December 8, 2016
Millán presents at American Studies Association Conference in Denver, Colorado
Isabel Millán, American ethnic studies faculty member, presented the panel "Never Innocent: Critical Race Studies of Youth" at the annual American Studies Association Conference Nov. 17-20 in Denver, Colorado.
This year's conference theme was "Home/Not Home: Centering American Studies Where We Are."
Millán's paper, "Ruptures in Belonging and Innovative Placemaking for Queer Children of Color," prioritized Maya Christina Gonzalez's canon of unconventional bilingual children's texts inspired by Gonzalez's personal experience, own children and chosen family. Millán argued that queer Chicanxs/Latinxs such as Gonzalez employ self-empowering modes of self-reflection and creativity in order to transform society through oral and visual storytelling.
The American Studies Association is comprised of a network of scholars, teachers, writers, administrators and activists from around the world who hold in common the desire to view U.S. history and culture from multiple perspectives. The association is considered the oldest and largest scholarly association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. culture and history.
The panel was chaired by children's literary scholar Robin Bernstein.