Education

• B.A. English, University of California - Los Angeles, 6/1972
• M.A. Comparative Literature, University of California - Los Angeles, 6/1974
• Ph.D. Comparative Literature, University of California - Los Angeles, 6/1980




Postdoctoral Training

• Visiting Professor of English, University of Texas at Austin, 1983-1984   



Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Tenure Track Appointments

• Associate Professor of English, University of Southern California, 09/1979-  



Visiting and Temporary Appointments

• Visiting Professor, The University of Kansas, 1988-1989   
• Visiting Professor of English and Chicano Fellows Program, Stanford University, 1986-1987   



PostDoctoral Appointments

• Visiting Professor of English, The University of Texas at Austin, 1983-1984   



Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Professor McKenna studies 20th-century American literature, comparative literature (politics and the novel), literatures of the Americas in cross-cultural perspective, Chicano and Chicana literature of the 20th century, Third World women in literature. Throughout her career, she has researched the study of literature and cultural theory, literature and psychoanalysis, literature and politics, and gender issues. Chicano/Latino Studies; American Studies; Feminist Theory; Race and Representation

Research Keywords

chicano and latino studies, american studies, feminist theory, race and representation, literature and psychoanalysis, literature and cultural theory, gender issues

Research Specialties

(Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1980) Associate Professor of English and ASE: Chicano/a and Latino/a literature; 20th century American literature and culture; ethnic American literature; gender and race.



Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions

• Tomas Rivera Center, Postdoctoral Fellow



Conferences and Other Presentations




Conference Presentations

• "Bringing 'Las Americas' Back Into the American Classroom", National Council of Teachers of English, Keynote Lecture, Paper, University of San Francisco, Invited, 2002-2003   
• "Reflections on the Chicano Movement: A Memoir", The Chicano Movement: A Retrospective, Lecture/Seminar, Paper, University of California Riverside, Invited, 2002-2003   
• "The Obsidian Mirror:Claiming the Stranger's Face in Chicano/Latino Studies", Lecture/Seminar, Paper, The University of Texas at Austin, The Department of English and Center for Mexican A, Invited, Fall 1997   
• "The Feast of Time:Politics and the Comic in Rolando Hinojosa's "Klail City Death Trip Series"", The Rolando Hinojosa Symposium, Lecture/Seminar, Paper, Invited, Spring 1997   
• "Migrant Song: Continuity and Change in Chicana/o Literature and Art", Redescubriendo Nuestra Historia, Mexican Los Angeles, 1781-1996, Lecture/Seminar, Paper, Los Angeles, California, Mexican Consulate and City of Los Angeles, Invited, Spring 1996   
• "Issues in Latino/Hispanic Literature: Regionalism and Multiethnicity in U.S. Literature", American Studies Institute, Lecture/Seminar, University of California Los Angeles, Invited, Spring 1994   
• "Estoy Bailando: Pat Mora's Border Aesthetics", American Literature Association, Lecture/Seminar, Refereed Paper, San Antonio, Texas, Fall 1993   
• "Roses are [not] Rosas: Chicano Movement Rhetoric Counters Modernism in "The Ballad of Billy Rivera," by Juan Gomez-Quinones", American Studies Association, Lecture/Seminar, Refereed Paper, Boston, Massachusetts, Fall 1993   
• "Politics, Process and Pedagogy: Walking the Thin Line of Difference in Multicultural Theory and Practice", Conference on Ethnic Studies, Lecture/Seminar, Pennsylvania State University, Invited, Spring 1993   
• "The CARA Exhibition Project: A Case Study of Collaboration on the Arts", European American Studies Association, Lecture/Seminar, Refereed Paper, Seville, Spain, 1991-1992   
• "Ballads and Balladeers: The Corrido Tradition and the Construction of Gendered Narrative Voice in Two Chicano Poems", Meetings of the Society for the Study of Narrative Literature, Lecture/Seminar, Refereed Paper, Nice, France, Spring 1991   
• "Engendering the BorderL Towards a Chicana Aesthetic", Lecture/Seminar, Paper, Stanford University, Invited, Spring 1991   



Other Presentations

• "Chicano Art Collectors Anonymous Exhibition: Perspective", Scholars Convocation, The Getty Research Center, Los Angeles, California, Fall 2000   




Service to the University

Administrative Appointments

• Director, Chicano/Latino Studies, 09/2000-08/2004  
• Director (Iterim), Program in American Studies and Ethnicity, 2002-2003   
• Chair, Department of English, 07/1993-08/1998  
• Director, Chicano/Latino Studies, 09/1994-08/1995  

Committees

• Member, Executive Committee, Department of English, 2007-2008   



Service to the Profession

Administrative Appointments

• Executive Committee and Editorial Committee, 09/1988-08/1991  



Committees

• Member, Executive Committee, Department of English, 2009-2010   
• Chair, Search Committee, Ethnic Literatures, 2007-2008   
• Member, Executive Committee, Program in American Studies and Ethnicity, 2006-2007   
• Chair, Selection Committee, Mellon Postoctoral Fellow, Spring 2007   



Conferences Organized

• Planning Committee Member, Redescubriendo Nuestra Historia/Mexican Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, Conference on Mexican/Chicano History and the Arts, 09/1994-07/2000  
• Member, Planning Committee, American Studies Association, Miami , Conference on Race, Ethnicity and Gender, 1987-1988   



Editorships and Editorial Boards

• Co-Editor, Aztlan: International Journal of Chicano Studies, 09/1970-09/1985  



Professional Memberships

• American Studies Association, 09/2006-09/2009  



Review Panels

• Ford Foundation, Humanities Panel, 09/1990-06/2004  



Reviewer for Publication

• SIGNS, Chicana/Latina literature, 1988-1989   
• PMLA, Modern Language Association, Chicano/Latino Literature, 09/1988-07/1989  
• The Norton Anthology of American Literature, The Modern Language Association, Chicano/Latino Literature, 1987-1988   



Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

• Board of Directors, Latino Museum of History, Art and Culture, 09/1999-09/2005  
• Scholar Consultant, "!Chicano!" A Documentary History of the Chicano Movement, 09/1993-06/1996  
• Chair, Executive Committee, CARA: Chicano Art, Resistance and Affirmation, An Interpretive Exhibition of Chicano Art, 09/1988-07/1990  



Other Service to the Profession

• Ford Foundation Liaison, 09/1999-  



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