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PROFILE: Dr. Liliana Conlisk Gallegos - Contesting borders, crossing the lines of teaching, research and service...

'...to heal and empower students, our community and university by remembering what we were never taught'

Dr. Gallegos is a person with a vision. She sees the possibilities when it comes to breaking barriers that divide people and helping all students see themselves positively through the media. Through countless hours of advising and mentoring, and through her work leading The Coyote Pack and to the Transcultural Commons Collective.Dr. Gallegos invites her students to participate in several creative installations/exhibits, including major events which were extensively covered by both university and local media and were the result of her own academic research working with the student population in her classes. Students are able to exercise their media production skills in the areas of journalism, videography, podcasting, public relations, social and digital media curation. Students were responsible for the set up and execution of the following events through specific course assignments at these major events: 

The Art of Dreaming Poster Session (Winter 2017) 

Taking from traditional Xicanx and rasquache sensibilities, for the PR campaign, Dr. Gallegos's students engaged in recycling trash to create a series of posters to advertise the art of dreaming, engaged in a peaceful march around campus with posters, and strategically distributed the materials around campus.

 

The Art of Dreaming Workshop (Winter 2017) 

The workshop took place in the Art Department. Participants included students, faculty, and staff from over six different departments and from both PDC and CSUSB campuses. The goal was to create art pieces centered around the experiences of being undocumented or an ally. Over 40 pieces were donated by the participants. Local community spoken word, artists, and musicians performed during the event. Over 125 people attended. Work donated during the workshop would be auctioned at the spring gala event. 

The Art of Dreaming Exhibition and Gala Event (Spring 2017) 

The Art of Dreaming Exhibition and gala event took place at the local Garcia Center for the Arts. The pieces were exhibited for over two weeks, together with a multimedia presentation prepared by myself and her students. The final day of the exhibit, local bands came to perform, and the pieces were offered for sale through a silent auction. Over $2000 was raised. All proceeds were donated to our CSUSB Undocumented Students Resource Center for an emergency fund scholarship for undocumented students. Read more in the San Bernardino Sun... Read more in La Opinion...   The importance of this teaching approach was acknowledged by Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP) in conjunction with the American Association of Colleges and Universities(AAC& U). Gallegos took 17 of her students (She helped and guided all 17 attendees to fill out applications to get student grants) to the BTtoP conference in Chicago. There they presented their research work (most for the first time) on The Art of Dreaming. See the student-produced montage of their experience...Dr. Gallegos was invited to write the feature article for the BToP national newsletter, showcasing her class's efforts. Read the BToP newsletter...

Our San Bernardino, Nuestro (Spring 2018)

This showcase featured a short film produced by Gallegos and Graduate Student Loydie Burmah. Student testimonials with the lack of diversity as they communicate them by referring back to content and concepts learned in her Comm 409 course on Latinx Media. Students made collages to express their feelings and thought processes. The presentations of intimate experiences were projected and heard overhead, while the audience watched short videos made with 360 degree cameras, showcasing a public experience/expectation of diversity on campus. The public representation of diversity produced by students, presented in a private immersive experience, was superimposed to the private suffering, no longer represented, but shared in a public experience. Experimenting with 360 cameras allow us to explore the question: What is missing from our plans for diversity, equity, and inclusion? Read more in Inland Empire Community News... See the student-produced video...    Finally, the students in her courses become part of The Coyote Pack, a title that protects individual identities. It is an organization that has generations, depending on who takes her experimental media course and when. We will be welcoming the fourth generation in Fall 2018. Under the design and direction of Dr. Gallegos, all events are organized and covered by students.    Her teaching style has been featured in local media and a national academic outlet in an interview by BTtoP & AAC& U.