Fowler Museum exhibition explores 40 years of ethnic studies at UCLA

Ethnic studies emerged as an intellectual movement in the wake of societal transformations associated with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. In the later years of that decade, with civil unrest growing over the Vietnam War and the emergence of global and local struggles for self-determination and equality, UCLA faculty, students, staff and community members pressured the university to institute an ethnic studies program that would reflect the presence, history and contributions of underrepresented groups on campus. In response, Chancellor Charles E. Young guided the establishment of four distinct ethnic studies centers in 1969 to foster study and research concerning African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Chicanos and their respective communities. Since then, UCLA and the centers have played a key role in our nation's continual struggle with diversity, access and inclusion. "Art, Activism, Access: 40 Years of Ethnic Studies at UCLA," on display at the Fowler Museum at UCLA from Feb. 28 through June 13, explores the campus's role in voicing the most significant issues of underrepresented communities within the fabric of American life. The exhibition's lively display of murals, graphic art, films, photographs and ephemera from the archives of UCLA's American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, Chicano Studies Research Center and other campus collections captures key moments in this remarkable history and showcases the centers' four decades of campus and community activism.