“In the 1970s and early 1980s, mothers who came out as lesbians routinely lost custody of their children to homophobic court systems and outraged fathers,” says author Melissa Hart.  When she was 9 years old, this happened to her mother in Southern California, and Hart and her younger siblings weren’t allowed to live with her again until they turned 18. Hart documented this era in her new memoir Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood."

Seal Press, 288 pages

In 2007, CSWS awarded Melissa Hart a grant to work on this book. 

"The book focuses on representations of indigenous peoples in post-revolutionary literary and intellectual history by examining key cultural texts. Using these analyses as a foundation, Analisa Taylor links her critique to national Indian policy, rights, and recent social movements in Southern Mexico. In addition, she moves beyond her analysis of indigenous peoples in general to take a gendered look at indigenous women ranging from the villainized Malinche to the highly romanticized and sexualized Zapotec women of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec."

"Lynn Fujiwara reveals a neglected aspect of the Asian immigrant story: the ill effects of welfare reform on Asian immigrant women and families. Mothers without Citizenship intertwines the issues of social and legal citizenship, arguing that these draconian measures redefined immigrants as outsiders whose lack of citizenship was used to deem them ineligible for public benefits. Fujiwara shows how these people are both a vulnerable, invisible group and active agents of change."

University of Minnesota Press, 272 pages

“Screens offers a historical and theoretical framework for understanding screen-reliant installation art and the spectatorship it evokes. Examining a range of installations created over the past fifty years that investigate the rich terrain between the sculptural and the cinematic ... Kate Mondloch traces the construction of screen spectatorship in art from the seminal film and video installations of the 1960s and 1970s to the new media artworks of today’s digital culture.” 

University of Minnesota Press, Electronic Mediations Series, Volume 30, 208 pages

"Combining a basic history of philosophical thought with the often quirky personal stories of famous philosophers, this comprehensive introduction to the world of philosophy answers more than 1,000 questions, ranging from What was the Enlightenment?to Why did the Pythagorians avoid fava beans? Analyzing the collective effort of philosophers throughout history in the pursuit of truth and wisdom, the guide explores the tangible significance of philosophical thought to modern society and civilization as a whole.

"This multi-authored volume, newly available in paperback, focuses on Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press (1917-1941). Scholars from the UK and the US use previously unpublished archival materials and new methodological frameworks to explore the relationships forged by the Woolfs via the Press and to gauge the impact of their editorial choices on writing and culture.

"This book looks beyond the headlines to uncover the controversial history of California's ballot measures over the past fifty years. As the rest of the U.S. watched, California voters banned public services for undocumented immigrants, repealed public affirmative action programs, and outlawed bilingual education, among other measures. Why did a state with a liberal political culture, an increasingly diverse populace, and a well-organized civil rights leadership roll back civil rights and anti-discrimination gains?

"Dance and the Hollywood Latina asks why every Latina star in Hollywood history, from Dolores Del Rio in the 1920s to Jennifer Lopez in the 2000s, began as a dancer or danced onscreen. While cinematic depictions of women and minorities have seemingly improved, a century of representing brown women as natural dancers has popularized the notion that Latinas are inherently passionate and promiscuous."

Rutgers University Press, 208 pages

"The book examines the basic underpinnings of everyday interaction: from how we think, to who we see ourselves and others to be, to how we interact with others. Each of these processes is based on both social psychology and gender (as differentiated from sex), as well as our racial backgrounds, ethnic heritages, socioeconomic circumstances, sexualities, and national histories. The authors present and critique each of the major theories of social psychology, social exchange, social cognition, and symbolic interaction.

“Historically, indigenous women and mainstream feminism have had an uneasy relationship. While indigenous feminism has often been subsumed within the categories of women of color and postcolonial feminism, in truth, it goes beyond these constructs to engage in crucial issues of cultural identity, nationalism, and decolonization that are particular to indigenous contexts.