The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies was one of the first in the nation dedicated to Mexican-American history and culture. The Department engages students in the interdisciplinary study of Chicana and Chicano history, culture, and politics. Gifts to the Department allow students to comprehensively explore Chicana/o experiences, informed by several philosophical and theoretical schools, historical and political scholarship, literary and religious traditions, artistic movements, mass media, and film.