Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Abstract
This paper uses Critical Race Theory and LatCrit terminology, analytical approaches, and discursive conventions, including autobiographical narratives. From their inception, names are embedded with meaning and coded with identity, and over time, they become layered with nuance and memory. We divide this article into three sections, Part I is a brief overview of recent commentaries in newspapers and public radio related to names, particularly as they pertain to identity and specifically to Latinas/os. Part II is a description of how Professor Irene Vasquez has used Name Narratives in the undergraduate classroom to help students deepen their understanding of their cultural heritage and augment their mental toolbox, a metaphor illustrating the concept of cognitive diversity. Part III examines how Diana and Jeannette have used the Name Narrative tool in the educational pipeline programs for the health professions. Name stories introduce elements of Cultural and Linguistic Competence, a set of communication and interpersonal tools that are taught to health professionals to address racial and ethnic health disparities and thereby improve health outcomes.
Publication Title
California Western Law Reivew
Volume
48
First Page
417
Keywords
Critical Race Theory, Name Narrative, Naming, Identity, LatCrit, Narrative, Cognitive diversity, cultural and linguistic competence, racial health disiparities, ethnic health disiparities
Recommended Citation
Margaret E. Montoya, Irene Morris Vasquez & Diana V. Martinez,
Name Narratives: A Tool for Examining and Cultivating Identify,
48
California Western Law Reivew
417
(2014).
Available at:
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/43
