Recent News
Author Dr. Bayley Marquez Book Talk, Nov 12
Oct 8, 2025
Plantation Pedagogy: The Violence of Schooling Across Black and Indigenous Space
Dr. Bayley Marquez's book talk, 6:30-8pm, Nov. 12, 2025 in baker center (180-114)
The Ethnic Studies Department, organized by Dr. Dallas Donnell, will be hosting author and professor Dr. Bayley Marquez from University of Maryland for an in-depth talk about her groundbreaking new book, Plantation Pedagogy: The Violence of Schooling Across Black and Indigenous Space (UC Press).This event will take place on November 12th, from 6:30pm to 8 pm in Baker Center (Bldg. 180, Rm 114). Please join us to hear more about this topic and her book!
About Dr. Bayley Marquez
Bayley J. Marquez is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies, an affiliate faculty with the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Consortium for Race Gender and Ethnicity, and an Indigenous scholar from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. As an Indigenous scholar, she acknowledges that her work and scholarship takes place on Piscataway land, former plantation land, and within a land grant university funded by the seizure and sale of Indigenous lands. With a focus on space, land, material relations, and schooling, this acknowledgement is necessary to position her work within the structure of settler colonialism and her own lived experiences. Her research interests include settler colonial theory, Indigenous education, Black education, the history of education, abolitionist university studies, and critical ethnic studies. Her academic work is positioned at the intersection of settlement, antiblackness, imperialism and other instantiations of racialized and colonial power.
Her book, Plantation Pedagogy: The Violence of Schooling Across Black and Indigenous Space (UC Press) examines education for Black and Indigenous students in the 19th and 20th centuries and how slavery and settlement were framed as educative processes by white reformers and educators. This form of teaching targeted Native and Black bodies as subjects to transform as well as the land as a target of teaching and transformation, fundamentally altering spaces and lives. This work was generously supported by the Ford Foundation, the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, The Independent Scholarship, Research, and Creativity Award at UMD, the ARHU Junior Faculty Fellowship, the Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues, and the Center for Race and Gender at UC Berkley. Dr. Marquez’s work has been published in American Quarterly, Feminist Formations, and The Dubois Review.
Plantation Pedagogy, book here
Hosted by the Cal Poly Ethnic Studies department and the College of Liberal Arts (CLA).
Hui Haumana, New ES advised IRA for 2025-2026
Sep 24, 2025
The Hui Haumana IRA Begins This Academic Year
students performing on stage, 2025
The Ethnic Studies Department is now home to a brand new instructionally related activity (IRA)!
Beginning this academic year, the Hui Haumana IRA is advised by ES faculty member Dr. Ryan Buyco, rbuyco@calpoly.edu. Hui Haumana immerses students in Pacific Islander culture through traditional dance, fostering authentic cultural appreciation, community connections, and a sense of belonging while sharing and celebrating heritage through cultural showcases. Their main forms of dance include Tahitian - 'Ori Tahiti, and Hawaiian - Hula. Hui Haumana is a non-audition dance group open to anyone interested!
Visit their website to find out more!
Read about our other ES advised IRAs
ES Major Zora Sowinska Wins 2025 Academy of American Poets Contest
Jun 12, 2025
Ethnic Studies Major Zora Sowinska wins this year's Academy of American Poets Contest
ES Major zora Sowinska, June 2025 (photo from cal poly english)
Ethnic Studies major, minoring English, Zora Sowinska has won the Academy of American Poets Contest for 2025! Her winning poem titled, A Visit to Lisamu, has earned Zora a prize, membership, and will be announced in the Academy's Annual Report.
Presented by the Academy of American Poets, their University and College Poetry Prize program sponsors over two hundred annual poetry prizes at colleges and universities across the U.S, and has awarded cash prizes to nearly ten thousand student poets since the program's inception.
sowinska, Zora. "A Visit to Lisamu". 2025.
Read more about the University & College Poetry Prizes
Read more about the Academy of American Poets
ES Mentored BEACoN Research Projects 2025
Jun 10, 2025
ES Faculty mentored projects: Pacific Detours: Toward a Decolonial Approach to Travel Writing & The Anatomy of a Good Lime- Exploring Race, Masculinity, and Leisure Culture in Trinidad
ES student/mentee aya trussell and sebastian Montero-Quemado, and ES faculty member/mentor Ryan buyco, june 2025 (Photo from cal poly OUDI)
Ethnic Studies Minor student Aya Trussell, ES Major Sebastian Montero-Quemado, and Ethnic Studies Assistant Professor Dr. Ryan Buyco recently completed their BEACoN Research project titled, "Pacific Detours: Toward a Decolonial Approach to Travel Writing".
Abstract: Travel writing– a genre that narrates a subjective experience of a journey–has played a historical role in legitimizing the western colonial project. Asian American and Pacific Islander studies scholars have been using travel writing to teach readers about the ongoing circumstances of colonialism, U.S. militarism, and Indigenous resurgence in places including Hawai‘i and Okinawa. We will explore the emergent form of decolonial travel writing and work on constructing our own in the process. While travel writing has a problematic history, it can also cultivate decolonial forms of relationality, guiding readers to rethink their relationships to the places they travel.
Link to Cal Poly OUDI Page - Trussell, Montero-Quemado, Buyco
Graphic Communication Major Keilana Calder, Ethnic Studies Minor student Mercy R. Torres, and Ethnic Studies Assistant Professor Dr. Dan Castilow completed their BEACoN Research project titled, "The Anatomy of a Good Lime- Exploring Race, Masculinity, and Leisure Culture in Trinidad".
ES student/mentee Keilana Calder and Mercy Torres, june 2025 (Photo from cal poly OUDI)
Abstract: The Anatomy of a Good Lime is a three-part documentary that explores liming, Trinidad’s informal social gatherings, as a cultural lens to examine race, masculinity, and national identity. Over the past several months, our research has focused on the historical, social, and cultural contexts of liming in preparation for filming in Trinidad this summer. The documentary looks at class differences in liming spaces, the role of rum and soca music, and how gender and fashion shape expressions of masculinity. This project contributes to broader conversations about identity, culture, and leisure in post-colonial societies.
Mentor Dan Castilow and mentee Keilana Calder at the 2025 BEACoN Research Symposium, June 11th 2025
Link to Cal Poly OUDI Page - Calder, Torres, Castilow
New ES Topic in Fall 2025: Asian/American Ghosts
May 28, 2025
ES 470: Asian/American Ghosts Fall 2025 Course Information
ES 470: Asian/american ghosts offered in Fall 2025
The Ethnic Studies Department is offering a new topic in Fall 2025!
ES 470: Asian/American Ghosts delves into the themes of "ghostliness" in Asian/American literature and pop culture. In the course, you'll work together to recognize the ongoing effects of hierarchical power structures in everyday life, and learn how to reckon with ghosts under a lens of criticality, curiosity, and care.
This course will be led by Dr. MT Vallarta, vallarta@calpoly.edu, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Cal Poly. Please contact Dr. Valarta if you have any questions about the course.
Immigration Lawyer Luis Cortes Romero Talk, May 22nd
Apr 17, 2025
Brown Buffalo Reincarnated: Una Plática con Luis Cortes Romero
Luis Cortes romero's immigration talk, 4-pm, may 22nd, 2025 in Phillips hall (06-124)
The Ethnic Studies Department, organized by Dr. Jorge Moraga, will be hosting immigration and human rights attorney Luis Cortes Romero from the Novo Legal Group for a plática as he chronicles his experiences and successes in advocating for Dreamers, DACA, and all those marked unwanted and unwelcome for the last two decades. This event will take place on May 22nd, from 4pm to 6 pm in Phillips Hall (Bldg. 06, Rm 124). Please join us to hear more about this topic and his experiences!
About Luis Cortes Romero:
As the managing partner in Novo Legal Group's Washington Office, Luis Cortes Romero focuses exclusively on immigration litigation. With extensive experience in trial and appellate cases, Luis has tackled a wide variety of immigration-related matters, including constitutional issues, immigration detention challenges, immigration consequences of criminal convictions, and waivers of inadmissibility. His expertise extends to high-profile constitutional litigation involving equal protection and due process claims, as well as representation in governmental investigations.
A DACA recipient himself, Luis made a significant impact as co-counsel in the landmark case DHS v. Regents of the University of California, which led the US Supreme Court to strike down the Trump administration's decision to end DACA. In addition to his legal practice, Luis serves as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School and a board member of the National Immigration Project.
At Novo Legal Group, Luis remains committed to impact litigation and passionately advocates for expanding immigrant rights and protections across the United States. Read more from his bio here.
Hosted by the Cal Poly Ethnic Studies department.
The Deading Book Talk with author Nicholas Belardes, May 1st
Apr 14, 2025
Author Nicholas Belardes' book talk on his new title, The Deading
Nicholas belardes' book talk, 6-7:30pm, may 1st, 2025, in baker 180-101
The Ethnic Studies Department will host local author Nicholas Belardes to hold conversation about his new book, The Deading. This event will take place on May 1st, 2025, from 6pm to 7:30 pm in Baker 180-101. Please join us to hear more about Nick's new title and latino horror!
About Nicholas Belardes:
Nicholas Belardes’s work often combines elements of literary, horror, and science fiction. The New York Times Book Review said his first book, The Deading “perfectly balances social critique, lyricism and ghastliness. It’s a claustrophobic mosaic of a novel, and an outstanding debut.” Belardes’s follow up, Ten Sleep (2025), blends elements of gothic and eco-horror with Western fiction. While attending UCR Palm Desert’s MFA Program, Belardes received its Founder’s Award. When not writing, he’s either birdwatching or teaching essay writing at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Ethnic Studies Program. From his bio, here.
Photo by Joe Johnston
Nick's interview with Cal Poly Magazine, "Body Snatchers in Baywood"
More Info on The Deading from Nick's Website
Hosted by the Cal Poly Ethnic Studies department with support from Cal Poly’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA).
Ethnic Studies Awarded Mellon Foundation Grant, Starting Five New Minor Programs
Mar 13, 2025
ES Will Create Five New Minor Programs, Supported by the CSU Mellon Grant
csu student, Feb. 2025 (photo from linked csu article)
The Ethnic Studies Department has been awarded the Mellon Foundation Grant for Advancing and Expanding Ethnic Studies from The California State University! This will support ES faculty to begin the creation of five new minor programs within the department.
One of the 11 CSUs to receive this grant, this will support faculty to enhance existing Ethnic Studies programs and pathways through the creation of new concentrations, transfer pathways, minors and certificates, and revised curriculum—and by strengthening student understanding of intersectionality between Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Trans Studies. As well as increasing the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in these areas, shorten time to degree completion, reduce equity gaps and advance belonging, diversity, equity and inclusion across the system.
Read more about the CSU's Mellon Foundation Grant Awardees
Read more about the CSU's Mellon Foundation Grant selection announcement
Simon Silva Art Talk, March 6th
Feb 25, 2025
Simon Silva will be presenting at Cal Poly's NAICC on March 6th
Simon Silva's art talk, 4-6pm, march 6th, 2025, at naicc
The Ethnic Studies department, in collaboration with Art & Design, La CASA, and the College of Liberal Arts, will be bringing Chicano artist Simon Silva to campus on March 6th, 2025.
This event will take place in the Native American & Indigenous Cultural Center (NAICC) in Building 172, Room H1-46, from 4 pm to 6 pm. Join us to hear about Simon Silva's experience, art, and take part in a Q&A!
About Simon Silva:
Simón Silva's work is inspired by his upbringing, which instilled a strong work ethic, and by his experiences traveling across California, Oregon, and Washington State. Silva brings attention to the often overlooked hardworking individuals and the challenging conditions they endure, making the invisible visible through his art. Simón Silva (b. 1961, Mexicali, Mexico) moved to the United States at the age of one and a half. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Imperial Valley College in 1981 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Art Center College of Design in the fall of 1986. Silva's work has been exhibited both locally and internationally. From his bio, here.
You can view Simon's portfolio on his website, here.
silva, simon. un dia de campo.
Hosted by the Cal Poly Ethnic Studies department with support from Cal Poly’s Art & Design department, Latinx/e Center for Academic Success and Achievement (La CASA), and the College of Liberal Arts (CLA).
New ES Course, Spring 2025: Star Wars, Race, & Rebellion
Jan 27, 2025
ES 470: Star Wars, Race, & Rebellion, Spring 2025 Course Information
ES 470: Star wars, race, & rebellion offered in spring 2025
Dr. Jenell Navarro from the Ethnic Studies Department is offering a new course in Spring 2025!
ES 470: Star Wars, Race, & Rebellion examines themes of race and rebellion in the Star Wars franchise. It will analyze how Star Wars films and tv series reflect real-world sociopolitical issues, movements, and structures of power. It will cover concepts like rebellion, resistance, imperialism, and neoimperialism.
This course will be led by Dr. Jenell Navarro, jnavar18@calpoly.edu, Professor of Ethnic Studies at Cal Poly. Please contact Dr. Navarro if you have any questions about the course.
Read Mustang News "Cal Poly students use ‘Star Wars’ to examine race and imperialism" here