Carlos Cordova, Ed.D.
Professor Emeritus
Faculty Biography
- B.A., Sociology, San Francisco State University
- M.A., Anthropology, San Francisco State University
- Ed.D., Multicultural Education, University of San Francisco
1977-2021
Traditional Indigenous Shamanism and Medical Practices in Mexico and Central America. Extensive research conducted in the field with Shamans in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua since 1972. Extensive research conducted in the field with Shamans in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua since 1972.
Latin American and Latino Art and Muralism. Extensive research done in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean on art and muralism. Active participation in the Artistic community in the Mission District in San Francisco. Founding Member, former Board of Directors member of the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Active participation in the Artistic community in the Mission District in San Francisco. Founding Member, former Board of Directors member of the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco.
Traditional Afro-Caribbean Spirituality. Extensive research conducted in Cuba and Puerto Rico with religious specialists in the areas of Lucumí (Santería) and Espiritismo traditions. Research study on the Afro Caribbean religions in Cuba. Field research conducted in Havana and Matanzas. Initiated into the Lucumí spiritual path in San Francisco, California in 1978. Initiated as a Lucumí priest at the Ilé Obá Tolá in Matanzas, Cuba on July 20, 1999.
May 2014 - May 2022
Lead researcher/ historian/ team leader. Responsible for the research and writing of the 500-page San Francisco Latino Context Statement: Nuestra Historia: Documenting the Chicano, Latino, and Indígena Contributions to the Development of San Francisco. A project funded to the San Francisco Latino Historical Society and San Francisco Heritage by the City of San Francisco’s Historic Preservation Fund Committee, this citywide historic context statement will document Latino history as it pertains to the physical and cultural landscape of San Francisco and will offer recommendations on how best to preserve and maintain architectural, cultural, and historical resources important to Latino communities.
Co-Founder of the San Francisco Latino Historical Society. In charge of Cultural and Historical Research in the Mission District in San Francisco, California. 2012.
Oral History Research Team Leader. San Francisco Latino Historical Society and San Francisco Heritage.
May 2013-November 2013
Oral history research team leader in charge of training 16 high school and college students on conducting oral history interviews with merchants, long-time residents and community leaders on 24th Street in San Francisco. The students used their smart phones to record the interviews and were organized into teams of 3 interviewers. Research leader was in charge of writing a narrative based on personal experiences, interview findings and other existing historical records that resulted in the publication: Calle 24 Cuentos del Barrio- A Self -Guided Walking Tour of 24th Street in San Francisco.
August 1996 - July 1998
Phase II of a research study of the transnational cultural experiences of Guatemalan and Salvadoran communities in California and Central America. Extensive ethnographic interviews with Central Americans living in San Francisco and Los Angeles in regards to acculturation and contacts in home countries. Analysis of the impact of the transnational cultural experiences of sending communities in Guatemala and El Salvador. Research conducted in urban and rural communities by FLACSO in Guatemala and FUNDE in El Salvador. Project funded by the Ford Foundation. Research conducted in collaboration with Nora Hamilton, University of Southern California; Norma Chinchilla, California State University Long Beach; and Susanne Jonas, University of California Santa Cruz.
March - September 1995
Statistical research on the topic of Latino Populations in the United States. Analysis of data available from the Bureau of the Census, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and other sources. Research sponsored by the Bureau of the Census, the National Association of Hispanic Publishers (NAHP), and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). The final product was a book published in January 1996, entitled "Latinos: Diverse Populations in a Multicultural Society" written in collaboration with Jorge del Pinal and published by NAHP.
September 1994-1998
Research consultant and executive committee member of the Central American Strategic Planning Project funded by the Vesper Society for Institutional Planning, Oakland, California. Analysis of the present status of Salvadoran communities in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, and Boston. Analysis of issues related to immigration, education, political empowerment, health, economic development, and community organizing.
August 1994 - December 1995
Phase I of a research study of the attitudes of Guatemalans and Salvadorans living in San Francisco and Los Angeles in regards to a return migration to their native countries. Research conducted in collaboration with Nora Hamilton, University of Southern California; Norma Chinchilla, California State University Long Beach; and Susanne Jonas, University of California Santa Cruz.
- RAZA 280: Acculturation Issues of La Raza
- RAZA 320: Art History of La Raza
- LTNS 435: Oral History and Traditions
- LTNS 460: Central Americans in the U.S.
- LTNS 680: Community Organizing
- RAZA 470: Immigration Issues and La Raza
- LTNS 450: Indigenismo: Indigenous Culture and Personality
- LTNS 440: Caribbean Cultures and Spirituality.
August 1996 - May 2001: Grant awarded $85,000 from the Ford Foundation for the research study of "Transnational Communities in Central America and California". Award received with Nora Hamilton, University of Southern California; Norma Chinchilla, California State University Long Beach; and Susanne Jonas, University of California Santa Cruz.
August 1994 - July 1996: Grant awarded $50,000 from the North/South Center at the University of Miami for the research study of attitudes of Guatemalans and Salvadorans living in San Francisco and Los Angeles in regards to a return migration to their native countries. Award received with Nora Hamilton, University of Southern California; Norma Chinchilla, California State University Long Beach; and Susanne Jonas, University of California Santa Cruz.
January 2012- Present
Co-Founder of the San Francisco Latino Historical Society. In charge of Cultural and Historical Research of the Mission District in San Francisco, California. 2012.
Oral History Research Team Leader. San Francisco Latino Historical Society and San Francisco Heritage.
Lead researcher/ historian/ team leader. Responsible for the research and writing of the 500-page San Francisco Latino Context Statement: Nuestra Historia: Documenting the Chicano, Latino, and Indígena Contributions to the Development of San Francisco. A project funded to the San Francisco Latino Historical Society and San Francisco Heritage by the City of San Francisco’s Historic Preservation Fund Committee, this citywide historic context statement will document Latino history as it pertains to the physical and cultural landscape of San Francisco and will offer recommendations on how best to preserve and maintain architectural, cultural, and historical resources important to Latino communities.
May 2013-November 2013
Oral history research team leader in charge of training 16 high school and college students on conducting oral history interviews with merchants, old time residents and community leaders on 24th Street in San Francisco. The students used their smart phones to record the interviews and were organized into teams of 3 interviewers. Research leader was in charge of writing a narrative based on personal experiences, interview findings and other existing historical records that resulted in the publication: Calle 24 Cuentos del Barrio- A Self -Guided Walking Tour of 24th Street in San Francisco.
May 1997-May 2001
Chairperson of “El Corazon,” the Latino component of the American Heart Association in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Member of the State-wide Latino Task Force, American Heart Association.
June 1991- September 1993
Member of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Arts at the Yerba Buena Gardens Center. San Francisco, CA. Representative of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
October 1989-October 1990
President of the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies (PCCLAS). An international association of Latin American scholars and researchers. Program Chair for the 36th Annual Meeting of PCCLAS held in San Francisco, Oct. 25-28, 1990.
September 1987-1999
Member of the Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies (PCCLAS). An international association of Latin American scholars and researchers. Elected as the association's vice-president in January 1989.
Member of the executive council of CODICES, Center for the Investigation and Documentation of El Salvadorean Culture. San Francisco Chapter of an international organization.
Calle 24. Cuentos del Barrio: Self-Guided Walking Tour. San Francisco: San Francisco Heritage. 2013.
The Salvadoran Americans, in Ron Bayor (Ed) Multicultural America: Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport, CT. 2009.
The New Americans: The Salvadoran Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. 2005.
“Interview with Daniel Flores Ascencio- Analysis of the film Ama: Memory of Time and the 1932 Revolution in El Salvador”. BOMB Magazine. Winter 2004/2005. No. 90, pp. 26-31. New York.
Central American Mental Health Intervention Strategies. Written with Felix S. Kury. In Alberto Lopez (Ed.) Latino Mental Health Perspectives in the United States. National Institute of Mental Health. October 2001.
Central American and South American Populations in the United States, in Our Multicultural Society: American Ethnic Groups. Elliott Barkan (Ed.) Written with Raquel Rivera-Pinderhughes. (Spring 1999).
"Living in the U.S.A.: Central American Immigrant Communities in the U.S." in Rivera, F. and J. Erlich (Eds.) 3rd Edition, Community Organizing in a Diverse Society. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, (Fall 1997).
"Hispanics-Latinos: Diverse Populations in a Multicultural Society- A Special Report" with Jorge del Pinal. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census/National Association of Hispanic Publishers. January 1996.
"The Social, Cultural and Religious Experiences of Central American Immigrants in the United States" in Pineda, A. M. and R. Schreiter (Eds.) Dialogue Rejoined: Theology and Ministry in the United States: Hispanic Reality. Lithurgical Press (1995).
"Organizing in Central American Immigrant Communities in the U.S." (revised version) in Rivera, F. and J. Erlich (Eds.) 2nd Edition, Community Organizing in a Diverse Society. Boston:Allyn and Bacon, (1995).
"Organizing in Central American Immigrant Communities in the U.S." in Rivera, F. and J. Erlich (Eds.) Community Organizing in a Diverse Society. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1992.
“The Mission District: The ethnic diversity of the Latin American enclave in San Francisco, California.” Journal of La Raza Studies. Vol. 2, No.1, Summer/Fall 1989.
Editor, CIPACTLI - A Faculty/Student Journal. Instructionally Related Activities project. Vol. 2, No. 1 Fall 1989.
Editor, CIPACTLI - A Faculty/Student Journal. Instructionally Related Activities project. Vol. I, Nos. 1 and 2. Fall 1988.
Editor, Journal of La Raza Studies, Vol. I, No.1 Fall 1987.
Undocumented El Salvadoreans: Migration and adaptation dynamics. Journal of La Raza Studies, Vol. I, No. 1, Fall 1987.
Carlos Texca- “A photo/ethnographic exhibit” catalog. San Francisco: Galeria Museo, Mission Cultural Center. January 1980.
"El Salvador - A photographic essay." Amnesty International Publications. New York/London. December 1978.
“Espanto: A supernatural illness in Mesoamerica”. Tin Tan Magazine. Vol. 3, No. 6. San Francisco, Ca: Editorial Pocho Che. October 1977.
“San Salvador: An exclusive report on the 1977 elections”. El Pulgarcito newspaper. Vol. 2, No. 15. San Francisco, Ca. May 1977.
“Estudios sobre la Prueba del Puro”. Tin Tan Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2. San Francisco, CA: Editorial Pocho Che. September 1975.
Invited by the Cuautla City Government as a guest artist to design and build a large size altar ofrenda for the Day of the Dead ceremonies at the Emiliano Zapata Mausoleum in the city of Cuautla, Morelos, Mexico. The event marked the first time that an altar offering was made at the place where Emiliano Zapata and 12 other leaders of the 1912 Mexican Revolution are buried. October/November 2013.
Spanish language Audio Tour of the exhibit "Aztec Art", Denver Museum of Art. Antenna Theatre/Garuda Productions. 1992.
Spanish language Audio Tour of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Route. Dallas Texas. Antenna Theatre/Garuda Productions. 1992.
Spanish language Editor of Shift Magazine. An Avant-Garde arts magazine in San Francisco with international distribution. 3 issues in 1991, 2 issues in 1992.
Co-Director and producer of the educational film of the exhibit: Splendors of Thirty Centuries of Mexican Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Antonio Museum of Art; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 1991. Film length 20 minutes.
Editor, CIPACTLI- A Faculty/Student Journal. Instructionally Related Activities project. Vol. 3, No. 1 Fall 1991.
Recorded audio tour of the exhibit "Splendors of Thirty Centuries of Mexican Art". The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Antenna Theatre/Garuda Productions. 1991.
Co-Director, Co-Producer, photographer for the educational multi-image exhibit and educational video for the art exhibit entitled "Thirty Centuries of Mexican Art". The David Inocencio Studio. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas; and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Translation from English to Spanish of the Art book/catalogue of Rupert Garcia's exhibit "Cara a Cara". Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Editor, Journal of La Raza Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, Summer/Fall 1989.
A Guided Tour of the San Francisco Bay Model. Sausalito, Ca. Narrator in the Spanish language Audio Tour of the Bay Model. Project coordinated by the Antenna Theater. September 1989.
Hispanic Art in the United States. Narrator in the audio guided tour of the traveling exhibit of Hispanic art organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Project coordinated by the Antenna Theater. January 1989.
A Guided Tour of Alcatraz Island in Spanish. Narrator in the Audio-Tour of Alcatraz Prison. Project coordinated by Antenna Theater. November 1988.
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