Documenting Latinx Contributions to Health Care Access and Services
Charles Briggs, Professor
Latinx Research Center
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Project Title: Documenting Latinx Contributions to Health Care Access and Services
“That's what you call solidarity. Everybody pitching in, everybody doing their part. We each one, teach one, each one, reach one!”
- Yolanda Chacon- Serna (labor organizer and health advocate)
“Health is politics by other means.”
Alondra Nelson, author of Body and Soul: The Black Panthers and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination
The work carried out in the Center for the Critical Study of the Health of Latinx Communities (Critical Study HLC), under the auspices of the Latinx Research Center, involves exploring efforts by Latinx communities in California to counter racialized health inequities, provide access to high-quality, respectful healthcare, and improve health outcomes. As part of the Critical Study HLC team you will join a collaborative effort of academics and undergraduate research assistants in exploring the rich historical and contemporary efforts of Latinx activists and community organizers working to challenge inequities in health access and care.
Undergraduate research assistants will have the opportunity to contribute to projects that research, archive, and highlight the work of Latinx organizations, individuals and movements in California, under the guidance of the center Co-Directors Dr. Charles Briggs and Dr. Clara Mantini-Briggs and Dr. Carolina Talavera, the postdoctoral researcher. This academic year our projects include:
Expanding our archive of interviews through new sites (Mission Neighborhood, Tiburcio Vazquez, and interviews with Latine community members that have fought for or made contributions to increasing the access and quality of healthcare for the Latine community.
Developing and preparing our existing archive of interviews with founders of La Clínica de la Raza and community organizers from the United Farmworkers (UFW) movement to be uploaded to the UC Library.
Preparing, editing, and publishing our event recordings from the previous year, including a video recording of an event with Dolores Huerta.
Other opportunities include: writing materials for the center website, helping update and manage the website, social media content creation, explore existing archives, video editing, writing grants, and literature reviews for ongoing research projects, and helping organize public-facing events.
By joining our team, students will have the opportunity to learn about health initiatives and struggles that have affected the Latinx community while making sure that these lesser known histories are documented and preserved for future generations. Previous research projects have included initiating archival research on the origins of Clínica de la Raza, and coordinating interviews with some of its founders and members of the Chicanx Movement. Other research sites and projects have included: interviews with former United Farm Workers (UFW) community organizers, research on Radio Bilingüe, Radio Campesina, and review of health-related publications in El Malcriado (UFW newsletter), and an ongoing collaboration with the National Chavez Center.
As part of this research project, students will also be presented with opportunities to help plan and organize important events related to the Critical Study HLC’s research projects. Previous events have included a historic gathering of former UFW organizers including Dolores Huerta, Ruth Martínez, Yolanda Chacon-Serna, and Roberto Bustos to discuss their experiences of the 1966 Grape Strike and marching alongside César Chávez.
As a URAP research assistant, you will also have opportunities to meet with community organizers throughout California, but particularly in the San Joaquín (Central) Valley, who are working to improve their cities or the conditions of residents and farmworkers. Moreover, this project also tries to create opportunities to do higher-education outreach with Latinx high school and community college students from this region, providing opportunities otherwise not available to under-resourced parts of California.
The work of the Critical Study HLC is to empower and inspire the next generation of Latinx health professionals, community organizers, and academics. If you’re interested in contributing to a collaborative research project, working on a team, developing academic skills, learning about Latinx/Chicanx movements, organizations and key figures, we encourage you to apply to join our team for the Fall 2024 semester. Learn more about what we’ve done on our website www.criticalstudyhlc.com and read testimonials from current research assistants at https://www.criticalstudyhlc.com/student-testimonials.
Role: Each URAP student will be given a different assignment, taking into account their skills and interests as much as possible. The tasks that will be divided up include:
Researching the histories and contemporary profiles of social movement organizations that have contributed to confronting racialized health inequities.
Conducting interviews with members of social movement organizations and the communities they serve.
Working with social movement organizations to help compile public-facing archives.
Assisting in preparing materials for public presentations, including on websites and in podcasts.
Transcribing interviews for the public archive.
Help organizing public events, including visits to campus by leaders of these organizations and assisting during these events, including with their documentation.
Facilitating visits of high school students from underrepresented communities to visit the campus.
Participating in weekly meetings; carefully organizing all materials collected and submitting them to the Center's archive in a timely fashion; and providing a brief weekly report of activities conducted.
Qualifications: The following skills would be helpful but are not required: research experience; ability to speak and transcribe Spanish; skills in creating and maintaining websites; experience video or audio editing; social media; experience in producing podcasts. Students must be willing to devote an average of 6-8 per week to the project. Some work can be conducted remotely, but there will be in-person meetings. Some tasks will require travel to sites around the Bay Area and in-person meetings.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Clara Mantini-Briggs, MD MPH, Staff Researcher
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: The research sites will be both on- and off-campus, including a variety of sites in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Related website: www.criticalstudyhlc.com
Related website: https://www.criticalstudyhlc.com/student-testimonials