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Breny Mendoza By Cindy Von Quednow Breny Mendoza didn’t consider herself an immigrant until she moved to California. After living outside of Honduras, her native country, for 30 years, traveling and living in Latin America, Europe and the U.S., Mendoza obtained permanent residency in 2001 when she came to Los Angeles to work at CSUN. “It has been hard for me to assume an immigrant identity because I have always wanted to say I am Latin American or Honduran, always with the idea that I will return, or that this is transitory,” said Mendoza who added that she didn’t feel the effects of being an immigrant until she was in the U.S. “To be seen as Latin American or Central American is almost a disadvantage,” commented Mendoza, who has been teaching in the gender and women studies department since Sept. 2001, right before the 9/11 attacks. She feels she chose a bad time to feel like an immigrant. But Mendoza is more than an immigrant. She is an academic, a feminist, even a Marxist. She has lived under different political and social conditions in various countries of the world, like Germany during the Cold War, and Nicaragua after the defeat of the Sandinistas. “For me the ideal country is a piece of all the ones I’ve lived in,” said Mendoza. Mendoza was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 1954. Upon finishing high school she went to study in Spain, which was under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. In 1973, after visiting Germany with a friend, she decided to move to Heidelberg. Mendoza lived in Germany for 10 years, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science and sociology. While she was studying Marxist theory in Germany during the Cold War, Latin America was in a chaotic and revolutionary state on the other side of the world. Many exiled Latin Americans sought refuge in Germany, forming a respected community. Mendoza said that it was during this time that she discovered herself as a Latin American and that influence is reflected in her writings today. She is an expert in feminist theory and has written many books and articles on different political and social topics. In 1982, seven years prior to the collapse of the Berlin wall, Mendoza went to live in Peru, where she worked with a feminist organization and an alternative theatre group. “It is a wonderful country,” said Mendoza of Peru. “I think it has a density, a profoundness where you can feel the dramatic history of Latin America.” Mendoza returned to Honduras in 1986, where her daughter, Anaís, was born, and worked as a consultant to the United Nations. Soon after, she won the Fulbright scholarship to study at Cornell University in New York, where she earned a doctorate in city and regional planning. Mendoza then returned to Central America, where she worked in Honduras and Nicaragua with various organizations, including the UN. But Mendoza wanted to be an academic and she didn’t feel “politically comfortable” with the UN. She returned to Peru where she worked in the Catholic University in Peru, then went to work in New York while she looked for a permanent job. “In reality, it took me three years to find what I was looking for,” said Mendoza. What she was looking for ended up being a job at CSUN. The gender and women studies department was looking for someone specialized in political science and Central American studies. “We just could not get that combination,” said Marta López-Garza, professor of gender and women studies and Chicana/o studies. She added the department had almost given up hope when they received Mendoza’s application. “She was our last hope and she was perfect for it.” López-Garza said that the story of how Mendoza came to CSUN demonstrates what she signifies for the university. “It reflects the unique contributions that Breny makes, not just to this department, but to the campus, and just as a scholar in general,” said López-Garza. Mendoza said she feels comfortable at CSUN, where she is also teaching a class in Central American studies this semester. “(My) department is ideal”, said Mendoza, who hasn’t taught a Central American studies class in almost three years. “I haven’t left CSUN in search for something else.” Mendoza said the Central American studies program is progressive and the relationship between students and professors is unique. “I don’t really have to negotiate the cultural question,” said Mendoza. “In other classes I am another representative of diversity, while in this one, we have a common agenda.” “She crosses a lot of borders in many ways,” said López-Garza on Mendoza. “She is able to interface with different groups of students”. In her seminar on Central American culture, Mendoza lectures in English and Spanish, something Amy Ulloa, an Honduran student taking Mendoza’s class, admires. “I like it when she lectures in Spanish because it does remind us where we come from and what we’re studying,” said Ulloa, a third year Central American studies major. Even though Mendoza returns to Honduras two times a year and gives classes in a pedagogic university, she admitted that it is difficult to maintain her Honduran identity. “I’m a Little disconnected from the Central American community,” said Mendoza. “We Hondurans don’t have such a united community like Salvadorans. I have always felt like the only Honduran.” Ulloa identifies with Mendoza and was surprised to find out there was a Honduran professor at CSUN. For Ulloa, Mendoza is an inspiration. “She really gives the core definition of what it means to be a woman in society today,” explained Ulloa. (She) breaks the barrier of this is a man’s world and it’s dominated by men, and is an example.” |
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