College of Arts and Sciences

Ximena López Carrillo

 

Dissertation on “Chicano Psychology and the Politics of Liberation in the 1970s"
Dissertation on “Chicano Psychology and the Politics of Liberation in the 1970s"
A Fall 2019 recipient of the Edward Guiliano ‘78 Global Fellowship Program, Ximena López Carrillo, a PhD candidate in the Department of History, traveled to the US west coast to carry out research at Stanford and Brigham Young Universities. Ximena’s archival surveys and interviews conducted will contribute to her dissertation, “Chicano Psychology and the Politics of Liberation in the 1970s.” Ximena’s experience was made possible by the support of the Guiliano Global Fellowship, a program that provides students with the opportunity to broaden their perspectives by engaging with the world beyond Stony Brook University and their local communities.

At Stanford University, Ximena met with Amado Padilla, a leader in the field of Mexican American psychology and a figure of central importance for Ximena’s dissertation. Critical of the lack of opportunities for Mexican Americans to enter graduate programs in psychology, and of the limited number of courses focusing on minority mental health across the United States, Padilla worked to pluralize the field of American psychology and was eventually named the director of the Spanish Speaking Mental Health Research Center (SSMHRC), serving in that capacity from 1964 to 1984. 

“My interview with Amado Padilla helped me identify more subjects who participated in the reform process; the main problems in IQ and standardized testing practices in American universities; and the SSMHRC’s central role in diversifying American psychology,” Ximena said. The interview led Ximena to Padilla’s personal papers and the SSMHRC’s administrative papers located in the Stanford Special Collections Library, as well as research reports, flyers, conference organization papers, and study of college acceptance rates of Mexican American students, among other topics - all valuable in her research. 

Ximena also spent time at Stanford reviewing the files of Alfredo Castañeda, one of the first Mexican American psychologists to obtain a permanent position at an American University. Castañeda’s records provided valuable insights into the process of creating the first professional networks of Mexican American psychologists, as well as evidence of the overlap between Castañeda’s efforts and the wider goals of the Mexican American and Chicano movements of the 1970s.

Next, Ximena traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, where she visited the Register of the Counseling Psychology and Special Education Department Files, 1968-1991 at Brigham Young University. There, she consulted the administrative archives to explore how standardized testing reform impacts university practices. “Brigham Young University is relevant because Salt Lake City has a large Mexican American population and the university has a decent acceptance rate of Mexican American students,” Ximena said. 

Ximena’s trip proved to be enormously valuable both personally and professionally. “I would like to express my immense gratitude to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Edward Guiliano ’78 PhD, Global Fellowship Program for their support to continue with my dissertation research,” she said. “I consider myself extremely lucky to receive such financial support and I look forward to incorporating all the collected materials into my doctoral dissertation and future publications.”