Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at San Diego State University (SDSU) is to create, advance, and apply critical gendered knowledges and understanding of Chicana/o-Mexicana/o populations, the U.S. Mexico border/lands, and society at large from multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives. Grounded in a commitment to social justice, we create, advance, and apply knowledges and understanding through ongoing individual and collaborative faculty and student research; teaching diverse populations; participating in on and off campus service projects; and engaging with regional, national, and global communities.

Given our unique context on the U.S.-Mexico border/lands, the history of our department and of the Chicana/o Movement, and the rise of women of color and queer activism, these tasks demand a vision grounded in transnational/transfronterizo perspectives, acknowledgement of geopolitical and symbolic borderlands, and recognition of the historical and contemporary global forces that shape the lives and opportunities of Mexican/Mexican-origin people. Furthermore, our teaching, research, and engagement is informed by analyses of difference and power tied to gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship status, location, age, disability, and generation, among other spatialities and temporalities.