Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas

Mission

The Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas (CESPA) is devoted to the principle that education is the basis for solutions to societal tensions. To this end a primary concern of the Center is the issues stemming from the lived experiences of our students. The purpose of (CESPA) is to promote interest in and knowledge of peoples descendent of Latin American communities, whether of Latino/a, Asian, European, African or indigenous origins, within the US and south of the border through service learning, student and faculty research. CESPA also promotes faculty and public intellectual workshops, symposia, conferences, and lectures. Multimedia forums are utilized to distribute Center programs and research.

The peoples of the Americas have their roots in African, European, Asian, and indigenous cultures. The Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas (CESPA), is committed to a deeper understanding of the creation and movements across borders, and the development of border cultures, identities and economies. A primary concern is the lived experiences of our students. The California State University system has among the largest concentration of students of Mexican and Central American extraction of any four-year university system in the country, as well as substantial populations of Asian American and African American students.

To this end CESPA will bring together a group of scholars, researchers, and creative artists from a wide range of disciplines to more effectively provide accessible information to all students and communities about the experiences and the cultures of the more than 50 million Americans of Latin-American extraction and the more than 600 million people living to the south of the United States.

Upcoming Events:

The Impacts of Mining in Maya Cho’rti’ Territories

Monday, April 4, 2022 - 4:00pm to 5:15pm

Ubaldino García Canan is the principal spokesperson for the Consejo de Autoridades Indígenas Maya Ch’orti’/ Council of Indigenous Authorities, one of the most important organizations of Indigenous elders and authorities in Guatemala.

In this public webinar, García Canan will talk about the ways in which transnational extractive projects in the “Dry Corridor,” where water and vegetation are scarce, have increased land dispossession, extreme poverty, environmental destruction, and the forced displacement of the Ch’orti’ peoples. He will also discuss the various ways in which Ch’orti’ communities have organized in defense of their territories and the environment.

Monday, March 14, 2022 - 4:00pm to 5:15pm

In this webinar, Drs. Sanchez and Pita will discuss their new book titled Spatial and Discursive Violence in the U.S. Southwest (Duke University Press, 2021). The book critically examines the participation of Chicana/os in the dispossession of Indigenous populations before being
dispossessed themselves with the U.S. invasion of the Southwest. Their work takes on an important political task, both in terms of Chicana/os' relationship to the past but also to their positioning in the present. Read more

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