University of Texas at Austin Professors Available for Stories on Hispanic Heritage Month

AUSTIN, Texas – Sept. 20, 2007 – Hispanic Heritage Month is Sept. 15-Oct. 15 and University of Texas at Austin researchers are available to discuss a range of topics from Latinos in the media, to Latinos in WWII, to Mexican folklore to Hispanic literature, to Hispanic health issues.

Anthropology and Sociology
Gloria Gonzalez-Lopez, assistant professor of sociology
Gonzalez-Lopez studies gender and sexuality in Mexican immigrant populations. She is the author of “Erotic Journeys: Mexican Immigrants and Their Sex Lives.”
Contact: Gloria Gonzalez-Lopez, (512) 232-6343

Martha Menchaca, professor of anthropology
enchaca studies social anthropology, ethnicity and gender in Mexican-American culture. She is the author of “Recovering History, Reconstructing Race: The Indian, Black and White Roots of Mexican Americans.”
Contact: Martha Menchaca, (512) 471-7537

Chandra Muller, associate professor of sociology
Muller explores the academic achievement and social integration of Hispanic adolescents in Texas. She studies language, generational status and residency.
Contact: Chandra Muller, (512) 471-8377

Joseph Potter, professor of sociology
Potter studies Latin American and border demography, and reproductive health. His current research project is a study of oral contraceptive use among Latino immigrant populations.
Contact: Joseph Potter, (512) 471-8341

Peter Ward, professor of sociology
Ward researches Latin American urbanization, contemporary Mexican politics, and housing policy and planning. He is editor of Latin American Research Review and has served as an adviser to the Mexican government.
Contact: Peter Ward, (512) 471-6302

Film, Literature and Popular Culture
Hector Dominguez-Ruvalcaba, assistant professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Dominguez-Ruvalcaba researches border issues such as immigration, Mexican literature and culture, and homosexuality in Latin America.
Contact: Hector Dominguez-Ruvalcaba, (512) 471-2780

Jose Limon, director, Center for Mexican American Studies
Limon studies Chicano literature, U.S.-Mexico cultural relations and folklore and popular culture. He is the author of “Mexican Ballads and Chicano Poems: History and Influence in Mexican American Social Poetry.”
Contact: Jose Limon, (512) 471-4557

John Gonzalez, assistant professor of English
Gonzalez studies Latino literature and is a research affiliate of the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project. His current research project focuses on the historical origins of Mexican-American literature.
Contact: John Gonzalez, (512) 471-8117

Charles Ramirez-Berg, professor, Department of Radio-TV-Film
Ramirez-Berg is an expert in Latinos in U.S. films and on Mexican cinema, as well as film history, narration in film and world cinema, and stereotyping.
Contact: Charles Ramirez-Berg, (512) 471-9925

Domino Perez, assistant professor of English
Perez studies Chicano literature, Mexican-American literature, film and cultural studies, and is the author of the forthcoming book, “There Was a Woman: La Llorona from Folklore to Popular Culture.”
Contact: Domino Perez, (512) 232-7853

History
Anne Martinez, assistant professor of history
Martinez studies U.S.-Mexico relations and labor, migration and religion in Latino communities during the Mexican Revolutionary period. Her work also examines the relationships among race, religion and nationalism in Mexican-American communities.
Contact: Anne Martinez, (512) 475-7268

John McKiernan-Gonzalez, assistant professor of history
McKiernan-Gonzalez researches race and ethnicity, the borderlands and Mexican-American history. He teaches courses on Latino social history and Latinos in the Industrial Age.
Contact: John McKiernan-Gonzalez, (813) 546-6303

Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, associate professor, School of Journalism
Since 1999, Rivas-Rodriguez has spearheaded the U.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project, which has collected interviews with more than 450 men and women throughout the country. She co-chairs the Defend the Honor campaign to preserve the legacy of Hispanics of the World War II generation. She also was on the committee that organized and founded the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Contact: Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, (512) 471-0405

Emilio Zamora, assistant professor of history
Zamora studies Mexican-American history and U.S. working class history. He recently completed a research project on Mexican workers and the cause for equal rights in the Texas home front during World War II.
Contact: Emilio Zamora, (512) 475-7246

Government and Politics
Jason Casellas, assistant professor of government
Casellas studies Latino political behavior, public policy, state and local politics. His current research examines Latino representation in U.S. legislatures and Congress.
Contact: Jason Casellas

Victoria E. Rodríguez, vice provost and dean of graduate studies
Her scholarly work has focused on governance, democratization and political change in Mexico. She is the author of “Decentralization in Mexico: From Reforma Municipal to Solidaridad to Nuevo Federalismo,” “Women's Participation in Mexican Political Life” and “Women in Contemporary Mexican Politics.”
Contact: Victoria E. Rodríguez, (512) 232-3600

Health
Sharon Brown, professor of nursing
Brown studies Hispanics and diabetes.
Contact: Sharon Brown, (512) 232-4704

Yolanda Padilla, professor of social work
Padilla studies the health of Mexican-American children and their families, as well as poverty and immigration.
Contact: Yolanda Padilla, (512) 471-6266

Jose Rivera, professor of pharmacy
Rivera researches Hispanics and the historical use of alternative medicine such as herbs.
Contact: Jose Rivera, UT at El Paso/UT Austin Pharmacy Cooperative Program, (915) 747-8535,

Media
Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte, associate professor
De Uriarte pioneered two undergraduate skills courses at the School of Journalism. She taught students to cover underrepresented communities by using East Austin as a regular beat, and also created Tejas, a news and culture publication by and for students aimed at gaining a Latino voice at the university. She is the author of Diversity Disconnects: From Classroom to Newsroom, the first assessment of the quarter-century attempt to integrate and diversify the U.S. press.
Contact: Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte, (512) 471-1979

Alex Avila, senior producer, Latino USA
Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective. It is a production partnership of KUT Radio and the Center for Mexican American Studies.
Contact: Alex Avila, (512) 471-6178

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Contact: Erin Geisler
(512) 475-8071