This ethnographic case study utilizes intersectionality and sense of belonging to understand students' experiences in a Latino Bible study and how it contributes to their overall college experience. The findings suggest that the Bible study offers a unique space for students to explore faith, ethnic identity, and politics in a culturally…

Halloween as celebrated in US elementary schools provides a rare opportunity to explore the more tangible manifestations of sexuality. A time of celebration, Halloween is perceived as a festive event for children, being both "innocent" and fun. Yet, because it is the one school day where sexuality is on display, sexuality becomes a…

This chapter recounts the development of faculty and student groups whose purposes are to promote mindfulness and contemplative pedagogy on the California State University-Chico campus through work both on the campus and in the greater Chico community. The "Mindful Campus" a student organization formed in 2011, merged with the…

While most studies of Mexican American suburbanization since the 1970s focus on the transformation of residential (private) space, it is in suburban public space that some of the most important struggles over belonging and rights have occurred. This article builds a theoretical framework to analyze the relationships between public space,…

We present an analysis and discussion of the "tanda," a multiperson pooled credit and savings scheme (a rotating credit association or RCA), as described by two informants from Mexican immigrant communities in California. In the tanda, participants contribute regularly to a common fund which is distributed to participants on a rotating…

Historically, first-generation, low-income, and students with disabilities have had very high attrition rates at California Community Colleges and institutions of higher education in general. Based on figures compiled by the National Center for Educational Statistics in 2004, 4.5 million low-income, first-generation college students comprise…

Creating paths for the active engagement of Californians serves as a unifying theme for The James Irvine foundation as it pursues its mission of expanding opportunity for the people of California. Through the foundation's grantmaking programs in arts, California Democracy and Youth, it aspires to a California where opportunities to participate…

This paper looks at community services in the junior college, particularly cultural affairs. The nature of the community must be defined before an effective program can be organized. The college can then determine the area of services to be offered. Cultural programs are considered to be those offering lectures, films, exhibits, theater, and so…

In San Rafael (California) a series of assembly programs and art shows exposes students to cultural events. (JM)

The institutional structure that supports the arts in the United States needs to be transformed so that it reflects both the internal cultural diversity and the global perspective appropriate for the 1990s. In developing a more comprehensive and equitable system, policymakers should be guided by social science research on the cultural needs and…

This paper focuses on two questions: (1) Can visual arts be an effective way for students to express what they have learned in social studies?; and (2) Can creative activity improve motivation, participation, attitude, and enhance learning in social studies? The sample for study was drawn from 75 fifth-graders in 3 classes in a school located in a…

This article examines the role of two African American-owned and -operated bookstores in the literacy practices and education of their participants. Part of a larger ethnographic study of Participatory Literacy Communities (PLCs), this study shows how featured authors and audience participants considered these bookstores as both alternative and…

This publication was prepared as part of the Chinese Bilingual Pilot Program, funded under Title VII of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act. The units described in this document provide a series of study trips around Chinatown in San Francisco, California and the surrounding areas. Through these units children will become familiar with…

The purpose of this research was to ascertain whether the Hmong language and culture were shifting or were being maintained within a generational cross-section of 12 Hmong participants in Merced, California. Data was collected in the form of interviews, questionnaires, Internet research, and library research. The results of the study showed that…

Banpo is a village that existed 6,000 years ago near Xi'an in the Shaanxi Province of China. Artifacts unearthed from the Banpo site are all that remains of this prehistoric clan-based community. Five excavations conducted from 1953 to 1957 revealed the remains of 45 houses, 200-odd storage pits, six kilns, 250 tombs, and more than 10,000 stone…