In 2021, Assistant Professor of Asian-Pacific Studies Mary Talusan Lacanlale saw two long-term projects that examine Philippine history through a musical lens come to fruition. Her book Instruments of Empire: Filipino Musicians, Black Soldiers, and Military Band Music during U.S. Colonization of the Philippines was published in August. That same month also saw the release of a CD she co-produced for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Kulintang Kultura: Danongan Kalanduyan & Gong Music of the Philippine Diaspora. In recognition of Lacanlale's scholarship and creative projects, she is receiving the 2022 Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award. The award ... Read More
History
CSUDH Professor Wins Prestigious NEH Award
CSUDH Professor of History Bianca Murillo has received a 2022 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship through the Awards for Faculty program for her next book, Financing Africa's Future: A Socio-Economic History of Ghana, 1950-1980. The highly competitive NEH faculty awards support advanced humanities research by scholars at Historically Black Colleges, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. A total of 25 grants were awarded nationally. This is Murillo's second major project involving Ghana–her first book, Market Encounters: Consumer Cultures in Twentieth-Century Ghana was published in 2017. That book traced the evolution of consumerism in the ... Read More
CSUDH Professor’s New Book Explores a Filipino Military Band’s Connection to U.S. Colonialism and Her Own Family History
In her new book, Instruments of Empire: Filipino Musicians, Black Soldiers, and Military Band Music during U.S. Colonization of the Philippines, CSUDH Assistant Professor of Asian-Pacific Studies Mary Talusan Lacanlale doesn't just reveal the hidden history of the Philippine Constabulary Band–she uncovers some of her own family history, as well. The Philippine Constabulary Band, a group of Filipino musicians originally formed in 1902, toured the world for several decades to great acclaim, but they also helped to convince audiences that the American colonization of the Philippines was worthwhile and just. The band dissolved at the outset of World War II, and its history was all but ... Read More
Japanese American Digitization Project Wins National Archivist Award
The CSUDH Gerth Archives and Special Collections' ongoing CSU Japanese American Digitization Project (CSUJAD) is an ambitious effort that preserves the history of California's Japanese American communities, particularly those lost or uprooted during World War II. In recognition of the project's scope and success, the CSUJAD has been awarded the 2021 Philip M. Hamer and Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Award from the Society of American Archivists. “It's really heartening to be recognized,” says Greg Williams, director of the Gerth Archives and principal investigator for CSUJAD. “The award illustrates and recognizes the breadth and depth of the CSUJAD archives and the hard work of our entire team ... Read More
Matthew Luckett’s Book Explores Horse Stealing on the Western Great Plains
Riffling through dusty files in an old shed behind a courthouse in Chadron, Nebraska, External Master's in Humanities academic coordinator Matthew Luckett scanned ledgers and criminal case files that had not been touched in decades. He was looking for horse thieves as part of his research for his book "Never Caught Twice: Horse Stealing in Western Nebraska, 1850-1890." The book, published by the University of Nebraska Press, documents the widely misunderstood crime in American mythology of horse stealing, revealing that it was perpetrated by four main Western Plains groups whose crimes inadvertently transformed plains culture and settlement. For some, violence was the solution for ... Read More
