As UCLA undergraduate Jendalyn Coulter spoke to the several dozen professors, students and educational leaders about her research on former foster youth who go on to college, she was poised and commanded the room.
Rocio Sanchez-Nolasco. Photo by Chloe Hourdequin
Fourth-year art history major and digital humanities minor Rocio Sanchez-Nolasco is about to have her original research published by a southern California art gallery, all because of a photo her proud professor shared on Facebook.
Sanchez-Nolasco will write a total of six essays about photographs taken by artist Patssi Valdez that will be published on the internet-based Sanguine Gallery’s website every other month beginning in September. In her writing, she intends to discuss the historical, social and cultural contexts of Valdez’s work and analyze the photographs’ portrayal of Chicana femininity.
Charlene Villaseñor Black, professor of Chicana/Chicano studies and art history, is Sanchez-Nolasco’s honors thesis advisor. For the past year, the two have met weekly to discuss Sanchez-Nolasco’s interests and hone in on a research topic for her thesis.
After becoming interested in Asco, an East Los Angeles Chicano artist collective during the 1970s and ‘80s, and doing research at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, Sanchez-Nolasco stumbled upon photographs by Valdez, a founding member of Asco who is more well-known for her brightly-colored, avant-garde expressionist paintings. She decided to make Valdez’s photography the subject of her thesis.
“I was blown away that she identified this as a topic that needed to be researched,” Black said. “No one has written about [Valdez’s photographs]. It’s a completely new topic.”
Patssi Valdez, “Pyrah.” 1980s, mixed media photo collage. Courtesy Patssi Valdez
Sanchez-Nolasco admired the photographs’ distinctive style and was surprised no one had examined them on their own, not just within the context of Valdez’s other work.
“I thought all these images were so beautiful and so amazing that I couldn’t think of a reason why no one has written about them collectively,” Sanchez-Nolasco said.
Sanchez-Nolasco presented a poster about her preliminary research findings at Undergraduate Research Week this May. Black was so proud of her and all her undergraduate advisees that she posted pictures of them on Facebook, including captions about their accomplishments and projects.
To her surprise, later that day, her picture of Sanchez-Nolasco standing in front of her poster at Undergraduate Research Week received a comment from Thomas Canavan, arts administrator of the Sanguine Gallery and creative arts and special projects manager of the Millard Sheets Arts Center in Pomona, Calif. Black met Canavan recently after she participated in a talk at Millard Sheets.
“Is it possible to get a copy? We’d love to publish it!” Canavan wrote, referring to Sanchez-Nolasco’s poster about Valdez.
As it turned out, the Sanguine Gallery was about to launch a Valdez exhibition, and the gallery frequently publishes writing and other creative works on its website to accompany its physical exhibits. Sanchez-Nolasco’s research would be the perfect accompaniment to the Valdez exhibit.
Canavan said the Sanguine Gallery wants to provide a space for artists, creators and scholars of all ages and experience levels to contribute their voices and unique insights – even an undergraduate like Sanchez-Nolasco. It benefits everyone, Canavan said, since young scholars in particular may be more connected to certain cultural and artistic spaces that older people may not.
“We exclude younger voices and because of that, they don’t have the opportunity to express what they think,” Canavan said. “If we’re not listening to them, we’re missing out on an opportunity to learn more about what’s around us.”
Sanchez-Nolasco credits Black for supporting her research and for making her partnership with the Sanguine Gallery possible.
“I just thought my project would be a thesis and that would be the end of it, but it’s really a privilege and an opportunity to be able to share my research in this way,” she said. “It’s inspiring to see that this is an opportunity I can now pursue as an undergraduate student.”
The photo that Black shared on Facebook.
For the first time in three years, UCLA students have been named recipients of the Donald A. Strauss Foundation’s annual public service scholarship.
Nathan Mallipeddi
Second-year psychobiology and political science double major Nathan Mallipeddi and second-year transfer sociology major David Nguyen will each receive $15,000 to contribute toward their educational costs and the unique public service projects they have each founded.
Mallipeddi’s project, the Southern California Stuttering Service, will provide resources and support for students in the Los Angeles Unified School District who struggle with stuttering and other speech disabilities.
Nguyen’s Community College to PhD Association is dedicated to providing research opportunities and mentorship to community college and transfer students who wish to attend graduate school.
The Donald A. Strauss Foundation awards scholarships to 10-15 juniors and seniors from 14 pre-selected California universities each year, including all University of California campuses. Each university nominates up to three students to be considered for the award.
Mallipeddi’s Southern California Stuttering Service was inspired by his own challenges growing up with stuttering. He wanted to create a nonprofit similar to the National Stuttering Association (the largest organization in the world for people who stutter) but geared toward K-12 students in Los Angeles and able to provide funding for speech therapy in addition to support groups.
Most of the Strauss scholarship funds will pay for speech therapy for Los Angeles Unified School District students who may not otherwise be able to afford or access it, Mallipeddi said. The scholarship will also cover weekly or biweekly support group meetings, so students with stuttering and other speech disabilities across schools can spend time together, as well as a workshop or conference that will introduce students to professionals in a variety of fields (who all have speech disabilities) who will share their stories of success.
“I really believe in this project and I want to affect the lives of as many students as I can because I know how hard it was going through this,” Mallipeddi said.
Donald A. Strauss Foundation Trustee G. Jennifer Wilson, former UCLA assistant vice provost for honors programs, will serve as Mallipeddi’s trustee mentor for the duration of his scholarship. She said his project is efficient and feasible, and the selection board felt that an investment in him and his project would be an investment in a better future.
“His personal experiences, the comments and support of his professors and mentors, his clear passion and dedication all show not only a fine student but also a man of emotional maturity who is already on the path to giving a voice to the voiceless,” Wilson said.
David Nguyen
Nguyen also shares a personal connection with his public service project. As a transfer student who plans to attend graduate school, he’s noticed that while many community college and transfer students aspire to do research and apply to doctoral programs, they face unique challenges.
“Community college alumni are underrepresented [in graduate programs] and research suggests they’re facing barriers with accessing PhD prep knowledge and undergraduate research opportunities,” Nguyen said.
The Community College to PhD Association, which he founded as a club at UCLA last year, offers monthly “Saturday Academy” workshops on campus that cover topics such as research methods and PhD prep. The organization’s first research conference is planned for May 26 and expecting about 100 presenters. Finally, the Community College to PhD Scholars program provides research opportunities, PhD mentors and faculty mentors for 29 community college sophomores who are interested in getting a social science PhD.
Nguyen said most of the scholarship funds will be used to provide research grants for the scholars program.
Nguyen’s Strauss Foundation trustee mentor is Dr. Gordon Strauss, former associate professor at UCLA in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science. Strauss was impressed not only by Nguyen’s personal journey – he attended several community colleges before transferring to UCLA – but also by his detailed proposal that reflected Nguyen’s own persistence and dedication to education.
“I felt it was one of the best proposals we have ever received, not only because his focus on community college transfer students is worthwhile, but because of the meticulous planning his proposal reflected,” Strauss said.
In a roundtable discussion with UCLA students and Chicago entrepreneurs at Startup UCLA on Feb. 12, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was adamant that despite all his career accomplishments, it is his failures, not his successes, that continue to teach him his biggest lessons.
