Description:
This is an interview with former UW–Madison student Ramona Lisa Natera, who graduated from UW and earned a degree in Chican@ studies. Ramona’s interview provides commentary about the importance of the Chicano studies program to her academic studies and personal life. The first part is her experience with K-12 history and getting interested in Latin@ history, while the next two parts describe Ramona’s experience with the Chicano studies program and why it was both socially and intellectually important to her and other UW students.
Audio File:
Click Here to listen to segment one (6 mins).
Click Here to listen to segment two (4 mins).
Click Here to listen to segment three (3 mins).
Click Here to listen to all three segments (13 mins).
Click Here to view the interview transcript.
Discussion Questions:
What does this oral history reveal about being a member of both the UW and larger Madison community?
How does this oral history connect with broader histories of discrimination and resistance in both higher education and the United States?
What are the advantages and limitations of using oral histories? What challenges arise when selecting participants, generating questions, and sharing only certain segments of people’s stories?
Why was the Chican@ program so important for Lisa both intellectually and as Latin@ student at UW?
What did Ramona mean by “Racism in Madison was covert, in Texas it was out in the open.”?