Tucson Treasures, Part One

Tucson held many treasures for my sabbatical experience.  I was able to have conversations with two professors at University of Arizona, attend a graduate seminar on the Feminization of Migration, interview a wonderful graduate student who helped me get connected with UA folks, have an in-depth conversation with a social justice activist and visit the Arizona State Museum where we were treated to a tour by "the best docent" they have (the lady at the front desk informed us).  I believe it after having had him take us through the native peoples' exhibit.

I am in awe of the work I saw happening at the University of Arizona.  I think I will start this post with a shout-out to Jose Miguel Rodas, a graduate student at the John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences.  He and I met for tea at a wonderful shop just across the street from the University, The Scented Leaf Tea House and Lounge.  As a tea drinker I was thrilled.  He picked it out as a place to meet having never been there.  I am sipping a cup of one of their herbal blends as I write.  I went back the following week and even dragged my coffee drinking husband in to just see it.

Jose

Jose is a graduate student in PhD Program in Family and Consumer Sciences with emphasis on Family Studies and Human Development.  He hails from Montclair, NJ and attended Montclair State University for his BA.  He also was an Americorps member and received a National Science Foundation Fellowship to go to University of Arizona.  He has never been to the state before he packed his car and drive out to begin his graduate program.  Jose and I met at the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) meeting in November 2014.  We were part of a poster session on Saturday morning, a time when many folks had already left for home.  We had lots of time to talk.  We exchanged information.  He offered to help get connected with some folks in Tucson and he did!  I was so glad to see him again and to learn more about him and the work he is doing.

His career goal is to teach in a college setting.  His research focuses on mental health disparities, especially with Latino adolescent youth, adolescent development.  He is also very interested in family dynamics and parent- child dynamics.

His own story is that he is the son of immigrant parents who came from El Salvador.  He was born in the US and his father is a citizen.  His mother has a work permit and is legal.  He is working to get her more permanent status.  He has cousins who had to flee from El Salvador because they were being forced into gangs.  He said that the gangs in El Salvador feed on poverty.  He knows personally the impact of the politics and conditions in Central America on young people and their families.  He has recently been looking at what causes people to leave their homes and travel so far in such dangerous circumstances.  His own experiences in the SW have changed his world view.  Growing up in New Jersey he never heard the term "brown people."

He is currently working on his Master's thesis (1st step on the journey to the PhD).  He uses the theory of ambiguous loss to examine Latino caregivers - parents of youth and how the bi-culturalism that emerges causes loss for parents.  He is focusing on the loss of traditional values and beliefs that is more typical for the youth.  The children are being raised in dominant culture.  He is examining depressive symptoms caused by this loss and how we can mitigate it.  

Dr. Pauline Boss is the leading expert on the topic of ambiguous loss.  I heard her speak several times at NCFR. Her work helped me understand and work through some of my own grief and loss after my daughter Kate died in 2002.  We never had closure or the chance to say goodbye. I recommend looking into her work if you or anyone you know is struggling with unresolved loss.

Back to Jose's work.  He is currently working with the community in South Tucson to pilot a program to teach parents how to understand the process of adolescent development.  We did not have a chance to talk more about this because he had to rush off to class but I am guessing some of the challenge is that the cultural milieu in which these young people are developing is very different than what their parents experienced.  I invited him to come visit us in Washington and hope he does after his thesis is completed.  I would love to pay back some of the connecting he did for me by introducing him to colleagues and community members in my state.

I so enjoyed my time with Jose.  I am so hopeful for the future when I meet young scholars like Jose. I hope we can be connected for many years to come!

I will close this post with a couple of pictures I took as I visited campus that beautiful Friday in February.  My next post will connect you with Dr. Anna Ochoa O'Leary.

Orange trees on campus!

Waiting for Grandfather

Thanks for reading!