At the end of the fall semester, Alana de Hinojosa’s “Mexican-American History to 1900” class met for the last time, to share their final projects and reflections on the class.
As a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Transborder Studies, de Hinojosa challenged her students to investigate questions about what it means to be Mexican-American, where we begin with Mexican-American history and why is Mexican-American history considered United States History. Through the creation of zines (pronounced "zeens"), students explored personal connections to the places, histories and stories from the border.
Finding inspiration in the Zine collection
Zines, short for magazines, are independent, usually photocopied small press books. Made in small batches by hand, zines cover various contents and subjects from personal poetry to political issues and more. Many libraries hold zine collections, including the ASU Library which offers a Zine library guide.
“I was first introduced to the transformative capacity of zines as a learning tool when I was a doctoral student at UCLA,” said de Hinojosa. “My adviser, Dr. Genevieve Carpio, did a similar project and it was equally as rewarding then as it was earlier this week to see how students—despite their initial hesitancy—lean into this genre to demonstrate their learning and critical thinking.”
Analicia Zamora Castro, who graduated in December with a degree in sociology from the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, explored several areas in her project. “My zine, titled ‘Mexican and American: Yo Decido Quien Soy,’ is a multimodal, collaborative effort that centers the lived experiences of Mexican American, ASU students and the histories documented by Mexican American scholars. It serves to denounce the deficit approaches imposed on Mexican Americans and explores the gendered experiences of being Mexican American.”
One student conducted an oral history interview with her father and then connected his story to historical events in the community. Another student explored Mexican-American places and history in Tucson by taking photographs on 35mm film
“It’s important to me that students leverage their Zines—which are DIY and ‘underground’ booklets rooted in alternative and counterstory media productions—in the interest of their own academic inquiries and (counter) stories,” added de Hinojosa. “In other words, I wanted to offer a final project where they could take personal, creative, and intellectual risks at the same time.”
Guadalupe Diaz is studying biomedical science and used the Makerspace and laser-cutter to create her design. “I would describe my zine as a symbolism of my life that's part of Mexican-American History,” said Diaz. “My process of making the zine was that I wanted to make it with construction paper. Then, I thought about how I would include my life's story in some way when discussing Mexican-American history while explaining Mexican-Americans' claim to whiteness.”
Using the library for the creative and research process
“When I came to ASU for my campus visit, one of the first resources introduced me to was the Hayden Library and all the incredible centers housed there,” explained de Hinojosa. “What most struck me at that time was how many resources were in place to foster and support student learning across all kinds of spaces—be it artistically at the Markerspace, geographically at the Map and Geospatial Hub, or historically and with a commitment to community at the Community-Driven Archives Initiative.”
These interdisciplinary centers at the ASU Library allow students from any program to learn from librarians, archivists, professionals and student peers. The centers also give students opportunities to develop skills outside the classroom such as 3D printing, GIS mapping and interviewing.
“By working with these centers my goal was not only to foster students’ historical thinking skills across genre, form, and medium, but also for students to walk away with increased confidence in their skillsets,” said de Hinojosa.
These workshops and resources provided were essential for students in the creation of their zines.
“I was introduced to zines a few months prior to making my own, and the library's diverse zine collection allowed me to see what a zine could be,” said Zamora Castro. “The diversity in zines made me reflect on the skills I already had, which I then applied to the development of my zine. The Map and Geospatial [Hub], in particular, were so helpful in providing archival evidence which developed the intellectual and material quality of my zine.”
Illuminating the past powers the present
Seeing the collective of zines was an inspiring and rewarding moment as everyone discussed how the projects came together.
Zamora Castro shared, “As a senior in my seventh and last semester at ASU, I was introduced to a variety of resources the ASU library has to offer because of Dr. Hinojosa's thoughtful instruction of the ‘Mexican American History to 1900’ course. I learned that the ASU Library has so many resources, including Makerspace, that support ASU students' intellectual, personal, academic, and creative pursuits. I also learned that there are more accessible ways of disseminating knowledge within communities.”
For de Hinojosa, it also was a powerful reminder of how the past informs the present.
“It was particularly rewarding to witness how so many of the students connected the course material—which was all from the Mesoamerican period to 1900—to their own lives, the lives of their families, and to their communities,” shared de Hinojosa. “Like many instructors of history, one of my main objectives is to illuminate to my students how the past colors our present—how the past is a living thing. I have to admit that my students spoke to this connection more than I had anticipated and they did so their own terms and in their own words; I couldn’t have asked for more.”