SOUTHWEST HISPANIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE
University of New Mexico
Elijio Padilla, Director
(505) 277-2965
(505)277-3343 fax
Located in the geographic center of the Southwest, the Southwest Hispanic
Research Institute at the University of New Mexico was established in 1980 to
serve as the interdisciplinary center for the study of the Hispanic experience
within the context of the southwestern region. The broad purpose of the
institute is to promote teaching and research and to disseminate information
concerning historical, contemporary as well as emerging issues which impact on
Hispanic peoples and communities in the southwestern states of Texas, New
Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and California.
To implement its mission, the Institute:
- houses an academic teaching program in Chicano Studies with course
offerings in the Departments of History, American Studies, Music,
Language, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, and Psychology;
-
stimulates and coordinates the development of interdisciplinary research
projects by university faculty who specialize in Southwestern and
Hispanic Studies;
-
sponsors lecture series, symposia, research competitions, colloquia and
conferences on timely issues critical to the growing Hispanic regional
population;
-
disseminates research and other project results by way of a working paper
and a research monograph series.
A partial description of sponsored and collaborative projects include local
community history and cultural heritage studies, a policy report on the energy
costs of Hispanic rural and urban households, an anthropological study of
sunbelt industrialization and its impact on working families, a humanities
study on New Mexico's community acequias (irrigation ditch
institutions), a regional study of Hispanic mutual aid societies in Colorado,
Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and California, and two conference research reports
on water resources policy from the prespective of traditional and small-scale
water users in the region (Indian pueblos and Hispanic villages).
Organizational Structures
SHRI is an interdisciplinary research center reporting directly to the Vice
President for Academic Affairs and the Vice President for Research. The
Institute is staffed by a Director, a Support Group and Departmental Faculty.
Institutional Support includes a $180,000 budget for research and $75,000 for
academic programs in Chicano Studies. In addition, outside sources, foundation
and government , fund specific research projects.
Faculty Involvement
Departmental faculty who teach in Chicano and Southwest Studies fields
are eligible for appointments as research associates, a status which grants them
research support by way of travel funds, computer time, word-processing of
proposals and manuscripts, release time for teaching, and other benefits. In
return, faculty are expected to collaborate with the other
research associates, to serve on and chair various program committees, to
submit manuscripts for publication in the Working Paper Series or other outside
journals, and in general to support the aims and purposes of the Institute. At
any given time, some faculty serve as research associates on a voluntary basis,
while others obtain release time from teaching either short-term (semester) or
long-term (three year joint appointments between Departments and the
Institute).