The Latinx Auto-Ethnography Podcast Project
A project that explored how Latinx undergraduate students at UC Berkeley dealt with the COVID-19 Pandemic
A podcast project produced by the Center for the Critical Study of the Health of Latinx Communities under the auspices of Latinx Research Center and the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues.
Created and Produced by Dr. Clara Mantini-Briggs and Professor Charles L. Briggs
Director and Co-Director of the Center for the Critical Study of the Health of Latinx Communities
About
In this podcast, our aim was to demonstrate that health is not an isolated fact of the daily economic, geographic, socio-environmental, and academic challenges. To make clear that these aspects of daily life influence the health of the Latinx population in general, and especially, in the community of first-generation Latinx undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley.
Why this podcast is important
The higher infection and death rates in the COVID-19 pandemic within Latinx communities was widely reported in the media. Lost in waves of statistics and generalizations about essential workers were two things: One is how the pandemic greatly increased other inequities among lower-income Latinx families. Another is the voices of Latinx youth themselves regarding their own pandemic experiences.
Left to Right: Brandon Rubio, Dr. Clara Mantini Briggs, Daniel Márquez
Left to Right: Giselle Rosales and Brandon Rubio
In dialogue with Daniel Márquez, two current and former UC Berkeley undergraduates, Giselle Rosales and Brandon Rubio describe the impact of COVID-19 on their daily lives. Each student describes how while trying to fulfill their dreams they faced daily inequities that negatively influenced their success, their physical and mental health, as well as the wellbeing of their families and communities. Between their life at UC Campus, returning to their home during lockdown, and coming back to campus, these undergraduate students describe a tremendous and challenging experience balancing the workload of a University of California Berkeley student while living at home. They made a humongous effort to balance the pandemic situation that put their dream, the love for their families, their solidarity to their friends and their surrounded community on the line. With these stories, they demonstrated their strength and will to achieve their dreams. They embody our dream of a more equitable and just future.
Their auto-ethnographic testimonies are of paramount importance for the community of Latinx students at UC Berkeley because it mirrors the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of Latinx families, households, students, as well as society more broadly.
Left to Right: Professor Charles Briggs, Dr. Abraham Ramírez, Professor Raymond Telles
Technical Team
Technical Lead: Daniel Márquez (B.A. Political Science and First-Gen College Student)
Credits
Así somos! Trabajamos para ustedes!
Producers: Dr. Clara Mantini-Briggs, MD, MPD and Professor Charles L. Briggs, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology (UC Berkeley), Co-Directors of the Center for the Critical Study of the Health of Latinx Communities
Production Consultant: Dr. Raymond Telles, Associate Adjunct Professor of Ethnic Studies (UC Berkeley) and an award-winning documentary filmmaker.
Student Participants: Brandon Rubio (B.A. in Ethnic Studies and Political Science) and Gisselle Rosales (UCB Public Health, graduating in 2023)
Technical Lead: Dr. Abraham Ramírez, Postdoctoral Fellow for the UC Berkeley Latinx Research Center
Audio Editor and Engineer: Ernesto García Rosas