Doing the Public Good: Latina/o Scholars Engage Civic Participation

By: Kenneth P. Gonález and Raymond V. Padilla

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Synopsis: How can scholars reconnect themselves—and their students—to higher education’s historic but much diluted mission to work for the public good?Through the lenses of personal reflection and auto-ethnography—and drawing on such rich philosophical foundations as the Spanish tradition of higher learning, the holistic Aztec concept of education, the Hispanic notion of bien educado, and the activist principles of the Chicano movement–these writers explore the intersections of private and public good, and how the tension between them has played out in their own lives and the commitments they have made to their intellectual community, and to their cultural and family communities.Through often lyrical memoirs, reflections, and poetry, these authors recount their personal journeys and struggles—often informed by a spiritual connectedness and always driven by a concern for social justice—and show how they have found individual paths to promoting the public good in their classrooms, and in the world beyond.Contributors include: Jennifer Ayala; Dolores Delgado Bernal; Flora V Rodriguez-Brown; Kenneth P. Gonzales; Miguel Guajardo; Francisco Guajardo; Aida Hurtado; Maria A. Hurtado; Arcelia L. Hurtado, Raymond V. Padilla; Caroline Sotello Viernes Turner; and Luis Urrieta Jr.