Specialization:
Professional
Communication and Diversity Training
Diversity
in Course Curriculum Development Training
Hola, thank you for visiting!
In order to help the reader better understand my consultant qualifications for how to introduce diversity into course curriculum and for professional organizational communication development, I provide this introduction.
I was born into a migrant farm-laborer family in a small, mostly Chicano community in Oceano, California. I moved from working as a farm-laborer to working in frozen food packinghouses by the time I was 17 years old. While in the role of wife and mother, being ambitious, I set out to explore other employment opportunities. However, with only a high school diploma, other than service work, little opportunity for career advancement arose.
After only six years of marriage, a drunk-diver killed my husband, leaving me a single mother with two young children. In order to provide them with the necessities of life, I decided to seek legal secretary training. This led to jobs with various law firms, insurance companies, and, eventually, with the State of Maryland. Two years later I returned to California and became employed as an administrative assistant with Martin Marietta Aerospace. After the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1983, I eventually was laid off and equitable jobs were hard to find.
Realizing the only way to secure a future was to acquire a college degree, I enrolled at De Anza Community College in San Jose, California. Originally my intention was to become a reporter. However, in time, attending college turned into a quest for knowledge; it seemed I just could not get enough. This was true particularly when it came to exploring my roots, which was the impetus for seeking a B.A. in Latina American studies at California State University, Chico. Similarly, my pursuit of a PhD in communication studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder also directly related to my desire to assist in building bridges among people various cultural backgrounds.
During my studies at UCB, I discovered Chicana feminist theory and eventually learned how to merge cultural studies with communication studies. My area of expertise is Communication studies of organizational cultures. Courses I have taught within communication studies include: intercultural, professional, health, and organizational communication, as well as public speaking, small skills interaction, and society & communication. This semester I add a new course I developed to my repertoire: Media, Identity & Communication. Additionally, I teach a cultural anthropology course to students at Viterbo University, a private institution in La Crosse, Wisconsin. As has been the case over the last 15 years of teaching, the exploration of race, class, gender, disabilities, and sexual preference from a communication perspective permeate these courses.
Additionally, I have developed and presented workshops on incorporation of diversity in course curriculum to graduate students. Furthermore, I have developed and presented undergraduate, graduate, and faculty workshops with the intent of educating the participants on issues of diversity in academia and the workplace.
My dissertation study focuses on the identity negotiation of Latina Greek-letter organizational members. I have also published an article related to this topic and have other manuscripts under review. All of this research can be found on this website. My research was and continues to be conducted primarily through ethnographic and interpretive methods utilizing various theoretical approaches, such as borderland theorizing, standpoint theory, identity negotiation, and race theory. Through focusing on the communication aspects of identity formation, I have developed and/or adapted a multidisciplinary theoretical approach to the field of communication. As has been the case over the last 15
years of teaching, the exploration of race, class, gender, disabilities, and
sexual preference from a communication perspective permeate these courses.
Unfortunately, the literature in the communication field is limited in the area of race/ethnic studies and the role identity plays in workplace and social interaction. My work will help to fill this gap. Moreover, through my efforts to assist in building bridges by helping people of all walks of life better understand the “other,” I contribute, although in a small way, toward a more harmonious global society.
Sincerely,
Margarita Refugia Olivas
Dr. Margarita Refugia Olivas
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication Studies
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
Fax: (608) 785-6719
Page last updated on: March 19, 2008