Feminist/multicultural Pedagogy

Gonzalez, Alejandra, Irene Lara, Carolina Prado, Sophia Rivera, and Carmen Rodriguez (authors listed in alphabetical order represent equal authorship). “Passing the Sage: CuranderaScholarActivists in Academia.” Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social. v. 15, n. 1 (fall 2015): 110-55.
This collaborative essay addresses the theories and practices of the “CuranderaScholarActivist” (CSA) femtoring seminar, a holistic undergraduate research program founded in 2009 by Professor Irene Lara through the Faculty-Student Mentoring Program at San Diego State University. Drawing on Anzaldúan autohistoria and other Chicana/Latina testimonio methods, the authors (four student participants and the faculty “femtor”) reflect on their experiences in the CSA program, which is geared toward first generation Chicana, Latina, and Indigenous women college students. They explore what it means to be a CuranderaScholarActivist and the potential of CSA praxis as a liberatory tool to decolonize and heal themselves and academia. The CSA’s vision of a decolonized academy insists that the production of knowledge be participatory for the purpose of social justice and collective liberation. Using feminist pedagogies and Chicana/o, Latina/o, and Indigenous theories, the CSA model addresses the need for further holistic femtoring models that acknowledge the bodymindspirithearts of students and faculty.

Co-written with Jennifer Ayala, Patricia Herrera, and Laura Jiménez. Published in Chicana/Latina Education in Everyday Life: Feminista Perspectives on Pedagogy and Epistemology. Eds. Dolores Delgado Bernal, C. Alejandra Elenes, Francisca E. Godinez, and Sofia Villenas. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2006. 261-280.