Deena Gonzalez
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Finding Her Place in History
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Professor Deena González, chair of the Department of Chicana/o Studies, is recognized as one the 50 most important living women historians in the country.
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As a fourteenth-generation New Mexican, Professor Deena González delights in sharing her experiences growing up in the Land of Enchantment.
“We always talk about our background,” González says of herself and fellow New Mexico natives. “We always talk about our history … about who we are, and what that means.”
It seems fitting, then, that González — the daughter of a teacher — chose to study, teach, and eventually write history books.
González began her career at Pomona College while still a graduate student, and was expected to create the courses she would teach. Among those was one entitled “Mexican America.”
“I couldn’t find any other such listing for courses in the United States at that stage,” González says. “‘Latina Feminist Traditions’ was another … again, I could never find any other. That was 1983.”
After more than 20 years of teaching and groundbreaking research, González is recognized as one of the 50 most important living women historians in the United States. This distinction was granted as part of the recent Smith College project, "Living U.S Women's History, 1960-2000: Voices from the Field--An Oral History Archive."
One of González’s most recent accomplishments is The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, for which she was co-editor in chief. She is currently working on two books: one examining 19th century Mexican women’s wills, and one tracing attitudes toward Mexican and Latina women.
González was recruited to chair LMU’s Department of Chicana/o Studies five years ago.
“I think with the exception of a very large Research I private university, what we have at LMU in terms of Chicano Studies is certainly the strongest program in a private university,” González says. “But I would also say that we have one of the strongest groupings of faculty anywhere in the country.”
For González, however, LMU is more than a top-notch academic institution. When her mother died last year, González found a unique comfort and support among her colleagues.
“That was a very critical moment in my life, and I was very glad that I was at a place like LMU,” González says. “I had a lot of people here who took the time to talk with me and to understand. I think that would have been different had I not been in this environment.”