Selection for this area is designed to support a minor, a major, or a master’s degree in Chicana and Chicano Studies. The Chicana & Chicano Studies Department’s interdisciplinary curriculum includes the areas of history, culture and social, political and economic context. The coursework supports major programs in economics, business, politics, culture, education, personnel management, marketing, psychology/counseling, community development, public administration and the arts. Selection supports the interdisciplinary nature of the M.A. Program which has three focus areas: Emphasis in Education, Policy, and Comparative Cross-Cultural Studies.
A program review was performed AY 2015 and AY 2008. A positive review was received and the encouragement of a undergraduate major. A review of the Library’s collection (general and Center) was provided to the reviewer.
The curriculum is grounded in the interdisciplinary Chicana/o Studies tradition of pursuing carefully developed, culturally grounded solutions to community needs. The individual courses and programs are intended to bridge the worlds of theory, cultural analysis, and practice. Students build on a solid foundation of historical and cultural analysis and attempt to develop new approaches to long-standing social, economic, educational, political, and intellectual problems that face Chicana/o, Latina/o and other communities.
The University Library serves as the University’s main resource for this subject. Materials for the Chicano/Mexican American Studies areas sit within the general collection of the King Library as well as in the Chicano Center collection, located in the Africana, Asian American, Chicano, & Native American Studies Center. Considerable overlap exists among many humanities and social sciences disciplines. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this area materials the area of study is supported by various selectors providing the breath of the collection for the Library.
The Chicano Center collection plays an important role in fostering scholarship, leadership, innovation and community responsibility among the Chicano/Latino faculty, staff and students at SJSU. In serving those goals, the Chicano Center collection is also able to support the research needs of SJSU students in the CCS Department.
Some overlap exists between CCS and other disciplines in the SJSU curriculum, including Social Work, History, Bilingual/Bicultural Education, and Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. The SJSU Library collection includes academic and scholarly resources. Many of the publications of university presses are acquired via approval plans and are located in the King Library stacks and in the 5th floor Africana, Asian American, Chicano, & Native American Studies Center collections.
The curriculum is grounded in the interdisciplinary Chicana/o Studies tradition of pursuing carefully developed, culturally grounded solutions to community needs. Online databases have also strengthen their article coverage which has allowed for more current coverage.
The evaluation and selection of the materials (print, digital, and databases) is based on several factors: faculty recommendations, student research, liaison experience, and current national and international affairs.
In 2008, after a preliminary review of the Chicano Center collection a more extensive review was performed. A review of materials in the general collection was also performed primarily in the E184 call number area. . In 2009 the library subscribed to the Latino American Experience database.
From the 2006 policy still withstanding: When funding is available, several of the most important core journal titles will be purchased. Sections 11 – 15 of the Chicano Serials Set on Microfilm should be purchased. Materials in the Center’s beta and vhs video collection will be transferred to digital video disk format. Materials in storage (pamphlets and documents) require extensive review.