Welcome to our class! I am so excited to start the semester and to get to know all of you as we work together to recover the local histories of Chicanas/Latinas in Michigan. I suspect that this class will feel pretty different from others you've taken. First, the work we do over the course of the semester—as well as the product of our labors—will not be limited to the four walls of the classroom. In fact, we will travel some distance from the university to collect the stories and documents that we will use to craft micro-histories of women's activism in Michigan. Second, the work you produce for this class will have a public life beyond the classroom. You are contributing to the Chicana por mi Raza Digital Memory project, and the materials you gather will be used by students in the School of Art and Design, who will create a community exhibit (in partnership with El Museo del Norte) based on your research in the Fall term of 2016. Here's some pictures from the show the students created in 2014 to get your creative juices flowing:

I have been working on the Chicana por mi Raza Digital Memory project since 2010. In the process, I've worked with many undergraduates, who have cataloged archives, scanned documents, traveled with me to interview women, worked to build our public website, and given public presentations about their work at conferences and in classes. 

You will be joining this collective, and building it, by helping us to expand knowledge about the hidden history of women's activism in the Chicano movement era, and by demonstrating that students, no matter how young (or old), can help to create history! To get a better sense of students' experiences in this class, you can read the blog from 2013. I'm so excited to get started on our work!