Photo credit: Owen Lowe-Rogstad.
Two long-term School of Journalism and Communication scholars have been recently appointed to leadership roles in cross-campus programs.
Associate professor Chris Chávez is the new director of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, succeeding professor Gabriela Martínez ’05, who is the new head of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Both will also continue teaching in the School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC).
Established experts in their fields, the two faculty members’ groundbreaking research places them on the leading edge of media studies and international communication and contributes to the interdisciplinary work taking place at UO.
Chávez has been involved with the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies since he joined UO in 2013.
“When I was looking for a job, CLLAS helped to recruit me,” said Chávez, who has researched and written extensively about the lack of Latinos in music, television and film. “Speaking with members of CLLAS, it felt like there was a community here. Over the years, I’ve been involved on the advisory board. I thought it was a really good opportunity to help advance their mission.”
As director, he will facilitate collaborative research, student experiential learning and community engagement focused on Latin America and U.S. Latino/a populations. The author of the forthcoming book “The Sound of Exclusion: NPR and the Latinx Public,” Chávez said he hopes to provide UO students who identify as Latino, Latina or Latinx with a community they may lack at a predominately white university.
“Giving them a community where they can see other students or faculty members like them while also developing their own interests and giving them support can make an impact,” he said.
In her new role, Martínez will oversee faculty in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies department, supporting faculty research projects while continuing to promote diversity.
“I’m invested in mentoring junior faculty of color and LGBTQ+ faculty, who usually face more barriers in academia,” said Martínez, whose research focuses on the study of human rights and social movements and their relationship to media content production and distribution. “It’s important to support faculty research and creative projects because it enriches the work they do in the classroom. I’m learning a lot about the work done by WGSS faculty, and I think it will make me a better scholar and person.”
As department head, Martínez hopes to add to the queer studies minor and have WGSS continue to work with and serve students in the LGBTQ arc. She also wants to work with UO administration to strengthen support for faculty teaching topics that have become negatively politicized and are under attack.
“Anybody who takes courses from the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies will gain understanding not only of gender issues, but also of how gender intersects with issues of class, race, ethnicity, nationality and others,” said Martínez, who explored the role of women in both media and social movements in her 2008 documentary “Women, Media and Rebellion in Oaxaca.” “People learning or studying about women’s and gender issues will be better prepared for our societies as they move forward and will gain more consciousness of the importance of being inclusive to continue progressing as societies.”
—By Alli Weseman '22
Alli Weseman (she/her/hers) is a second-year student in the SOJC’s Multimedia Journalism master’s program in Portland. She has freelanced for Portland Monthly Magazine and hopes to work in a newsroom one day. You can find more of Alli’s work at alliwesemanphotography.com.