Curry, Julia E

Curry Rodríguez, Julia E.

Professor, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies
   (formerly Mexican American Studies)

*Statewide Senator and Executive Committee
*WANG Family Faculty Excellence Award for Service, 2019
*Faculty Member, SJSU Human Rights Institute

Email

Preferred: Julia.Curry@sjsu.edu

Telephone

Preferred: (408) 924-5310

Office Hours

Tuesday 3:00 to 5:00PM and By appointment - email me for an appointment.

August 2024 

Greetings!  Thank you for visiting my faculty webpage. I look forward to AY2024-2025 that gives us the tools to reinforce our strategies for collective action, commitments, and actions.  We may draw from our own shared healthy ways to study, be engaged, and be part of SJSU and the greater society.  As we area aware COVID continues to be a part of our communities thus I will adhere to CDC and the County of Santa Clara guidelines for Covid - I will wear a mask as needed for my safety and yours.  I encourage you to do the same.

My teaching schedule Fall 2024

CCS 210-01 (43568): Foundations in Chicana and Chicano Studies, a core Graduate Seminar. In Person- Clark 238. Saturdays 10:30AM-3:00PM - first class August 24.

Information will be available in Canvas.   Textbook information and meeting dates have been communicated to the Graduate Advisor and enrolled students  Our fist class is Saturday February 4.   Find instructions by logging into our class .  Check my website for updates - look out for email messages come from the Class Roster using the subject, 'from the desk of Professor Curry.'

The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies

(Formerly Mexican American Studies)  Check the department website for information:  http://www.sjsu.edu/CCS/

King Library is open and available to students

I usually use the 5th floor in the Africana-Asian American-Chicano-Native American (AAACNA) Studies Center (5th floor) - as a place to begin any race/ethnic studies research. The AAACNA Center is an important byproduct of campus student and faculty mobilization that fortified our department and what is now known as the Ethnic Studies Collaborative in the College of Social Sciences. 

The AAACNA director, Kathryn Blackmer Reyes is available for reference advising, email her at Kathryn.BlackmerReyes@sjsu.edu.  She is our department library Liaison.  However, she is on sabbatical F2024. 

The Library continues to be an important source of materials for my research and class preparation.  If you wish to access information please check the Library Website for services and availability:  https://library.sjsu.edu/

UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center (USRC)

The UndocuSpartan Student Resource Center  (USRC) is located at Clark Hall Room 100H-G.  Check their website for information and resources at:  http://www.sjsu.edu/undocuspartan/

If you experience or witness harassment, please care for each other and speak out - post - make assaults known.  A good place to document hate is:  standagainsthatred.org.  Do not be silent! - but be safe.  Also, please be aware of the emotional fatigue many people are carrying - be caring of yourself and others.  Seek help.  The office of Title IX and any faculty and staff can also be asked for help.

Faculty Adviser 

I am the Faculty Adviser for the Student Advocates for Higher Education (SAHE) for UndocuScholars also known as AB540 Students and Allies  (since its founding in 2004), and the MAS Graduate Student Association, XGC (Chicana/o/x Graduate Council). If you need advice please contact me. You can also see some AB540 Resources in my AB540 Students and Allies Course Page (please note that some are outdated, but the sources are still viable and give some advise on where to go for particular updated information).

This Fall I am also the Faculty Adviser for the Grupo Folklórico Luna y Sol (GFLS).

Awards and Recognition

(This information is from many years ago.  I include them here because the recognitions remind me that my work as an educator is important and people take notice.

  • Wang Family Faculty Excellence Recipient in Service, 2019. This is a CSU Statewide honor.   
  •  SJSU 2013-2014 SJSU Distinguished Service Professor.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, United States,1988
  • Master of Arts, Sociology, University of Texas At Austin, United States, 1986
  • Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, United States, 1980

Licenses and Certificates

Mandated Continuous training by CSU is assigned to all CSU faculty and Staff as web-based modules. 

  • CSU's Sexual Misconduct Prevention Program.
  • EDU:  Eliminate Campus Sexual Misconduct.
  • EDU:  Preventing Discrimination and Harassment for Non-Supervisors.
  • EDU:  Clery Act Basics.
  • EDU:  CSU Data Security and Privacy.
  • EDU:  CSU FERPA.
  • Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) IRB Members - Basic/Refresher Curriculum, United States.

Bio

My Childhood and Educational Path

I emigrated to the U.S. from México with my mother and sister in 1962.  I grew up in Southern California where I began school at Keenan Elementary School.  I graduated from Bassett High School in La Puente.  I went to college as an Educational Opportunity Program student and graduated with a BA in Sociology from UCSB.  In 1975 I spent a year on Education Abroad attending the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in México City.  After completing my BA I worked at UCSB for 2 years.  In 1980, I continued  my education pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. 

Graduate school became an aspiration because of the gracious encouragement I experienced from educators who encouraged me and modeled in their teaching a commitment to growing the Chicana and Chicano professoriate.  Those educators gave me the aspiration to develop a scholarly presence, skills, and ethical values that guide me in my vocation.   I received generous financial support from EOP, Private Scholarships, and the American Sociological Association's Minority Fellowship to support my education.  My graduate studies were also made possible with financial aid grants, teaching and research assistantships at UT Austin. 

I am especially thankful to generous people who opened their homes and created jobs for me when I had no money to stay in school - they include Dr. Alberto G. Mata and Dr. Rudy De La Garza, and Linda Espino.  They instilled in me the value of generosity and humility as well as a commitment to persevere and to pay it forward.  

In 2024 I will have been a professor 36, 24 at SJSU.  I am inspired by students and colleagues who do their work without compromising their ethics and their commitment to equity and  justice.  Action, not words, is the best way to move forward.

Professional Experience

I was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at UCLA in the Institute of American Cultures where I studied health-seeking behavior of immigrants with Dr. David Hayes Bautista and Dr. Ruth Zambrana.  My first T/TT Assistant Professor post was at Arizona State University's Sociology Department (1988-1990).  In 1990 I was recruited to join the faculty at UC Berkeley in the Chicano Studies Program of the Ethic Studies Department as a T/TT Assistant Professor. From 1998 to 2000 I joined the Chicano/Latino Policy Research Center following denial of tenure. In August 2000 I joined SJSU's Mexican American Studies Department when it was part of the College of Social Work.  I achieved tenure but not promotion in 2006, and promotion to Associate Professor in 2013.  In Fall 2018 I applied for promotion to Full Professor and finally achieved promotion in 2020 with the support of CFA and several colleagues who encouraged me to persevere.  Chicanas constitute about 1% of all Professors even in 2024!

My Research

My research focuses on immigrant women and children, immigration policies, language minority educational experiences, racial and sexual stratification, and other issues pertaining to Chicana/os in the United States. I have conducted comparative research on immigration in Mexico, England, France and Spain.  I primarily use qualitative methodology (e.g., life history, oral history and participant observation and field research) in conducting my research.

I present versions of my research projects at the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, the Oral History Association, and the American Sociological Association.

My Leadership in Elected Offices in Professional Organizations

Holding elected leadership roles was not something to which I aspired.  Yet, I often take leadership roles and have been elected into offices in various professional organizations. In the National Association for Chicana and Chicano studies (NACCS) I have been the General Coordinator (2000), secretary (1998, newsletter editor (1999) and the Northern California Regional Representative (1998-2000).  Executive Director of NACCS, 2001 to 2024. While I was a graduate student at UT Austin, I was elected as the organizing and Founding Chair of the Chicana Caucus of NACCS (1985-90). In Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) I held many elected offices, including Chair in 1998-99. In the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) I served as the Chair of the Discrimination Committee from 1989-91 and co-organized the conference program for the annual meetings in 1989 with Teresa Montini. In the American Sociological Association (ASA) I was the Organizing and Founding Chair of the Section on Latina and Latino Sociology with Dr. Homer Garcia.  I also served as a Council Member for the Section on Sex and Gender and served as Treasurer/Secretary for the Section on Race and Ethnic Relations. At SJSU I have been elected to serve as Academic Senate for the College  of Social Sciences.  Spring 2019 I was elected as one of three Academic Senators for the CSU system (ASCSU).  In ASCSU I have served on the Faculty Affairs Committee, and in the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ad-hoc committee (now JEDI). FY 24-25 I am At-Large elected representative on the ASCSU Executive Committee. As an ASCSU senator I serve on the Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program Committee (CDIP), other committees as assigned.  I am the elected ASCSU senator to the SJSU Senate Executive Committee.

At SJSU I serve on the Chicano/Latino Faculty and Staff Association (CLFSA) as Scholarship Coordinator and Treasurer, FY 2024-2025.  I raise money for scholarships for continuing students at SJSU.

My Roles as Mentor and Adviser

As a professor at SJSU I have served/or serve as advisor to various student groups such as MUJER, MEChA, McNair Scholars, MASGAS (now Xicana/o/x Graduate Council -XGC), Student Advocates for Higher Education (SAHE), and Balet Folklórico Luna y Sol.

I am a leader challenging harassment, bullying, retaliation, and hate.  I support students and colleagues at SJSU and elsewhere to challenge these noxious cultural practices, and to develop survival strategies.

Mentor to Students who are Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) Scholars

The CDIP has been instrumental in building the Pipeline of minority students to the professoriate.  I have the honor of serving as mentor for the following former and current students:

  • Horacio N. Roque Ramírez, completed his Ph.D in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. Went on to achieve Associate Professor status at UC Santa Barbara where he taught and mentored many students until his untimely death in 2015.
  • Jenny M. Luna, completed her Ph.D. in Native American Studies at UC Davis.  Went on to tenure track posts at New Mexico State University and CSU Channel Islands.  
  • Frank Ortega, completed his Ph.D. in Sociology from Texas A&M.  He is currently an Assistant Professor at Diablo Valley College.
  • Juan Pablo Mercado, completed his Ph.D. in History at UC Los Angeles in 2018.  Fall 2016 he joined the faculty of Chabot College as an Assistant Professor, and now he is an Adjunct Professor at SJSU.
  • Rocio Alvarez, completed her Ph.D. in Philosophy Texas A&M University in 2021.  I serve as her external dissertation adviser and her CDIP mentor, beginning Fall 2019.
  • Anthony Bencomo, Ph.D. Student, Politics, UCSC, current.

My Publications and Research

Some of my publications are found in Decolonial Food for Thought:  Mexican-Origin Food, Foodways, and Social Movements (2017), the Journal of Equity and Excellence in Education, Volume 45(3): 525-538, Mothers, Mothering and Motherhood Across Cultural Differences (2014) Re-Emerging Native Women (2003), Bilingual Research Journal (2001), The Power of Language (2001). Colorlines (May 1999), Americanos: Latino Life in the United States (1999), Mexicanas at Work (1988), Chicano Politics after the Eighties (1988), and The Use of Social Services by Undocumented Aliens in Texas (1984).

Extramural Grants

The Ford Foundation supported my work to document services for Bi-national Students (i.e., immigrant students), 2003-2006, $150,000.  In this project I collaborated with a group of grassroots education advocate from Mexico and the U.S. IME-BECAS, 2014-2015 $43,000 (in collaboration with Fernanda Karp).  Juntos Podemos/IME Becas, 2015-2016 $40,000 with $40,000 match from the SJSU President's Scholarship Fund.  The SJ Mexican Consulate has awarded us $16,000 for scholarships for the 2016-2017 academic year.  CLFSA graciously pledged 15,000 as we received no campus match this year.  2017-2018 Parents Alliance, $4,400 for student scholarships.  2018-The SJ Mexican Consulate has awarded us $16,000 for scholarships for the 2018 Calendar year. 2019- The SJ Mexican Consulate is  for the Mexican Government's IME Becas Program a $10,000 grant for scholarships administered through the CLFSA.  We are the only university in the San José Consulate region to receive this grant in 2019!

Teaching History

Before coming to SJSU I taught at both graduate and undergraduate courses at UCLA (1988), Arizona State University (1988-1990)*, UC Berkeley (1990-1998)*, and Holy Names College (1999-2000).  I was a visiting professor at York University (2003) in Toronto, Canada. (*these were Tenure-Track appointments).

My SJSU history--accomplishments and contributions to my department, COSS, and the University.

I joined the faculty of the Mexican American Studies Department at San José State University in 2000 while there was still a College of Social Work.  I designed and teach the core graduate seminars in Theory (CCS 210) and Methodology (CCS 275); and undergraduate courses in  Gender and Sexuality (CCS 160), Human Immigration (CCS 175), Political Economy (CCS 120),  Leadership and Advocacy (CCS 196E), Race & Ethnicity in Public Space (CCS 30)*, and Introduction to Chicana and Chicano Studies (CCS 01).  *CCS 30 began as part of the MUSE Program initiated by Provost Marshall in 2002 and was intended as a limited enrollment Frosh Seminar. 

 I regularly contribute to the department curriculum offerings for the undergraduate program by developing MAS 11 (which is now CCS 30 a GE Area F course), CCS 175, CCS 196 (an experimental class on leadership and advocacy).  For the Graduate Program I developed CCS 210 - the core Theory Graduate course for our department, and revamped the CCS 275 Research Methods course.  I  successfully retained GE status for CCS 160 in Area S, and CCS 30 (as an Area D1 course until it was changed to Area F in Spring 2022.  

In 2014-15 I led the work for the proposal for the major and I developed the CCS 001-Introduction to Chicana and Chicano Studies which is the introduction for our BA major. I assisted in the development of CCS 2 (Library Skills- taught by a Librarian), CCS 151 (Spanish for Spanish Speakers) and CCS 152 (Theory) CCS007-Folklórico, and the CCS 147-Mexican Music. I assisted in  the development of CCS 190 with Dr. Christine Vega for the major.  I led the work on the Program Self-Study for Program Planning in 2014 and did the preliminary work for the Department Major. I represented the department at the Undergraduate Studies Committee meetings fielding questions.  I assisted with language for revisions requested by both the Undergraduate Studies and Curriculum & Research Committees. 

In 2016 I celebrated my 15th year at SJSU and was referred to as a "Millenial Professor" along with all faculty hired in 2000 at SJSU!  I am keeping that title-because it situates me and it inspires me.

Service - Academic Assignment

I served as the Undergraduate Adviser for MAS from 2000-20012. I have served on various university, department and college committees (Research, Curriculum, Program Planning, RTP, etc).  From 2006 to 2013 I organized the department graduation ceremony with help from the Chicano/Latino Faculty and Staff Association, and the AAACNA Center Advisory Board.

I am a proud and committed senator representing the College of Social Sciences on the SJSU Academic Senate since 2015.  I was a member of the Organization & Development Policy Committee where I became familiar with faculty policy development and shared governance.

I have proudly participated the SJSU Commencement at Spartan Stadium, Avaya Stadium, and at the Events Center as greeter, hooder, and marshall every year since 2001 (my first spring at SJSU), except 2017 when I was on sabbatical. I consider this event the only community event at SJSU which brings us together as a whole community - it is my joy to meet parents and extended family members and to see students who were in my GE classes as Frosh graduate!  This is why I am a professor-to teach and to see students graduate to achieve their social dreams.

After the move to fragmented college commencements I have served as the COSS name reader and department announcer. While we were part of the College of Social Work, I attended all College Graduation Ceremonies. I was once a speaker for the December graduation of the department of Sociology invited by the students.  In 2019 I was the keynote speaker for the Chicano Commencement, I have been madrina many times. I attend the Black Graduation as a supporter.

Professional Memberships and Elected Leadership Positions

I am a life member of  the National Association for Chicana & Chicano Studies (NACCS), I am regular member of the Oral History Association, and the American Sociological Association.

I am a life member of the Chicano/Latino Faculty and Staff Association and have served as it's President (2010-2012), Scholarship Coordinator (2013 to present) and Ex-Oficio President (2012-2013).  Currently I am the Vice President.  With the CLFSA I coordinate the Dr. Ernesto Galarza Scholarship for SJSU for continuing students who are activists for the Chicana/o community and transfer students primarily from SJCC and EVC. 

Since  2014  with support of former University Provost, Andy Feinstein I  worked on the development of our Immigrant Student Resources that led to the development of The UndocuSpartan Center.

For my service to students I have received release time from the Exceptional Service to Students since 2015.  

 In 2019 because of my recognition as a Wang Family Excellence Award recipient I was invited to join the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, of which I am a life member.

 

 

 

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