José A. Navarro
Professor, Ph.D. English
Associate Chair, Ethnic Studies Department
Pronouns: he/him/his
Areas of Interest
- Latina/o/x Studies: 20th and 21st Century Latinx & American Literature
- Ethnic Studies
- American Studies
- Critical Race Theory
- Media & Cultural Studies
- Postcolonial Studies
- Gender & Masculinity Studies
Contact Information
- Office: Bldg. 38, Rm. 140
- Phone: 805-756-6268
- Email: jnavar17@calpoly.edu
About José Navarro
Dr. José Navarro is from the East Los Angeles/Boyle Heights’s Ramona Gardens housing projects. He received his Ph.D in English from the University of Southern California in 2012 and is currently an associate professor in the department of Ethnic Studies at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He has published several articles and book chapters including:
“Las Cafeteras’ ‘La Bamba Rebelde’: Chican@ Nationalist Identity & Postnationalist Politics” (2014) in the journal Latino Studies
“Revisiting the Boulevard: The Gender & Sexual Politics of Michael Pressman’s Boulevard Nights” (2017) in the Journal of Popular Culture
“Luis J. Rodriguez’s Always Running: Between Chicano Nationalism and the Left” in Left in the West (ed. Gioia Woods, University of Nevada Press, 2018)
“Braided Together: Native and Black Hip Hop Against Police Violence” with Jenell Navarro in Thinking about Hip Hop: Blackness, Indigeneity, and Identity. eds. Audrey Hudson, Awad Ibrahim, Kyle Mays. DIO Press, 2019
“Chicana/o Sounds: Notes on the Super-Sonic Chicanidades Panel at the MLA 2020 Conference.” Journal of Popular Music Studies. Berkeley: University of California Press, Volume 32, Issue 3, September 2020.
His research interests include Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x literary & cultural studies; Chicano/Latino gang film & other gang narratives; the intersections of race, gender, masculinity, and sexuality studies; and, decolonial theory and politics. Currently, Professor Navarro is co-editing a special issue of Diálogo: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Latinx Studies on Latina/o Noir; and, he is finishing a book titled: The Reel Barrio: The History and Politics of Chicana/o Gang Film.
Education
- Ph.D English, University of Southern California (2012)
- Dissertation: "Machos y Malinchistas: Gang Narratives, Masculinity and Chicana/o Latina/o Culture." Chair: John Carlos Rowe.
- M.A. English, University of Southern California (2009)
- B.A. English, University of California, Berkeley (2002)
Academic Appointments
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Research Fellow—Cal Poly Office of University Diversity & Inclusion (AY 2020-2021)
As the research fellow for the Office of University Diversity & Inclusion, I work on assessing the university’s trajectory toward becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution, applying for external grants to support diversity, equity, and inclusion projects, and evaluate the campus’s current demographic data with regard to historically underrepresented students, staff, and faculty.
Associate Professor--Ethnic Studies Department (2018-Present)
Courses Taught:
Ethnic Studies 112: Race, Culture, and Politics in the United States
Ethnic Studies 114: Introduction to Ethnic Studies
Ethnic Studies 243: Survey of Latina/o/x Studies
Ethnic Studies 301: Latina/o/x Literature
Ethnic Studies 302: Chicana/o/x Literature
Ethnic Studies 303: Latina/o/x Poetry & Politics
Ethnic Studies 323: Mexican American Culture Images/ Latina/os in Popular Culture
Ethnic Studies 324: Chicana/o/x Film
Ethnic Studies 340: Cultural Production in Ethnicity/Latinx Cultural Production
Ethnic Studies 400: Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduate Students
Ethnic Studies 450: Field Research Methods
Ethnic Studies 461: Senior Project
Assistant Professor-- Ethnic Studies Department (2016-2018)
Courses Taught:
Ethnic Studies 243: Survey of Latinx Studies
Ethnic Studise 323: Mexican American Cultural Images
Ethnic Studies 340: Latinx Cultural Production
Ethnic Studies 400: Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduate Students
Ethnic Studies 450: Field Research Methods
Assistant Professor—English Department (2012-2016)
Courses Taught:
English 145: Reasoning, Argumentation, and Writing
English 202: Introduction to Literary Studies
English 240: The American Tradition in Literature
English 346: Ethnic American Literature
English 381: Diversity in Twentieth-Century American Literature
English 400: Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduate Students
English 461: Senior Project
English 449: Significant American Writers (Sub-Topic: Los Angeles Noir through Literature & Film).
Program Coordinator-- The University of Southern California Writing Program (2009-2011)
In my role as program coordinator, I supervised four assistant lecturers in the Writing Program and coordinated grade norming workshops, led assignment development/curriculum workshops, and developed new curriculum for the program.
Assistant Lecturer—The University of Southern California Writing Program (2006-2011)
Courses Taught:
Writing 140: Writing and Critical Reasoning
Selected Publications
Articles/Essays:
“A Browner Shade of Noir: Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit as Indigenous Noir.” Diálogo: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Latino Studies. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2020. Forthcoming 2021.
“Chicana/o Sounds: Field Notes from the Chicana/o and Sound Studies 2020 MLA Panel.” Journal of Popular Music Studies, Journal of Popular Music Studies (2020) 32 (3): 41–50. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://online.ucpress.edu/jpms/article-abstract/32/3/41/111534/Chicana-o-SoundsField-Notes-from-the-Chicana-o-and?redirectedFrom=fulltext
“Chicano/a Gang Narratives” [Essay]. Oxford Encyclopedia of Latina/o Literature. Eds. Louis Mendoza, Ben Holguin, Sandra Soto, et al. https://oxfordre.com/literature/page/forthcoming/ (Summer 2019).
“Homeboy Masculinity” [Essay]. Oxford Encyclopedia of Latina/o Literature. Eds. Sandra K. Soto, Louis Mendoza, Ben Holguin, et al. http://literature.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-347 (July 2018).
“Revisiting the Boulevard: The Gender & Sexual Politics of Michael Pressman’s Boulevard Nights.” The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2017. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jpcu.12572
“Las Cafeteras’ ‘La Bamba Rebelde’: Chican@ Nationalist Identity & Postnationalist Politics.” Latino Studies Vol. XIV, No. 4. December 2016. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41276-016-0017-z
Book Chapters:
“Braided Together: Native and Black Hip Hop Against Police Violence.” with Jenell Navarro in Thinking about Hip Hop: Blackness, Indigeneity, and Identity. Eds. Audrey Hudson, Awad Ibrahim, Kyle Mays. DIO Press, 2019. https://www.diopress.com/index.php/product/in-this-together-blackness-indigeneity-and-hip-hop?s=868
“Luis J. Rodriguez’s Always Running: Between Chicano Nationalism and the Left” in Left in the West Ed. Gioia Woods. University of Nevada Press, 2018. https://unpress.nevada.edu/books/?isbn=9781943859924
Book Reviews:
In the Spirit of a New People: The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement by Randy J. Ontiveros. New York: New York University Press, 2013. 241 pp. Paperback. ISBN: 9780814738771. MELUS: The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. Fall 2015.
Between Worlds: An Anthology of Contemporary Fiction and Criticism, Eds. Deborah Poe and Ama Wattley. New York: NY. Peter Lang Publishing, 2012. 214 pp. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-4331-1157-0. Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. Volume 41 Number 2, Fall 2015.
Hispanic Immigrant Literature: El Sueño del Retorno by Nicholás Kanellos. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011. Aztlán: Journal of Chicano Studies Fall 2012.
Articles in Progress:
"The Carceral State, Pinta Prisoner Literature and Emancipating Stories: Alegría Quiara Hudes, Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera” in Latinx Literature and Critical Futurities, 1992-2020, eds. Laura Lomas and John Morán González. Cambridge University Press. In Progress.
“Luis Rodriguez’s Republic of East L.A.” in Edited Volume on Luis J. Rodriguez. Eds. Ben V. Olguín and Josephine Metcalf. Oxford University Press. In Progress.
Awards & Fellowships
California Polytechnic State University Office of Diversity & Inclusion—Research Fellowship (2020-2021).
California Polytechnic State University Assigned Time for University Service (Chair - General Education Diversity & Inclusion Work Group Winter-Spring 2019).
California Polytechnic State University Assigned Time for Exceptional Service Award (Spring 2019).
California Polytechnic State University Pride Center Faculty Ally of the Year Award (2016-2017).
California Polytechnic State University Assigned Time for Exceptional Service to Students Award (Spring 2016).
California Polytechnic State University President's Diversity Award (2015).
California Polytechnic State University President's Diversity Award (Nominee 2014).
Cal Poly California Faculty Association's (CFA) Distinguished Faculty Award (Nominee) AY 2012-2013.
USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences' Department of English Fellowship Award, Academic Year 2011-2012.
General Education Graduate Assistant Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Southern California, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, Academic Year 2009-2010.