Title: Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies & Faculty-in-Residence for Hispanic Serving Institute Initiatives in the Office of the Provost at San José State University
Tenured: Yes
Age: 40
Education: B.A., sociology, emphasis in community studies, University of California, Santa Cruz; Ph.D., sociology, emphasis in Black studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Career mentors: Christine Rodriguez, J.D., East Los Angeles College; Dr. Larry Trujillo, UC Santa Cruz; Dr. George Lipsitz, UC Santa Barbara; Dr. Magdalena Barrera, San José State University
Words of wisdom/advice for new faculty: ”Start with what you know to learn what you don’t know. Start with where you’re at to get to where you want to go.” – Kalamu ya Salaam, poet, activist, and educator
The first sentence of his bio on the San José State University website reads, “[Dr.] Jonathan D. Gomez is a Chicano scholar and poet.” The third sentence
Dr. Jonathan D. Gomez
That explains quite a bit about Gomez’s scholarship, teaching methods and service.
Dr. Anne Marie Todd, Dean of the College of Social Sciences, says Gomez’s research “provides the foundation for his teaching and service . . . that embodies his goals of rigorous social science inquiry and community engagement through respectful relationship building.”
In his own description of his various projects, Gomez often mentions those same terms: community engagement and building relationships. For example, he founded and facilitates the Culture Counts Reading Series, a bi-weekly poetry reading, writing and discussion workshop featuring works by San José poets.
“We use poetry as a vehicle to build relationships with community members,” Gomez explains. “Right now, we have a wonderful collaboration with the Santa Clara County Public Defenders’ Office where we invite people who are ‘system impacted’—who have had experience with the criminal legal system—to share their stories and to re-story their lives with poetry.”
