Photography Studio Flash Choice

[Click photo of Profoto D1 Air kit to enlarge]

Recently I have been researching various brands of portable studio strobes for purchase. I need something that is rugged and easily transportable from location to location. The units I've been looking at vary in price from $99 to thousands.

I need a strobe that gives me plenty of bang for my buck. Here is what I am looking for; repeatable color temperature, high quality build, radio and/or light synchronization, low weight, medium power output, fast recycle time, quality accessories and of course a great price. In the past I have used Norman, Speedotron and Broncolor units. All of these brands are excellent for professional work.

There are some very affordable brands offered online by companies like Adorama. Adorama has been around for decades and sell the complete range of photographic equipment and supplies. The Adorama $99 Flashpoint system with free shipping and no tax is a great example of an affordable studio light.

What stops me and others from purchasing a Flashpoint strobe is that you can't examine them before purchasing. You have to be content looking at the website, pictures and specifications before you purchase. In the end, if the product doesn't make the grade, you have to ship them back. Yes, you will have to find the receipt, repackage the product, go to the post office and sadly pay for return shipping. Such is life in the Internet age. By the way, do you know what age is next?

One brand that really impresses me is Profoto. Along with being fully digital and a rental house workhorse, the Profoto D1 Air system allows you to trigger your flash from as far as 1,000 feet. Yes, the fact they are also a status symbol hasn't diminished their value in my eyes. These Swiss made gems can make any studio photographer more productive.

If you enter a budget studio you may find cheap brands like White Lightning or Alien Bees. Yes, they work okay. I am considering Alien Bees as an affordable option.

Higher-end studios usually can afford (see tax write off) Profoto and Broncolor. These reliable and accurate brands are designed for professional photographer’s with plenty of commercial clients. Only a busy pro can rationalize spending thousands on these workhorses.

Middle of the row brands include Calumet Travelite and Photoflex Starflash. Low-power two-light kits from these manufacturers are in the $800 to $1,300 price range. I have had my grimy little fingers on these flash units and they are well made. In the end (they say) you get what you pay for, but with the advent of affordable Chinese labor, new products can now be offered at a much lower price without sacrificing too much quality. What is your budget?

UFW Photographer George E. Ballis Fights Cancer

George Elfie Ballis has been dealing with jaundice from a blocked liver and gall bladder from pancreatic cancer the past month and a half and may not live much longer.

MAIA’s REQUEST

Please do not call here to ask questions, express love or sympathy as we need to focus on caring for George. E-mails are preferable.
If you are in the Bay Area, please let us know if you are available to help Maia get back and forth from Oakland (Montclair district) at her sister’s home to the Veteran’s Hospital in SF in the AM and home in the PM Mon. and Tues. Oakland phone: 510-339-3587

For those of you who want more details:

He just learned his prostate cancer was in remission in early September. A few weeks later he had severe jaundice. We thought is was a stone, but it was cancer. Things are happening quickly. They tried in Fresno VA unsuccessfully then successfully at SF Veteran’s Hospital to place a tube (stent)t in his common bile duct,
He has lost weight and is a lovely fluorescent yellow. He is feeling weak, tired and disoriented from liver toxicity. He is not in pain, but his skin itches badly and that keeps him awake at night. Yesterday he was very lucid and stronger than he has been since his release from San Francisco VA a week ago. We had some concerns about his platelet count being very low.

History:

The Fresno VA found and tried an endoscope-down-the-throat procedure to remove a blockage that they suspected was cancer in the pancreas blocking his common bile duct; but sent him to SF VA the following week for their superior equipment.
I took him to the San Francisco VA Emergency when his symptoms got worse. He had a procedure there the next day where the docs placed a tube through his blocked common bile duct (for gall bladder and liver) to open it to his intestine. His CT scan showed he still has large deposits of bilirubin in his liver, but it had a place to exit for 2 days. When he was released 4 days late, we got a flat driving home on I5. We ended up having the tow truck drive us home. The 5 hour trip lasted 8 ½ hours and we got home in the dark. He was feeling badly 2 days after they placed the stent and his bilirubin count went down 1 point from 31 to 30. This week bilirubin was up to 36. Normal is 1, so it indicates the duct Is clogged again for some reason - either the bilirubin is very dirty, or the stent got pressed by pancreatic cancer. So his continued liver toxicity is causing brain fog, disorientation and weakness.

During the MRI diagnostics, they found a mass in his pancreas and a small mass in his liver. We just got a PET scan (will pinpoint all his cancer) but do not have the results. We will then know if has spread to his liver.

We leave for Oakland today, he is in SF VA tomorrow AM and the procedure to place a stronger metal stent is Mon., which will allow his bilirubin levels to go down if it works. That may return his brain function and allow him a possible 3 months of life.

Smiling Seriously,

Maia Ballis for George Elfie Ballis
SunMt
559.855.3710
Box 314
Prather, CA 93651

Information from a Daniel del Solar email

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Steve Anchell's Route 66 Photography Exhibition

[Click photo of Steve Anchell to enlarge. Photo and text copyright 2009 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved.]

By Jesús Manuel Mena Garza

Wearing a Leica M7 named “Sonny” around his neck; Steven Anchell strolled into the Gallery at the Creative Center for Photography in Los Angeles for the opening of his exhibition titled, Route 66. The photographer and author, noticeably late, was cordial and available to discuss his work with the modest gathering. Anchell is a photographer with an international reputation. He leads numerous photography workshops including one scheduled for Cuba in 2010. He is the author of several books on photography including The Darkroom Cookbook. His portfolios include; documentary, landscape, food, fine art, commercial and architectural photography.

The exhibition consisted of forty black and white photographs typical of documentary photography. Documentary photography is a couple steps removed from family snapshots taken with a Kodak Brownie, but those steps are crucial and hard-fought. They allow his work to ascend into the realm of fine art.

A fine art photographer needs a keen eye, an advanced sense of composition and mastery over current technology. Anchell is facile in both digital and analog photography. Anchell, as his publication credits indicate, has mastered the darkroom. The 57-year-old photographer noted, “My favorite developer is D76H. I make it from scratch. It is much better than the stuff that is already prepared.” Having feet firmly planted in both camps is typical of photographers of his generation.

In this series, the photographer used a variety of film formats to capture his images. They included 6x7 roll film, 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 inch sheet film. The photographer said, “Though I use both, I prefer film over digital. Film is more personal.” He added, “The photographs for this series were taken over several years. Sometimes I would go out for a couple weeks, sometimes a month, to take pictures.”

The 16x20 inch silver gelatin prints explore the remnants of Route 66, the iconic American highway as it meanders from Chicago to Santa Monica. Shot under natural light, the auteur has captured retro diners, vintage cars and quaint restaurants. Witnessing the state of decay of the infrastructure within various communities was paramount in this production. Roland Barthes, in his classic essay, Rhetoric of the Image explains, “What we have is a new space-time category: spatial immediacy and temporal anteriority, the photograph being an illogical conjunction between here-now and the there-then.”

In Sting Spot of the West, New Mexico, Anchell captures a dusty car from the forties parked for what seems decades in front of an Indian trading post. This image illustrates excellent gradation of tones limited only by the variable contrast Ilford paper. If the negative were printed on a graded fiber based paper like Ilfobrom Galerie, the final product would have been improved. I feel his paper choice was one of convenience.

Another print that I found compelling was Wigwams, Rialto California. The quirky faux Plains Indian residences were definitely out of place and kitsch. A small pathway leads the eye towards the three pyramid-shaped dwellings. The closest tipi was darker offering a contrast to the brighter row of tipis arcing gracefully behind.

The fact that the images were not framed in a traditional manner but simply nail mounted by the staff of Freestyle Photographic Supplies limited the aesthetics of the exhibition. The use of Plexiglas sheets also caused annoying glare to interfere with viewership. Overall the show was well produced, though poorly attended. I counted only a dozen people that were not staff at the event. The silver gelatin prints were for sale at $650 each. Other sizes were available starting at 8x10 inch prints mounted on 14x18 inch, 4-ply museum board for $224. Additionally, digital prints mounted on a similar board were being offered at a lower price.

Having exhibited my documentary photographs at venues across the nation, I find a certain kinship with his work. Anchell, like me, apparently enjoys capturing the subtle textures and cultural symbols that mark a fading American landscape. With the encroachment of cheap foreign products, the epoch of the Pontiac and tipi are fading, only to be captured as mementos by adventurous documentary photographers.

Derrick Price, referring to Martha Rosler, an influential Rutgers University author and artist states,

“To understand it [documentary photography] we need look at history, and she characterizes documentary as a ‘practice with a past’. A past, we might add, which, despite changing technologies, practices and fashions, was always concerned to claim for documentary a special relationship to real life and a singular status with regard to notion of truth and authenticity.”

In the digital age, the photograph is subject to artistic compliance. Can a documentary photographer capture “real life or truth”? This “claim” is invariably tainted by subjective analysis and invariably exposed in production. Yes, documentary is not as contrived as studio photography and there can be an “authentic” and “special relationship.”

The photographs from the Route 66 series could be retroactively published in Life or Look magazines. These two magazines were popular in the mid-20th century and were filled with lavish photographic essays. They consistently presented the documentary works of talented photographers ranging from Margaret Bourke-White to W. Eugene Smith to Robert Capa. Anchell is of a generation that would have been exposed to these magazines. They may have influenced his work. These coffee table staples have long disappeared like the malt shops on Route 66. Their remnants or facsimiles are now only accessible as curiosities.

The role played by Anchell and other documentary photographers is comparable to that of a hunter. Their goal is to travel to an exotic or even banal location and “shoot” their quarry. They return home triumphant with the desiccated representation and proudly nail it to the wall. In the city or ‘burbs, far removed from the original context of the image, locals leer at the circumstances presented in two-dimensions. The photographer’s purpose is to entertain a largely disconnected audience with great stories and brilliant images, all claiming a parallel reality. The “show” is the successful culmination of a long and tedious photographic odyssey. In her essay in Public Information Desire, Disaster, Document, Abigail Solomon-Godeau wrote, “There is a risk that irrespective of the photographer’s intentions the subject becomes an object and spectacle.”

Anchell’s Route 66 exhibition does not explore more explicit forms of documentary photography popular today. In the genre, the presentation of the image of a starving African or Asian against a sterile museum wall is typical. The juxtaposition and its effect on viewership are intentional and profitable. Eminent photography historian Naomi Rosenblum wrote, “Efforts to focus on ‘real life’ with all its grittiness, as opposed to the idealized world visible in print ads and on television, increased the voyeuristic tendencies that had always been inherent in photography.” As potential photographic subjects, at what point does our reality transition to grittiness and becomes condescending?

We are bombarded by information every day. Photographers have been given a unique opportunity, a chance to explore the corners of a ground glass and gain intimate knowledge of a select subject. For an instant in time a photographer can ignore the harassing confusion surrounding them and focus on a scene others may have dismissed.

The process of photographic production, especially documentary photography, is an opportunity to inject yourself into discussions about our transitioning world. According to Minor White, in Susan Sontag’s seminal book, On Photography, “the photographer projects himself [herself] with everything in order to know it and feel it better.”

Some may find the decaying infrastructure photographed in Route 66 not worthy of exhibition. While others would relish the opportunity to capture a scene headed towards oblivion, to witness and preserve it for future generations. A great documentary photographer can facilitate the transfer of valuable information from one generation to another. The photographs in this show have given me additional impetus to continue taking pictures in my sphere and to expand my role as messenger and voyeur.

Bibliography

Anchell, Steve "," Route 66 (Email response, October 19, 2009).

Anchell, Steve, interview by Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. Route 66 Hollywood, CA, (November 15, 2009).

Barthes, Roland. "Rhetoric of the Image." In Classic Essays on Photography, edited by Alan Trachtenberg, 269-286. New Haven, CN: Leete's Island Books, 1980.

Price, Derrick. "Surveyors and Surveyed: Photography out and about." In Photography: A Critical Introduction, edited by Liz Wells, 65-112. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006.

Rosenblum, Naomi. "Documentary Photography: Past and Present." In Photography's Multiple Roles, 84-119. Chicago, IL: The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College of Chicago, 1998.

Solomon-Godeau, Abigail. "Inside/Out." In Basic Critical Theory for Photographers, 125-132. Oxford, England: Focal Press, 2007.

Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York, NY: Picador, 1977.

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I Wish More Colleges Offered These Courses

[Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales by Jesus Manuel Mena Garza]

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UCSB Chicano Studies Courses


LOWER DIVISION


1A-B-C. Introduction to Chicano Studies (4-4-4) Staff

An introduction to the historical and contemporary development of the Chicano community, interdisciplinary in nature, and focusing upon such components as the educational, sociological, and political. The course will critically analyze the societal context in which La Raza has sought to maintain and develop its culture.


10. Introduction to Chicano History (4) Garcia

Prerequisite: lower-division standing. Same course as History 10. Students who have received credit for Chicano Studies 9 may not take this course for credit.
The historical heritage of the Chicano from Indian and Spanish origins to the contemporary period. Particular stress will be placed on the interpretation and analysis between key periods in world and U.S. history to the experience of Chicanos.

11. Introduction to Race and Ethnicity in American History(4) Staff

Prerequisite: lower-division standing. Same course as History 11.
An introduction to the issues of race and ethnicity as they have affected the course of United States history from the colonial era to the present. Race and ethnicity will be dealt with as ideological issues as well as the history of particular race and ethnic groups in a pluralistic America.

12. Introduction to Chicano Spanish (4) Lomeli

Prerequisites: consent of instructor and some basic knowledge of Spanish.
The course will introduce students to tne Spanish language and help them to acquire oral and written skills, distinguish between standard speech of popular variants, and learn the Chicano Spanish lexicon.

UPPER DIVISION

102A-B. Quantitative Research and Issues in Chicano Studies (4-4) Staff
This two-quarter course sequence examines quantitative research problems in Chicano Studies. The emphasis is on the effective use of social survey data in formulating public and private policy. Students also receive an introduction to the computer as a research tool.

106. Introduction to Latin American Studies (4) Staff

Prerequisite: any quarter of Chicano Studies 1A, 18, or 1C, or History 8, or upper-division standing.
The Latin American heritage of Chicanos will be explored from various interdisciplinary perspectives: history, culture, literature, politics, and education. Stress will be placed on major past and contemporary cultural, political, and I social movements from the pre-Columbian past to the twentieth century.

110. Research Methods in Chicano Studies (4) Staff

Prerequisites: Chicano Studies 1A-B-C.
Using Chicano studies topics, the course will introduce students to: (1) the epistemology of scientific inquiry (its history and contemporarv movements); (2) the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative methodologies; and (3) the mechanisms of research design (transforming an idea into a research plan).

115. Psychological Issues and the Chicano Child (4) Staff

To give the student an understanding of the fundamentals of psychology; to introduce tne fundamentals of child psychology; and to analyze and discuss pertinent psychological principles and research related to the Chicano child.

120. Bilingualism and the Chicano (4) Staff

Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
An introduction to the study of bilingualism and the Chicano. The course will focus on tne sociolinguistic and educational implications of bilingualism.

121. Writing Experience for Bilinguals (4) Staff

Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
A comparative analysis between Chicano Spanish, standard Spanish, and vocabulary building.

130B. The Chicano Quest for Educational Equality (4) San Miguel

Prerequisite: Chicano Studies 1A or 1B or 130A or upper-division standing.
This lecture course traces the legal, administrative, and political efforts made by Chicanos to secure more and better education for their children. It also assesses its impact and influ- ence on the public schools.

131. An Introduction to Issues in Chicano Bilingual Education (4) San Miguel

This is an introduction to bilingual education and its effect on Chicanos. Specific issues include the evolution and development of policy at the federal and state levels, theory and practice of bilingual education pertaining to Chicanos, the status and future of this program.

137. Chicano/Mexican Oral Traditions (4) Broyles-Gonzalez

Prerequisites.. upper-division standing and knowledge of Spanish and English.
The course will introduce students to the ancient roots of Chicano oral traditions. Contemporary forms of Chicano oral poetry, oral narrative, and drama will be examined, in addition to more ephemeral forms such as cabula, choteo, joke-telling, or dichos.

138. Barrio Poplar Culture (4) Broyles-Gonzalez

Prerequisite. upper-division standing
The course will explore various manifestations of popular and mass culture in Chicano urban and semi-rural communities throughout the southwest. Both secular and religious cultural phenomena will be analyzed (lowriders, saints, music, etc.). Relationships to mainstream culture will be examined.

139. Native American Heritage and Chicano Cultural Renaissance (4) Broyles-Gonzalez

Prerequisite: upper-division standing or Chicano Studies 1A, 1B, or 1C.
The course will explore the intense recourse to the Native American heritage during the Chicano cultural renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s. The rediscovery of the native ancestral cultures will be analyzed in poetry, prose, drama, the graphic arts.

140. The Mexican Cultural Heritage of the Chicano (4) Staff

Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
A panoramic view of present-day Chicano traditions analyzed from a Mexican cultural heritage perspective in order to comprehend and appreciate the uniqueness and difference of present-day Chicano culture, its achievements, and contribution to the overall American culture.

141. Roots of Chicano Culture in Interdisciplinary Perspective (4) Staff

Prerequisites: upper-division standing, two or more upper-division courses in sociology, religious studies, or anthropology.
This course will give students a general understanding of the origins, development, and contemporary variation in Chicano culture from an interdisciplinary approach.

142. An Introduction to Chicano and Barrio Art (4) Staff

An introduction to Chicano and barrio art and their major exponents. This course will emphasize Mexican mural painting as forerunner of Chicano mural art.

143. Chicano/Mexican Film Studies (4) Lomeli, Fregoso

Study of Chicano and Mexican cinema to view film as an art form and projection of the film-maker. Techniques, messages, and ideology stressed as instruments which propose film truth within the context of Chicano and Mexican social experiences.


144. The Chicano Community (4) Segura

Prerequisite: upper-division standing, or Chicano Studies 1A, 1B, or 1C, or a prior course in sociology. This course is the same as Sociology 144.
Origins of the Chicano in rural Mexico; context of contact; patterns of settlement in the United States; the Chicano community, social structure, and social change; acculturation and generational patterns; community leadership and change.

145. Chicano Art: Symbol and Meaning (4) Favela

Prerequisite: any quarter of Chicano Studies 1A, 1B, or 1C, Chicano Studies 142 or Art History 1 or 7E, Art His tory 161C, 161D, or 161E, or upper-division standing.
This course traces the sources and historical development of symbols and forms that originated in the art of New Spain and Mexico and became crucial for the development of a contemporary Chicano art. Emphasis is given to artistic conceptions of America and Aztlan by Mexican, Mexican American, and Chicano artists.

146. Contemporary Chicano Art (4) Favela

Prerequisite: any quarter of Chicano Studies 1A-B-C, 142, or Art History 1, 7E, 161C, 161D, or 161E, or Chicano Studies 145, or upper-division standing.
The Chicano art movement is examined and appraised within the context of contemporary American art and the contemporary art of Mexico. This course provides a survey of major Chicano artists and developments in Chicano painting, sculpture, graphic, and conceptual art from the late 1960s to the present.

147. Chicanos and the Film Media: A Comparative History (4) Fregoso

This course examines the various ways Chicanos have been portrayed in Hollywood films. Their characterizations are contrasted with the portrayals of women, Blacks, Jews, gays, and lesbians. The content is chronological and thematic in its examination of recurrent minority images.

154F. The Chicano Family (4) Segura

Prerequisites: upper-division standing or Chicano Studies 1A-B-C or consent of instructor or prior course in sociology. Same course as Socioloy 154F.
This course provides an overview of historical and contemporary research on Chicano families in the United States. Changing viewpoints on the character of Chicano families and their implications with respect to policy issues are examined.

155R. Chicana Research Issues (4) Segura

Prerequisites: upper-division standing or Chicano Studies 1A-B-C or consent of instructor or prior course in sociology. Same course as Sociology 155R.
This course is designed to enable students to develop and implement a research project that explores in depth one or more facets of the Chicana experience. Students will select and gather information in one area of interest such as: family, health, education, or employment.

155W. La Chicana: Mexican Women in the U.S. (4) Segura

Prerequisites: upper-division standing or Chicano Studies 1A-B-C or consent of instructor or prior course in sociology. Same course as Sociology 155W. Not open for credit to students who have received credit for Chicano Studies 150A, 150B, or 150C.
Examines existing research on native-born and immigrant Mexican women in the United States with emphasis on family, education, employment, and politics. Analysis of the Chicana experience organized by considering how interplay between class, race, and gender affects access to opportunity and equality.

164. Chicanos and the Administration of Justice (4) Staff

A survey of police-barrio community relations including the role of police, police department theories and tactics, and the unique police problems of the Chicano community. In addition, the course will examine the organization of courts and the procedural issues and suggested reforms involved in the adversary system, from arrest to penal institutions.

168A-B. History of the Chicano (4-4) Garcia, Vargas

Prerequisite: any quarter of History 17A-B-C or any quarter of Chicano Studies 1A -B-C or upper-divion standing. Same course as History 168A-B.
The history of the Chicanos, 1821 to the present; traces the sociocultural lifeline, of the Mexicans who have lived north of Mexico.

168E. History of the Chicano Movement (4) Staff

Prerequisite: Any quarter of Chicano Studies 1A-B- or History 10 or Chicano Studies 10 or History 168B or Chicano Studies 168B or upper-division standing. Same course as History 168E.
An examination of the Chicano movement in the United States from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. Topics will include the student movement, the farmworker movement, the Plan de Aztlan, the Raza Unida Party, Chicana feminists, the anti-war movement, and Chicano studies.

168F. Racism In American History (4) Staff

Prerequisite: any quarter of History 17A-B-C or any lower-division course in Asian American studies, Black studies, Chicano studies or upper-division standing. Same course as History 168F.
This course will examine racism as a major ideological force in defining American society from the colonial era to the 1980s. Major focus will be in the changing nature of racism as ideology as well as the relationship of racism to specific minority groups such as Afro-American, Native American, Chicanos, and Asian American.

168G-H. United States-Latin American Relations (4-4) Staff

Prerequisite: any quarter of History 17A-B-C or any quarter of Chicano Studies 1A-B-C or 101.
Covers the history of United States-Latin American relations from the colonial period to the present. Topics to be covered include the Monroe Doctrine, the United States-Mexican War, Manifest Destiny, the Spanish-American War, Dollar Diplomacy, the Good Neighbor Policy, the Alliance for Progress, and the United States role in Central America.

168P. Proseminar in Chicano History (4) Staff

Prerequisite: History 168A or 168B, or Chicano Studies 168A or 168B, and consent of instructor. Same course as History 168P.
Studies in selected aspects of Chicano history with an emphasis on social and economic history.

169. Comparative Local History (4) Garcia, Vargas

This course analyzes local and regional history of Chicanos. Theories and methodologies of social, urban, and oral history will be examined. Public history programs for Chicano communities will be discussed. Students will develop a research prospectus for their research projects.

170A. Chicano Community Organizations (4) Segura

The day-to-day operations and success of contemporary Chicano community organizations is socio-historically analyzed. Emphasis is placed on whether particular organizations meet the actual or perceived needs of the Chicano community or of special interest groups within the community.

170B. Chicano Community Organizations (4) Segura

Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
The theory of organizing within the Chicano community will be analyzed through field observations of currently operating Chicano community organizations.

171. The Chicano Urban Experience (4) Staff

Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
This course traces the transition of Chicanos from a rural to urban population and examines trends in family size, language usage, segregation, and social inequality among Chicanos residing in cities. Issues of urban decay and community conflict are also examined.

172. Legal Issues in the Chicano Community (4) Staff

Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Survey of recent state and federal laws and court decisions affecting the Chicano community. Special consideration will be given to landmark cases and decisions. Analysis will be made of opposing views on each case in a historical context.

174. Chicano Politics (4) Staff

Prerequisite: upper-division standing. Same course as PoliticalScience 174.
Political life in the barrio, political behavior of the Chicano community, andrepresentation of Chicanos by elected officials and interest groups.

175. Comparative Ethnic Movements (4) Segura

The purpose of this course is to examine the structural forces which strengthen ethnic identification and promote ethnic politics within the United States and other nations. Although the Chicano movement will be the central focus, various ethnic movements will be examined.

178. Theories of Social Changes and Chicano Society (4) Segura

This course will examine the dynamics of social change and its impact on the chicano community. Students will acquire a general understanding of basic theories and an introduction to the social structure and processes of change (urbanization, social mobility, etc.).

180. Survey of Chicano Literature (4) Lomeli

The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a general overview of all the literature written by Chicanos by covering all genres: poetry, novel, theatre, short story, and essay. The course aims to portray a people's experience through literature and show how that experience is manifested in a given work.

181. The Chicano Novel (4) Lomeli

Reading, analysis and critique of the contemporary Chicano novel as it pertains to the Chicano experience.

186A-B. Music/Dance of the Chicanos (4-4) Staff

A historical perspective of Mexican and Chicano music and dance with emphasis on the indigenous cultures and other contributing cultural elements which combine to form traditional and contemporary Chicano music and dance.

187. Introduction to Chicano Theater and Performance (4) Broyles-Gonzalez

Prerequisite:. upper-division standing.
A survey of the major Chicano theater and performance forms ranging from the traditional to the avant-garde contemporary. The diverse forms of performance will be studied as art forms and with regard to their respective social functions within Chicano communities.

188A. Chicano Theater: Origins to 1970 (4) Broyles-Gonzalez

Prerequisites: upper-division standing or ChicanoStudies 1A, 1B, or 1C, or any lower-division drama course such as Dramatic Art 60 or 60S.
Survey of the origins and development of borderlands theater, from native ritual and Indian-Hispano antecedents to today's Chicano forms. The genesis of Chicano theater will also be studied in relationship to Chicano culture and history.


188B. Contemporary Chicano Theatrer (4) Broyles-Gonzalez

Prerequisite: upper-division standing or ChicanoStudies 1A, 1B, or 1C, Chicano Studies 188A, or any lower-division drama course such as Dramatic Art 60 or 60S.
An analysis of conemporary Chicano forms of theatrical expression, ranging from barrio performances to mainstream commercial productions. The creation and presentation of Chicano dramatic forms will be analyzed in relationship to economic and historical realities affecting them.

188C. Chicano Theater Workshop (4) Staff

Prerequisites: Chicano Studies 188A or 188B or consent of instructor, knowledge of Spanish and English.
Reading and analysis of contemporary bilingual Chicano plays, in conjunction with acting and technical training. A dramatic piece will be rehearsed and performed.

189. Immigration and the U.S. Border (4) Garcia, Vargas

Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
An analysis of the socioeconomic and political factors which have determined and continue to form the basis for the development of United States immigration policies and practices toward Mexico and the U.S-Mexican border.

190. Introduction to Chicano Poetry and Short Story (4) Lomeli

Reading and appreciation of Chicano poetry and poets. Analysis and critique of the Chicano short story with discussions on the realities and values presented on the Chicano experience and universe by the author.

191AA-ZZ. Special Topics in Chicano Studies (4) Staff

Corse may be taken up to three times (12 units) providing the letter designations are different. Designed to allow courses of varying topics in areas of expertise of visiting professors to broaden opportuniies for students. Examples might be: immigration, Native American, Mexican, or Latin American influences on the Chicano, legal issues, the migrants.

192. Field Research (4-8) Staff

Prerequisites: lower-level ethnic studies, sociology and/or anthropology course work, open only to juniors and seniors, consent of instructor. Eight units maximum may be applied to major.
Internship in contemporary urban problems and decision-making processes as they affect the Chicano. Internship based on directed research through observation, participation, and relevant readings. Student individually assigned, instructed, and supervised in field-work involving practical experience in decision making unit of local governmental social service agencies, or of community liaison agencies.

193. Seminar (4) Prerequisites,. two courses in Chicano Studies, consent of instrucor prior to enrollment and upper-division standing. To be offered intermittentiy, Special topics in Chicano Studies.

194. The Chicano Worker (4)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
A comparative analysis of the economic status of Chicanos. Special attention is given to the employment situation of chicanas, Chicano youths, and Mexican immigrants. Key topics are job and industry concentration, income, unemployment, and under-employment.

195. Seminar: Problems in the History of Chicano Art (4) Favela

Prerequisites: either Chicano Studies 145 or 146; upper-division standing and consent of instructor.
A definition of Chicano art will form the focus of this seminar. Students will conduct primary research and analyze pluralistic facets of Chicano art, artists, and art criticism within the context of mainstream American art and culture.

196. Practicum: Analysis of Chicano Survey Data (4) Staff

Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
The course allows students an opportunity to conduct their own research project. With instructor supervision, students will formulate and exercute (through use of the computer) an analysis of data from an existing Chicano survey.

197. Topics Seminar: Education of the Chicano (4) San Miguel

Survey of the relationship between the schools and the Chicano child. Also included will be information on theories, methods, and resources necessary for developing and evaluating effective teaching strategies in meeting the educational needs.

198. Readings in Chicano Studies (1-4) Staff

Prerequisites: students must 1) have attained upper-division, standing, 2) have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding three quarters; 3) have completed at least two upper-division courses in Chicano Studies. Students are limited to five units per quarter and 30 units total in all 198/199 courses combined.
Readings in Chicano studies under the guidance of a faculty member in the department, Students must prepare a short plan of study and have it approved by the sponsoring faculty member.

199. Independent Studies (1-5) Staff

Prerequisites: students must 1) have attained upper-division standing, 2) have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding three quarters, 3) have completed at least two upper-division courses in ChicanoStudies. Students are limited to five units per quarter and 30 units total in all 198/ 199 courses combined.

596. Directed Reading and Research (2-6) Staff

Prerequisite. Graduate standing and consent of instructor.
Independent research involving advanced study on a particular Chicano studies topic. A written proposal must be approved by the department chair. Number of units depends on nature of the proposal.

University of California at Santa Barbara

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Obama Gets His, Bush Doesn't

American Story With Latin Roots and Beats

[Photo: Ritchie Valens by Gil Rocha]

By LARRY ROHTER
NY Times

In the mid-1990s the documentary filmmakers Elizabeth Deane and Adriana Bosch would sometimes meet in the cafeteria and offices of WGBH in Boston to talk about programs they might make together. Ms. Deane had just finished producing the 10-part “Rock & Roll” series for PBS and wanted to do more about music. Ms. Bosch, a Cuban-American, was interested in making mainstream audiences more aware of Latin culture.

After more than a decade, during which they struggled to raise production money and worked on several other projects, the outcome of those brainstorming sessions is about to go on the air. “Latin Music USA,” a four-part series that most PBS stations will begin broadcasting on Monday, is an effort to bring those two different perspectives together, in much the way that Latin music itself is a fusion and hybrid.

“Our twin objectives were to engage the widest possible audience while also doing justice to the music for a more knowledgeable Latino viewership,” Ms. Deane said. “For people like me, this was a wonderful discovery. But for Latinos, this is the music they live and breathe, with artists they have known all their lives.”

Each hourlong segment in the series, produced in association with the BBC, focuses on a particular style, place or time. The first two programs concentrate on Latin jazz and salsa, genres that developed mainly in New York. Part 3, “Chicano Wave,” looks at forms of Mexican-American music that have emerged in the Southwest. The final episode, “Divas and Superstars,” features recent pop-oriented singers and producers mostly out of Miami or New York.

“We make documentaries about American history, and what we wanted to do was place this music as part of a history that we all share,” Ms. Bosch said. “We were trying to find the connections, find uniting factors, so that anybody anywhere in America can look at and identify with this story.”

Often, the series demonstrates, those linkages are almost subterranean. At one point in the first program, “Bridges,” snippets of hits by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Young Rascals and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, including “Satisfaction” and “Day Tripper,” are juxtaposed with identical cha-cha or mambo riffs recorded years earlier and all but forgotten.

But the series shows that the influences don’t flow in just one direction. The accordionist Flaco Jimenez, for example, explains how German polka bands in Texas influenced his Tex-Mex style, playing riffs that illustrate his point. And the Tejano star Little Joe recalls a childhood picking cotton in Texas alongside African-Americans, who gave him a love for the blues.

“Latin Music USA” also includes rare and unusual archival footage. There are home movies of Ritchie Valens with his mother shortly before he died in the 1959 plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly; of a young Celia Cruz singing with a full orchestra in Cuba; and of musical performances tied to Cesar Chavez’s farmworkers’ union rallies.

Even stories familiar through movies and other parts of mainstream culture take on a new coloration thanks to the filmmakers’ efforts to track down supporting players. In one particularly moving vignette, Bob Keane, Valens’s producer and manager, remembers driving a Thunderbird to San Francisco from Los Angeles with Valens in the back seat playing his guitar and stumbling across the riff that powered the rock classic “La Bamba.”

In another, the producer Huey Meaux tells how he rescued the future country-music star Freddy Fender from a job in a Houston carwash that Mr. Fender, born Baldemar Huerta, got after serving a prison term in Louisiana on a questionable drug charge. That name change and Mr. Fender’s troubles with the law underscore some broader points the filmmakers wanted to make about the role of music in defining identity and enduring prejudice.

“It was hard to find original footage” of Mr. Fender, Valens and Little Joe “because we Mexican-Americans are almost like phantoms of history,” said John Valadez, who directed the “Chicano Wave” episode. “This film doesn’t pull any punches in terms of racism and struggle, but it’s not a bitter or angry film.”

All four programs are narrated by the actor Jimmy Smits, who was born in Brooklyn and grew up in New York and Puerto Rico. For him too, the project’s appeal was as much emotional and personal as intellectual: his parents, he said, met at the Palladium Ballroom, the hub of the Latin music dance scene in Manhattan during the 1950s, and he has vivid memories of hearing the boogaloo sound as a teenager.

In four hours “Latin Music USA” cannot possibly be comprehensive, and does not pretend to be. Mr. Smits said he was “already getting e-mail messages from friends asking why so-and-so was left out,” and each director and producer expressed regret about some favorite artist who did not make the final cut.

“We know there is so much more than one could do,” Ms. Deane said. “This is such a universe of great music, and we hope this series and the DVD and CD that go along with it will spur more thinking about programming in this area.”

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