Humanities is hosting “An Evening with Jane Elliott” on Nov. 9. The event is part of the initiative’s fall 2017 programming for its ongoing campaign, “Humanity 101: Creating a Movement.” Elliott’s talk begins at 6 p.m. at Central High School, 4525 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. Admission is free and open to the public. Go here to reserve a seat for the event.

Neal A. Lester

“We had no idea when we considered inviting Jane Elliott as our fall signature speaker that ASU and the Valley would respond so enthusiastically,” said Neal A. Lester, founding director of ASU’s Project Humanities and Foundation Professor of English. “When Eventbrite tickets became available, it was like a Beyoncé or Adele concert. They went like hotcakes.”

So much so that Project Humanities had to move to a much larger venue to accommodate the demand. Lester believes the reason is Elliott’s no-nonsense, straight talking approach to combatting racism. She introduced that approach when she exploded onto the national consciousness in April 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the time Elliott was a third grade teacher in an all-white elementary school in Riceville, Iowa. She involved her students in an exercise in discrimination based on eye color. It demonstrated how innocent children could turn nasty, vicious and discriminating through special treatment. She did this by telling the blue-eyed group they were intellectually superior to the brown-eyed group, and encouraged them to openly ridicule their counterparts.

Elliott also allowed the blue-eyed group to go to lunch first, gave them extra time during recess, full-time access to drinking fountains and discouraged the two groups from playing with each other. Even she was astounded by the results — derogatory comments and insults were hurled, personalities radically changed, and fights broke out.

“Children who I considered shy and academically fair were now suddenly outspoken, arrogant and condescending,” Elliott said. “The power and prejudice quickly went to their heads.”

Elliott said the big takeaway for her was that people are not born racist, rather they are born into a racist society.

“And like anything else, if you can learn it, you can unlearn it,” Elliott said.

The exercise was her attempt to help students understand some of the reasons why blacks were taking to the streets and rioting, demanding equal treatment with whites.

“People say to me, ‘How could you do that to those little white children for one day?’ I say to them, ‘Apply that feeling to how it must feel to be a person of color in this country who has been suffering from this treatment all their life,’” Elliott said. “And it’s not just one person doing this to them — it’s a society who does this to them on a daily basis.”

Elliott, 85, said even though the exercise made her an internationally famous educator, she and her family paid a heavy price. She said teachers at her school wouldn’t talk to her, town leaders made her a pariah and she received numerous death threats. She also admitted family members didn’t like her at times.

"A man who is writing a book about the subject asked my daughter the other day, ‘Did you hate your mother?’” Elliott said. “She said, ‘Yes, I hated my mother. I hated her because she was taking away all of my friends and causing me a whole lotta pain.’ All four of my kids went through that phase — ‘Mom, if you just shut up we’d be alright.’”

But Elliott couldn’t shut up, or sit quietly and do nothing. She used every platform possible — a PBS documentary called “Eye of the Storm,” appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and numerous newspaper and magazine articles — to deliver her message.

“It’s all the result of ignorance based on skin color — the ignorance of thinking you can do this forever and get away with it,” Elliott said. “There is nothing subtle about racism when it happens to you on a daily basis, and today that extends to [the LGBTQ community]. It’s constant for them. It’s unacceptable behavior in a democracy.”

Since then Elliot has conducted the same exercise in workshops with people of all ages in cities all over the United States and in several countries.

Elliot said America was making positive strides regarding racism until recently. She believes the surge of white nationalist groups espousing separatist ideologies, anonymous hate speech through social media and the Internet, and politicians and citizens not speaking up when they see overt discrimination, is dividing the country.

That, she said, was recently underscored when she received a threatening phone call at her Iowa residence — the first such threat in almost 15 years.

“I think we have proof now that if you don’t put a stop to racist remarks or make people aware of what the problem is, you end up where we are right now,” Elliott said.

“These are dangerous times.”

For more information, call 480-727-7030 or visit the Project Humanities website.

Top photo courtesy of YouTube.com.

Marshall Terrill

Reporter , ASU Now

480-727-5176 marshall.terrill@asu.edu

Sun Devil Life

Black African Coalition increases enrollment, retention rates for ASU students

Tempe campus

November 1, 2017

Editor's note: This is the second in a series of profiles on ASU's diverse student coalitions.
Learn more about the Asian/Asian Pacific American Student Coalition here.

The Black African Coalition (BAC) at Arizona State University has been in existence for more than two decades and is as popular as ever, supporting its 22 student organizations educationally, financially and politically.

Nearly 350 students are currently a part of the organization that strives to unite black and African students across all of ASU's campuses. Below, BAC president and history major Navona Carter shares more information about the group.

Question: How did the Black African Coalition start?

Answer: The Black African Coalition was started in 1991 after a racially motivated assault took place at the former Greek Row. The African-American students on campus felt unsafe and didn't feel there was a vehicle of support to ensure their voices were a part of the solution to the troubled race relations on campus during that time. They formed together to create a student-led organization that could work with the administration to improve the cultural experience of all students at ASU.

Q: What kind of activities does the coalition host?

A: The BAC participates in highlighted events around campus such as Homecoming, in addition to planning university-wide Black History Month events. All other programming throughout the year comes from the member organizations under the BAC.

Q: What's your favorite part about the Black African Coalition?

A: The BAC provides a space for African-American students to learn and grow at the university. Most importantly, the BAC helps students build community.

Parents and members of the Black African Coalition pose near "A" Mountain after hiking the mountain on Family Weekend.

Q: What's the biggest challenge your coalition has faced while you've been here?

A: ASU is the largest public institution in the nation; however, black and African-American students make up roughly 4 percent of the student population. Given those numbers, it can sometimes be challenging to connect students to the network BAC has created. Regardless of the challenges, BAC continues to grow daily and connect with students across all four campuses.

Q: What's your weekly schedule look like?

A: I typically hold seven office hours per week while also having meetings and sending emails in between classes.

Q: Do you have any events coming up?

A: BAC is currently planning Black History Month events that will follow the Harlem Renaissance era. Black History Month events will take place throughout all ASU campuses. In addition, the BAC is also involved in executing large-scale holistic programming for all students.

Q: How can people get involved?

A: Students can be involved in the Black African Coalition by requesting membership on SunDevilSync, as well as attending our events and general body meetings.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to people to know about the BAC?

A: Student can connect with us on Instagram or visit our website!

Top photo: Students and leaders participate in the Sankofa Summer Leadership Institute, a five-day residential program for incoming black and African-American freshmen.

Connor Pelton

Communications Writer , ASU Now

cpelton2@asu.edu

Global Engagement

ASU professor explores Catalonia-Spain feud

West campus

November 1, 2017

Catalonia’s official quest for independence from Spain was squashed by the country’s constitutional court Tuesday, temporarily ending the long-simmering separatist movement towards total autonomy.

Spain’s central government has now taken direct control of the Catalonian government, sacking more than 100 officials, chasing its former president to Belgium and attempting to restore order to the region.

Catalonia’s bid for succession has placed Spain in its worst political crisis since the 1970s. To gain a better understanding of this complex situation, ASU Now turned to Jeffrey Kassing, a professor of communication studies in Arizona State University's School of Social and Behavioral Sciences who teaches an annual study-abroad class in Catalonia.

Jeffrey Kassing

Question: Can you give us some historical context why Catalonia wants succession from Spain?

Answer: There are several key reasons. First, Catalans see themselves as distinct culturally from the rest of Spain. The history of Catalonia as a European nation state predates modern Spain by several centuries. In fact, Catalonia was a thriving economic/Mediterranean power from the 12th to 15th centuries, which spanned from Barcelona to Naples, Sicily and Athens. Catalonia has its own language derived from Latin that achieved status similar to Spanish, French and Italian during the development of Europe.

Second, there is a history of repression against Catalonia, with their language and government institutions being banned on several occasions. This was particularly evident during Franco’s rule from the late 1930s through the 1970s.

Q: Is there a financial subtext for Catalonia wanting its own government?

A: Catalonia currently and historically has maintained a robust economy. Many Catalans feel that the level of taxation the region incurs does not match the resources re-invested in Catalonia.

Spain would suffer economically if Catalonia would depart. Thus, there is support for keeping Catalonia as part of Spain.

Q: How do Spaniards outside of Catalonia feel about this issue?

A: My impression is that most Spaniards are quite dismissive of the Catalan independence movement. It is not well understood outside of Catalonia, particularly if people do not know the region’s history.

Catalans have a strong cultural identity that is lost on Spaniards generally. This takes the form of maintaining traditional festivals, dances and games as a key part of their culture through active participation in these activities. So their cultural practices aren’t simply folklore that exists in books and museums but rather something that is enacted routinely in public displays. For example, human tower building, or castells, is a unique Catalan sporting tradition. It is practiced widely throughout the region, routinely put on display at festivals and even has a biannual competition that draws the best teams, large crowds and a televised production.

Q: Speaking of sporting traditions, does the role of soccer play a part in this?

A: Yes. FC Barcelona (FCB) has a long and clear association with Catalonia. The team badge carries the Catalan flag on it as does the collar of the team’s jersey. During the Franco regime the stadium was one of the few places large groups could gather. Thus, it became a place where one could go and show their Catalan identity. Although finding itself in a tenuous place at the moment, the club has historically embraced its role and place as a representation of Catalan identity.

Catalan flag

A fierce rivalry exists with Real Madrid, the capital club and one that has become synonymous with Franco’s regime and the Spanish state. The rivalry is littered with stories and myths about the advantages Real Madrid received over the years in relation to FCB. So the rivalry between these clubs has mirrored and paralleled the perspective that Catalonia has been persecuted and disadvantaged by the Madrid-based centralized Spanish government.

Q: What do you teach in your class about Catalonia, and what is the work that you do give clarity about this complicated region?

A: The course begins with a focus on Catalan history and culture. We then examine the politics of the independence movement. The final part of the course considers the role sport plays in cultural identity generally, but particularly in Catalonia. The involves a close examination of Barcelona playing host to the 1992 Olympics and the role FCB plays in embodying Catalan identity. All of this is brought together when we visit Barcelona. There we see the distinct art and architecture that makes the city uniquely Catalan. We examine historical sites that remind students of the long history in the region and the struggle against repression (e.g., bomb shelters used in the Spanish Civil War). And we visit the Olympic Village and Museum as well as the FCB stadium and museum.

On the first day of class I ask students to share why they wanted to take the course. Many are interested in studying abroad in Spain. To which, I pose the question, “What if I told you, you weren’t going to Spain but to Catalonia?” This serves to introduce the idea that while part of Spain, Catalonia is a place that sees itself as distinct from Spain.

On the research side, I am preparing to collect data from foreign supporters of FCB related to their impressions of the club and how it represents Catalan identity. This is an exploration of the global brand FCB has developed and the degree to which the club has exported the idea of Catalan identity and independence.

Top photo: The Spanish flag. Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Marshall Terrill

Reporter , ASU Now

480-727-5176 marshall.terrill@asu.edu

Sun Devil Life

New magazine, ASU initiatives help Native students reach a ‘Turning Point’

Tempe campus Downtown Phoenix campus West campus Polytechnic campus

October 31, 2017

Editor's note: This story is being highlighted in ASU Now's year in review. To read more top stories from 2017, click here.

At a university that prides itself on inclusiveness and diversity, Arizona State University got a surprising wakeup call when it recently met with more than 1,100 Native American students about their college experience.

Many of them said they felt lonely, invisible, disconnected from other indigenous students, and didn’t know how to navigate ASU’s sprawling campus, or how to access resources available to them.

“In many ways, I think ASU is doing lots of things right regarding our work with Native students,” said Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, President’s Professor, director of the Center for Indian Education and ASU’s special adviser to the president on American Indian Affairs. “In our conversations, it became evident that we — collectively — need to do a better job of creating a welcoming environment for Native students. We can — and will — do better in the future.”

The initial effort, a first-of-its-kind magazine geared specifically for Native American students written by an all indigenous staff, will find its way into the hands of ASU’s native student population in two weeks, perfectly timed for Native American Heritage Month, which starts Nov. 1.

It’s just one of several efforts ASU will launch in the upcoming year, efforts aimed at easing the burdens of Native American students, building connections and community, breaking down stereotypes and providing a new path forward.

“We move at a fast pace, and sometimes we miss things that help students feel like they belong at ASU,” Brayboy said. "That is what this magazine, and our other efforts are trying to convey.”

A cultural difference

It’s not uncommon for freshmen to feel lost and lonely when they come to college, but for indigenous students, they face specific challenges most others do not.

It can be tough living away from their home communities for the first time. They’re underrepresented and surrounded by people who aren’t familiar with their traditions, culture or history.

The same holds true for “urban Indians,” an increasing population of Native people who live in cities, who often report feeling unseen or stereotyped.

That's why ASU has made it a priority to improve their college career through a suite of new initiatives that addresses how higher education works, how to engage other Native people on campus, how to navigate academic support services, how to get the most out of ASU, and how to build toward a meaningful future to serve their tribal communities.

'Turning Points' magazine

ASU junior Brian Skeet said it was a rough transition going from a high school graduating class of 20 people to a university that counts more than 70,000 students on its campuses.

“I was definitely overwhelmed and felt a real disconnection when I came here,” said Skeet, a Navajo who hails from Tuba City, Arizona. “I thought ASU was a cold place and was not conscious of Native students.”

That all changed about a year ago when Skeet joined the staff of "Turning Points," a new magazine and guide to Native student success.

Skeet said once he started compiling information for the first publication, he was surprised by how many resources are available to Native students. He said after a while he reversed his decision about ASU.

“It was such an eye-opener for me that ASU had all of these wonderful programs in place,” Skeet said.

Brayboy said "Turning Points" not only contains useful information, but it is intended to assist Native scholars in recognizing the many things ASU does for its student body in supporting their success.

“Sometimes those resources are invisible; we want to make them visible,” Brayboy said.

The magazine will be published twice a year with a circulation of 3,500 copies, which will be mailed to prospective college students and distributed to approximately 2,800 Native students on four of ASU's campuses.

It’s just one of many ways for Native students to connect and build community, said editor Amanda Tachine.

“Connection is a worldview in how Natives are brought up, and leaving the reservation in a way is loss of self,” said Tachine, a Navajo post-doctoral scholar who works in the Center for Indian Education, where the magazine is headquartered.

“I hope that a student can pick up this magazine and it could spark their hope and know that they belong here, and continue their journey through college.”

ASU 101

Efforts to raise college enrollment among underrepresented groups are central to ASU’s goal of increasing the number of college graduates in Arizona.

ASU has also sought to increase the number of American Indians on campus through specialized programs, including the SPIRIT orientation program, which helps Native students adjust to college life over a two-week period; INSPIRE, a one-week youth camp at ASU’s Polytechnic campus; and RECHARGE, which started in 2012 with 90 students.

Through these efforts, ASU is raising awareness of its indigenous roots to all students, not just Native Americans.

Starting this semester, the School of Social Transformation instituted a lesson titled “Leveraging Our Place: Native Nations and ASU” in its SST 194 courses, also known as ASU 101.

“The lesson asks freshmen to share their feelings or experiences of connection to place, belonging and identity,” said K. Tsianina Lomawaima, a professor with ASU’s School of Social Transformation who is working with Tachine on the pilot lesson plan.

The lesson will include a video produced by ASU Now featuring President Michael M. Crow, Brayboy and several Native American students discussing the fact that Arizona State University, Arizona and the United States are built on the ancestral homelands of Native peoples.

ASU 101 courses are required for all freshmen, and instructors have the opportunity to select lessons from an array of topics. “Leveraging Our Place” will introduce ASU students to a sense of place and encourage them to consider the question: What does it mean to live on Indian land?

(From left) "Turning Points" magazine's graphic designer Ravenna Curley, lead graphic designer Brian Skeet, social media specialist Sequoia Dance and intern Taylor Notah pose for a photo at Payne Hall on Sept. 1. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

'Greater Than 1' podcast

Research shows that Native American students make up less than 1 percent of all college students in the U.S., and only about 13 percent of all Natives have a college degree.

That gnawing statistic was the inspiration for "Greater Than 1," a podcast that will be launched this spring to provide connections, visibility, broad-based support and awareness facing Native college students today.

Creating awareness is Jameson Lopez’s mission, who along with Tachine and journalism major Taylor Notah, will co-produce the show.

“Native students are doing remarkable work for their communities, and their stories are not being told," said Lopez, an education and policy major in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and Quechan tribe member from Fort Yuma, California.

He said the purpose of the podcast is to have interviews with successful American Indian college students and graduates to offer words of support to those who are in college and those contemplating higher education.

The podcast can be up to an hour long and will be widely distributed through iTunes, SoundCloud, RSS feeds and other digital platforms, Lopez said.

Tachine said through Turning Points, ASU 101, and Greater than 1, the university is acknowledging that Native college students matter and underscore that ASU is on the ancestral homeland of Native peoples.

"Fundamentally, these are central to cultivating a place where students can thrive," Tachine said. "We are grateful that ASU is valuing this important work."

Brayboy said other Native initiatives are currently being developed by ASU and will be unveiled by the end of the year.

“Our message to all our students, including American Indian students, is ‘You belong!’" he said.

Native American Heritage Month events

Here's a few of the events happening this month. Find more at the Student and Cultural Engagement site and ASU Events.

Native American Heritage Month Kick-off: Music, food and more. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, MU North Stage.
Love Beads: String a necklace of small beads as a symbol of peac and goodwill. Hosted by American Indian Student Support Services. 2-4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2 at Discovery Hall 313, Tempe campus.
"Indigenous Binaries: Cultural Survival in Contrast": Writer and visual artist Eric Gansworth will talk about how he uses visual art and storytelling to undercut indigenous stereotypes. 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix.
Native American Heritage Festival/17th annual Veterans Day Weekend Traditional Pow Wow: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at multiple locations on ASU's West campus.
"Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock": Film screenings and Q&A with Standing Rock activist and filmmaker. 6-8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13, and Tuesday, Nov. 14, at Sun Devil Market Place, 660 S. College Ave., Tempe.
Design Through Native Culture: Designing buildings with a traditional background. 5-6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at Discovery Hall, Tempe campus.
Cal Seciwa Feast and Fest: 6-8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20, at Itom Hiapsi Tribal Complex, 9405 S. Avenida del Yaqui, Guadalupe.

Top photo: Graphic designer and industrial design junior Brian Skeet (left) and industrial design senior Ravenna Curley listen as Sequoia Dance updates them on the progress of the magazine during the "Turning Points" editorial meeting at Payne Hall on Friday morning on Sept. 1. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Marshall Terrill

Reporter , ASU Now

480-727-5176 marshall.terrill@asu.edu

Global Engagement

The meaning behind Day of the Dead

October 30, 2017

ASU professor, students share how they celebrate the holiday, thoughts on its commercialization

Sugar skulls at craft stores and processions in James Bond movies — the imagery associated with Day of the Dead has spread through the United States and often the line between it and Halloween is blurred for many Americans.

However, while modern Halloween celebrations are all about costumes, candy and thrills, Dia de los Muertos is about honoring those who have passed.

Rather than mourn the deceased, the Mexican tradition celebrates their lives through their favorite foods, drinks and songs.

Assistant Professor Monica De La Torre, whose family did not regularly commemorate Dia de los Muertos, recognizes the appeal of the traditions to outsiders.

“That’s the beautiful part of the practice, it’s a constant remembering of that person that isn’t always tied to grief but tied to celebration and tied to happiness,” she said.

The two-day holiday is an amalgam of indigenous celebrations of death and the Roman Catholic calendar. It’s observed Nov. 1 and 2 — during All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

Some families create altars or boxes that contain symbols of the four classical elements — often represented through candles, incense, cups of water and corn. Other offerings that can be placed on the altar include salt, marigolds (Cempasuchil) and tercio rojo (cockscomb), pan de muertos (bread of the dead) and sugar skulls.

While not all families create altars, most will go to the grave of their loved one and tend to it and spend the day eating and drinking together with the deceased in spirit.

“We bring different foods for each person that we’re celebrating, sometimes we try to do their favorite food, sometimes it’s like tamales and arroz rojo,” said film junior Miguel Guteerriez.

“I would just hang out with my parents and my tios (uncles) and they would just sit in the cemetery next to graves.”

This year, Gutierrez and his classmates spent time making tissue-paper marigolds for the School of Transborder Studies altar, created by the Latinx Graduate Student Alliance.

Alejandra Nieland Zavala, an education policy graduate student and alliance member, originally introduced the idea to make the altar to her fellow graduate students.

“This is like the huge holiday for me, I can still remember as a little girl walking to the cemetery on Nov. 2 and cleaning the graveyards of my great-great grandparents, and leaving flowers and leaving their favorite foods. It makes me feel homesick so I was like I need to celebrate this special day, to remember where we’re from,” she said.

Nieland Zavala decorated the case with Calavera Catrina imagery that she created herself.

Mexican illustrator Jose Guadalupe Posada originally created the bust of a woman’s skeleton wearing a large fancy hat in the early 1900s, as a commentary on Mexico’s Eurocentric elite. The name we know today — Calavera Catrina — was dubbed by muralist Diego Rivera and over time has become a central Day of the Dead image.

Professor Monica De La Torre teaches her class about the difference between Halloween and the Day of the Dead holiday in her Latina/o Media and Pop Culture special topics course at Discovery Hall on Oct. 26.

Photo by Deanna Dent

Transborder studies graduate student Brenda Mora-Castillo (center) shows students how to make tissue-paper flowers in Professor Monica De La Torre's Latina/o Media and Pop Culture course. The School of Transborder Studies and the Latinx Graduate Student Alliance worked to create a Day of the Dead altar, which will be housed in the Interdisciplinary B building.

Photo by Deanna Dent

A view of a small coffin, candles and bread offering that decorate the Day of the Dead altar displayed outside the School of Transborder Studies.

Photo by Deanna Dent

student decorating Day of the Dead alter

Educational policy graduate student Alejandra Nieland-Zavala smiles as she figures out where to place her catrina, or elegant skeleton, inside a Day of the Dead altar.

Photo by Deanna Dent

Soon, the holiday will get even more recognition from “Coco,” a Disney movie about a young boy in the Land of the Dead, which will premiere in the U.S. next month. However, it originally received blowback in 2013 for attempting to copyright the name Day Dead.

“That goes hand in hand with the process of capitalizing or commercializing on a cultural holiday. But on the other hand it brings the visibility to the Latino community on a large scale,” De La Torre said.

In her Latina/o Media and Pop Culture class, De La Torre showed a slide of a “sexy day of the dead costume,” which was sold out online. She asked students to share their personal experiences celebrating the holiday and to share their opinions on the costume.

“You can’t control how people take on a cultural tradition, you can’t police people around that,” De La Torre said. “I think that’s the wrong move, I think the move is to educate.”

For De La Torre, those who want to utilize the Mexican holiday as their Halloween costume should ask themselves a simple question.

“The first thing is asking yourself some really basic questions around what your motivations are for doing it, whether or not you understand it. If you’re going to paint your face, do you know what the significance is of donning a skull on your face?”

If you can’t answer that question, De La Torre suggests researching the history and tradition because it’s too easy to erase Latinos — in particular Mexican and indigenous Mexicans from the holiday.

“I hope people see it more as a reward, that it is complicated, and if you make an effort to learn it and to really have an understanding, that goes beyond the fun aspect of it, right? To just take the fun is irresponsible, about any cultural aspect.”

Deanna Dent

Photographer , ASU Now

480-727-5972 deanna.dent@asu.edu

Standing Rock journalist, filmmaker to speak at ASU indigenous series events

October 27, 2017

Myron Dewey (Newe-Numah/Paiute-Shoshone), an award-winning filmmaker, citizen journalist and educator, is the featured speaker in Arizona State University's Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community for fall 2017.

With Josh Fox and James Spione, Dewey co-directed the documentary film “Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock,” which chronicles the #NoDAPL peaceful protests on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Myron Dewey / Courtesy photo Myron Dewey co-directed the documentary film “Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock,” which chronicles the #NoDAPL peaceful protests on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Dewey's drone footage adds both immediacy and perspective to the film, making him “one of the most closely followed journalists to come out of the movement” (IndieWire). Photo courtesy Myron Dewey. Download Full Image

ASU will host two screenings of “Awake” — the first on Nov. 13 at Sun Devil Marketplace, 660 South College Avenue in Tempe and the second on Nov. 14 at the Heard Museum, 2301 North Central Avenue in Phoenix. Both events begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by the film at 6:45 p.m. Dewey will be present for a Q&A after the screenings, which are free of charge and open to the public.

Dewey is from the Walker River Paiute Tribe, Agui Diccutta Band (Trout Eaters) on his father’s side and Bishop Paiute Tribe on his mother’s side. He holds AA and BS degrees from Haskell Indian Nations University and an MA from the University of Kansas. He is founder and owner of Digital Smoke Signals, a social media and film company, for which he is an expert drone operator, youth media trainer and language preservation app builder.

Committed to what he calls “indigenizing media,” Dewey aims to bridge the digital divide between mainstream and native communities.

Henry Quintero, faculty advisor for Red Ink journal and an assistant professor of English in indigenous literature at ASU, believes Dewey is succeeding at this, primarily because Dewey’s work exists outside traditional confines of space and place. He “has transformed and Indigenized American journalism,” Quintero said.

Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, “Awake” has been called “powerful” by the Hollywood Reporter and “an evocative wake-up call told as a visual poem” by IndieWire. The film does not follow a single protagonist but instead forms a “pastiche” of narrative, mostly indigenous, voices. Dewey’s drone footage adds both immediacy and perspective to the film, making him “one of the most closely followed journalists to come out of the movement” (IndieWire). For Dewey’s efforts, “Awake” won the Special Founders Prize for Citizen Journalism at the 2017 Traverse City Film Festival — a festival founded by legendary documentarian Michael Moore.

“Standing Rock and its opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline is one of the most significant events that has occurred in recent history in Indian Country,” said James Riding In, associate professor and interim director of American Indian Studies at ASU. “Myron Dewey’s film footage shot mostly from his drones represents an important development in journalism and the coverage of real-time events. His film is a testament to Indigenous resistance to abuses committed against people and the environment.”

The Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community at Arizona State University addresses topics and issues across disciplines in the arts, humanities, sciences and politics. Underscoring indigenous American experiences and perspectives, this series seeks to create and celebrate knowledge that evolves from an inclusive indigenous worldview and that is applicable to all walks of life.

ASU sponsors include the American Indian Studies Program, ASU Library, Department of English, Labriola National American Indian Data Center, Office of American Indian Initiatives, and Red Ink Initiative. The Heard Museum is a community partner.

For more information, visit the series website.

Poster for "Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock"

The Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806 over Cantapeda Creek / Drone footage shot by Myron Dewey

The Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806 over Cantapeda Creek. "Water Protectors" take part a peaceful prayer ceremony in front of a police brigade. Image from the film "Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock." Drone footage captured by Myron Dewey.

Image from "Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock" captured by James Spione.

On November 20, 2016, militarized police fired water cannons, tear gas, and concussion grenades at protestors during freezing temperatures. Image from "Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock" captured by James Spione.

Image from "Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock" captured by Josh Fox.

Floris White Bull, a writer of "Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock," at Trutle Island on November 24, 2016. Image from the film captured by Josh Fox.

Kristen LaRue-Sandler

senior marking & communications specialist, Department of English

480-965-7611 Kristen.LaRue@asu.edu

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New magazine, ASU initiatives help Native students reach a ‘Turning Point’

A cultural difference

'Turning Points' magazine

ASU 101

'Greater Than 1' podcast

Native American Heritage Month events

Marshall Terrill

The meaning behind Day of the Dead

ASU professor, students share how they celebrate the holiday, thoughts on its commercialization

Deanna Dent

Standing Rock journalist, filmmaker to speak at ASU indigenous series events

Kristen LaRue-Sandler

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