Carla Macal studies the intersections between state violence and intergenerational healing.
Her book-in-progress, Healing Cartographies: GuateMaya Feminists Weaving Transformative Memory Across the Hemisphere, follows the oral and embodied testimonies of Guatemalan and Maya women survivors of the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War (1960-96) and their production of counter-cultural memory. Macal also is the creator of Ixoq Arte, a natural body care product created to preserve ancestral Indigenous knowledge. She comes to Occidental from UC San Diego, where she was a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Literature.
What attracted you to Occidental?
I taught as a visiting professor in Gender and Women’s Studies at Pomona College, so I've experienced firsthand small classroom sizes and the unique approach to mentorship in student-teacher relationships. When I first came to Occidental, not only did the beautiful campus attract me, but also this unique tradition of fostering student-teacher mentorship and the accessibility to the Los Angeles community. I was born in Guatemala but raised in Los Angeles. I was also attracted to the fact that I can still enjoy my hometown and step into a work environment where I can share my L.A. experience and knowledge with the student population.
How did you take an interest in critical theory and social justice, and in your specialty in particular?
My interest in critical theory and social justice comes from my academic background in sociology, social work, and geography. I am very much an interdisciplinary, first-generation scholar who has been curious about how systems of oppression generate social inequality. I am grateful to mentors like Rudy Torres (UCI), Laura Pulido (University of Oregon), and Victor Narro (UCLA), who supported me academically and have written extensively about inequality in Los Angeles, looking at the formation of settler colonialism and structural violence. My specialty lies in the intersections of anti-colonial feminisms and popular education pedagogies of Paulo Freire and bell hooks.
Can you talk about a favorite class you have taught (or are currently teaching) and what students can expect to take away from it?
During my first semester, I taught CTSJ 227: Decolonizing Education. This was a fun class where students engaged and learned about non-traditional methods like testimonio, body mapping, and counter-data. Students created a human-sized body map and individual body maps about their environment, home, and geographical location. It was great to see the participatory experiences this class engaged in and how students can apply these methods in their senior comps or other classes.
Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing in Los Angeles?
I love gardening! I try to garden every season. Right now, I am growing tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers to enjoy during late spring.