Martha Gonzalez
Biography
Martha Gonzalez is a Chicana artivista (artist/activist) musician, feminist music theorist and Associate Professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies at Scripps/Claremont College. Born and raised in Boyle Heights Gonzalez has received various fellowships including a Fulbright Garcia-Robles, Ford Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson, USA Fellowship as well as the Mac Arthur Fellowship in 2022. Her academic interests have been fueled by her own musicianship as a singer/songwriter and percussionist for Grammy Award winning band Quetzal. The relevance of Quetzal’s music and lyrics have been noted in a range of publications, from dissertations to scholarly books. recording “Puentes Sonoros” (Sonic Bridges) was released on Smithsonian Folkways in the fall of 2020. Gonzalez along with her partner Quetzal Flores has been instrumental in catalyzing the transnational dialogue between Chicanx/Latinx communities in the U.S and Jarocho communities in Veracruz, Mexico and have been active in implementing the collective songwriting method in correctional facilities throughout the U.S. Most recently, Gonzalez’s tarima (stomp box) and zapateado dance shoes were acquired by the National Museum of American History and are on permanent display in the “One Nation Many Voices” exhibit. Gonzalez’s first manuscript Chican@ Artivistas: Music, Community, and Transborder Tactics in East Los Angeles was published by the University of Texas Press in 2020. Gonzalez currently serves as the Scripps Humanities Institute Director.
MacArthur Class of 2022
https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2022/martha-gonzalez#searchresults
Academic History
Education
2013 PhD. Feminist Studies (Chicana Studies Emphasis), Gender Women and Sexuality Studies, University of Washington, Seattle.
1999 B.A. Ethnomusicology, University of California, Los Angeles
1990-1993 Transfer. Pasadena City College. Pasadena, California.
Scholarly Positions
2013-2017 Assistant Professor. Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies, Scripps/Claremont College. Claremont, CA.
2018-2023 Associate Professor. Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies, Scripps/Claremont College. Claremont, CA.
2016-2019 Resident Artist. ASU The Gammage. Phoenix/Tempe, AZ.
2022-Present Director. Humanities Institute Scripps College. Claremont, CA.
ASSOCIATIONS/APPOINTMENTS
Smithsonian Folkways Records. Smithsonian Institute. Washington DC. Board Member.
American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Washington DC. Board of Trustees
Self-Help Graphics and Art. Los Angeles, CA. Board Member.
FanangObon. Los Angeles, CA. Founding Member
Women Who Rock. University of Washington Seattle, Co-founder.
American Folklore Society (AFS)
Society for the Study of Ethnomusicology (SEM)
National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS)
Mujeres Activas En Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS)
Academic Focus
AREAS OF SCHOLARLY INTERESTS
My research interests lie at the intersection of Chicana feminist theory, Chican@ music, transnational musical dialogues, Performance Studies and feminist development theory. These interests have been fueled by experience as an active music practitioner and transnational and local community organizer via East Los Angeles based rock group Quetzal.
Interests
2023 Scripps College Summer Research Fellowship
2022 Scripps Sabbatical Research Fellowship
2021 United States Artists (USA) Fellowship
2016-17 Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship. Year long funding for research and writing.
2016 5C’s Creativity and Innovation Initiative Grant Award. Towards the development of “Fandango as a DeColonial Tool” course. The Claremont Consortium, Claremont, CA. Fall.
2016 Latinos in the U.S. Funding towards student engagement and programming for “Chicano Moratorium “Herstory.” Collaboration with Grand Performances. Los Angeles, CA. Spring
2015 Digital Humanities at the Claremont Colleges (DH@CC) via the Mellon Foundation. Fellowship June 1-6. Claremont, CA. Summer.
2014 California Arts Council. “FandangObon” in collaboration with Great Leap Foundation. Los Angeles, CA. Fall.
2014 Professional Development Networks at the Claremont Colleges (PDN) in collaboration with Professors; Tomas Summers Sandoval (Pomona), Suyapa Portillo (Pitzer), Todd Honna (Pitzer), and Damien Sojoyner (Scripps). Claremont Colleges, Claremont CA. Fall.
Courses Taught
Selected Research and Publications
Publications
2023 Report Review forum. “Tending the Taproot.” Journal of American Foklore. Fall University of Illinois Press.
2022 “Convivencias and a Web of Care,” with Kevin Shorner-Johnson and Daniel John-Shevock. The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education. Fall.
2022 Book Review of MeXicana Fashions: Politics, Self Adornment, and Identity Construction. Edited by Aida Hurtado and Norma E. Cantu in the Journal of American Folklore Issue of: Vol. 135 No. 538 Fall 2022.
2021 Film Review for “Singing Our Way to Freedom” by Paul Espinoza for The Journal of Ethnomusicology.
2020 Chicana Artivistas: Community, Music and Transborder Tactics in East Los Angeles. University of Texas Press. Austin, TX.
2020 “Maña Magic: Chicana Feminist Praxis, In the Home, At Large and Behind Bars” for The Journal of Aztlan, University of California Press.
2017 Album Review for “Songs of Struggle and Hope” by Agustin Lira and Trio Alma for American Music Journal, University of Illinois Press.
2017 “Los Lobos: From Radio to Experience” in Good Morning Aztlan. Mexico City, MX. Resistencia Editorial.
2018 “‘Coyote Hustle’: Street Vendors and Gentrification in Boyle Heights.” Santa Barbara, CA. Kalfou (Spring).
2017 “Fandango as a De-colonial Tool” for Saving Our Own Lives: Queer, Radical, and Feminist Voices of Color Third Women Press, Inaugural Edition (forthcoming).
2017 “Caminos y Canciones in the City of Los Angeles.” In The Tide Was Always High for Pacific Standard Time LA/LA ed. Josh Kun. University of California Press.
2017 “The Bees, The Honey, The Humanity” Mujeres de Maiz. Third Woman Press. (forthcoming).
Awards and Honors
Honors and Awards
2022 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow. CA.
2021 Scripps College Research Fellowship. Claremont, CA.
2020 United States Artist (USA). Recipient in Music. Los Angeles
2018 Scripps Faculty Award (Teaching). Scripps College. Claremont, CA.
2016-17 Mary Johnson Wig Award (Research). Scripps College. Claremont, CA.
2017 National Museum of American History, memorialization of tarima and zapateado shoes (my personal musical instruments/artifacts) for the Homelife Exhibit: “One Nation Many Voices” at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.
2017 “Artivist Award,” Contra Tiempo Urban Dance Company. Culver City CA.
2017 “Artivista Award” Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural, Sylmar, CA.
2015-16 Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship. Claremont, CA.
2016 Ford Post Doctoral Fellowship. Waiting List.
2015 Digital Humanities @ The Claremont Colleges (DH@CC) Summer Institute Fellow. Claremont, CA.
2015 Ford Post-Doctoral Fellowship. Honorable Mention.
2015 “Mujer de Paz Award,” East Los Angeles Women’s Center (ELAWC). Los Angeles, California.
2014-2015 Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow, Dana and David Dornsife College of Arts and Sciences. University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
2014 California Endowment for the Arts, Quetzal Honored for 20 years of Arts Service to the City of Los Angeles, CA.
2013 “Ruben Salazar Award” by Inner City Struggle (Quetzal). October, 13. Los Angeles CA.
2013 Encuentro de Jaraneros, “Por su difusión y trayectoria del Son Jarocho” (for efforts and musical trajectory in the son jarocho genre). October, 2. Los Angeles, CA.
2012-2013 Arts and Sciences Graduate Dissertation Deans Medal Award, University of Washington, Seattle.
2012-2013 Grammy Award for Best Latin/Alternative or Urban Rock Album, “Imaginaries” by Quetzal (Singer, Composer, Percussionist).
2012-2012 Mellon Foundation John E. Sawyer Seminar on the Comparative Study of Cultures. Entre Mujeres Talk and Demonstration.
2012-2013 Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship.
2012-2013 University of Washington Vice-President for Minority Affairs and Vice Provost for Diversity Community Building Award.
2012-2013 Declared “Cultural Treasure of Boyle Heights” by Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and Building Healthy Communities.
2011-2012 Doman Award for Excellence in Teaching, Gender Women Sexuality Studies Department.
2011-2010 Departmental Service Award, Gender Women Sexuality Studies Department for Women Who Rock: Making Scenes, Building Communities Research Project.
2010-2009 Departmental Service Award, Women Studies Department for Women of Color Collective (WOCC).
2008-2009 Graduate Top Scholar Award. The Graduate School, University of Washington Seattle.
2008-2012 Bank of America Endowed Scholar Fellowship. University of Washington Graduate Opportunity Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP) First and fourth year of guaranteed funding.
2007-2008 Fulbright Fellowship Garcia-Robles. Entre Mujeres: Transnational Feminine Composition. Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.