William Anthony Nericcio, aka Memo, is a

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

literary theorist Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...

cultural critic A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole. Cultural criticism has significant overlap with social and cultural theory. While such criticism is simply part of the self-consciousness of the culture, the social positions of ...

American Literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also in ...

scholar, and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. Currently Director of th
Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences
program, he is the author of the award-winning
Tex[t]-Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America
'' ''The Hurt Business: Oliver Mayer's Early Works Plus'', and ''Homer From Salinas: John Steinbeck's Enduring Voice for the Californias''. Nericcio is also a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, creating book covers, film posters, and websites, most notably for SDSU Press and Hyperbole Books, where he oversees the production of cultural studies tomes. His Text-Mex Gallery blog investigates the pathological interrogation of Mexican, Latina/o, Chicana/o, "Hispanic," Mexican-American, and Latin American

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

, political, and cultural issues. He is also the curator of the text-image exhibition entitled “MEXtasy,” which has been displayed at numerous institutions, including University of Michigan and South Texas College. Currently working on his follow-up book to ''Tex Mex, Eyegiene: Permutations of Subjectivity in the Televisual Age of Sex and Race,'' his most recent publication is ''Talking #browntv: Latinas and Latinos on the Screen,'' co-authored with

Frederick Luis Aldama Frederick Luis Aldama is an American academic, known for this work as the Jacob & Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, founder and director of the Latinx Pop Lab, and Affiliate Faculty in Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas, Austi ...

, for the Ohio State University Press.

Life and education

William Anthony Nericcio was born in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the Flag of th ...

, but with ancestry that hails from General Téran and

Monterrey, Mexico Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is ancho ...

Partanna Partanna is a town and ''comune'' in province of Trapani, south-western Sicily, southern Italy. It is south-east of Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on ...

Sicily Sicily ( it, Sicilia , ) is the list of islands in the Mediterranean, largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. I ...

, and England, and considers himself post-Movimiento Chicano. Nericcio received his BA in English from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984, then went on to complete his doctoral degree in Comparative Literature from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...

in 1989, with a dissertation entitled ''The Politics of Solitude: Alienation in the Literatures of the Americas''. Nericcio's dissertation director was Enrico Mario Santí—other members of his committee included Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kathleen Newman. While at Cornell, Nericcio served as a graduate research and teaching assistant to

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are '' The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and ''Christop ...

at the A.D. White House Society for the Humanities.

Academic career

After completing his doctoral degree in Comparative Literature at Cornell University, Nericcio accepted the position of Assistant Professor at

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

, before joining the Department of English and Comparative Literature at

(SDSU). There, he served two years as the Chair of the Department of English and Comparative Literature from August 2007 through October 2009, where he worked successfully to diversify the professoriate and the curriculum. He is now Director of the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences program. He also serves on the faculties of the Chicana/o Studies Department, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences (MALAS), and the Center for

Latin American Studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, histor ...

. His scholarship focuses on Chicano literature and film, Mexican-American

cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices r ...

continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Prio ...

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...

, and global

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

. Two of his books--''The Hurt Business: Oliver Mayer's Early Works Plus'', and ''Homer From Salinas: John Steinbeck's Enduring Voice for the Californias''—were both published by SDSU Press's Hyperbole Books imprint. His most well-known book ''Tex Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America'' (University of Texas 2006), deals with popular representation of Mexican and Mexican-American identity. It was named ‘Outstanding Academic Title’ 2007 by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

in the category of

Film Studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies. F ...

Awards

Outstanding Academic Title in Film Studies, 2007
Nominee, U.S. Professor of the Year award,

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most nota ...

, Fall 1999
Nominee, Most Influential Professor, Quest For the Best, Office of the Vice President, San Diego State University, Spring 1999
Associated Students’ "Outstanding Faculty," The Associated Student Government of SDSU, San Diego State University, 1994-1994

Selected works

*''Tex Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America.'' Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006 () *''Homer From Salinas: John Steinbeck's Enduring Voice for California.'' San Diego: The San Diego State University Press, 2009 () *''The Hurt Business: Oliver Mayer's Early Works Plus a Portfolio of Plays, Essays, Interviews, Souvenirs, Ephemera, and Photography.'' San Diego, Hyperbole Books, 2008 ()

Reviews of ''Tex Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the Mexican in America''

* '' Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies''. Spring 2008. * "The Seductive Style of a Tex-Mex Cultural Critic." A Contra/Corriente. Fall 2007. * ''CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.'' October 2007. * * * *Aldama, Frederick Luis (March 2008). "Book Review." ''MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States.'' 33 (1): 183-185. Retrieved 17 October 2017. 14
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Graphic Design and MEXtasy Art Director/Designer

In addition to this academic career, Nericcio is also a

. His work includes book covers, film posters, and websites, most notably for SDSU Press and Hyperbole Books, where he oversees the production of cultural studies tomes. His Text-Mex Galleryblog investigates the pathological interrogation of Mexican, Latina/o, Chicana/o, "Hispanic," Mexican-American, and Latin American

, political, and cultural issues. In late 2010, Nericcio began a text-image exhibition entitled “MEXtasy,” which has been displayed at numerous institutions.

MEXtasy Exhibitions (Abridged Listing)

2020

The Mextasy exhibition, in addition to screenings of the Mextasy TV pilot, will be featured at the University of Detroit, Mercy, and the University of Michigan, March, 2020.

2019

The Mextasy exhibition will be featured from Sept 10 to October 30, 2019 at th
Multicultural Center, Memorial Union, Iowa State University.

2018

March 28, 2018, hosted by the Department of Spanish and Linguistics

2017

hosted by SDSU's Malcolm A. Love Library

2016

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

hosted by MEChA de Penn, Mex@Penn, & SHPE

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. Th ...

's Department of Spanish and Portuguese Annual Graduate and Professional Symposium on Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literature, Language and Culture at the

Arizona Historical Society The Arizona Historical Society (AHS) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect people through the power of Arizona's history. It does this through four regional divisions. Each division has a representative museum. The statewide di ...

Museum and at the University of Arizona main campus

2015

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

hosted by The Filmatic Festival

2014

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

at La Casa Cultura Latina
Department of Communications and the Chicano Studies at

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

2012

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

University of Guelph,

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

theFront,

San Ysidro, California San Ysidro (Spanish for " St. Isidore", ) is a district of the City of San Diego, immediately north of the Mexico–United States border. It neighbors Otay Mesa West to the north, Otay Mesa to the east, and Nestor and the Tijuana River Valley t ...

(a
Xicanoholic

Xicanoholic Lucha Libre: Gustavo Arellano and Bill Nericcio at theFRONT
(Video) Ethnic Studies Department,

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

Western University, London, Ontario

Adrian College Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km2) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buildin ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a pub ...

2011

Kamakakūokalani Center for

Hawaiian Studies Hawaiian studies is an academic discipline dedicated to the study of Hawaiians. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as anthropology, history, English language, ethnology, ...

University of Hawai'i at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Fullerton Public Library (hosted by

Gustavo Arellano Gustavo Arellano is an American writer and journalist. He is a featured contributor for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and the former publisher and editor of Orange County's alternative weekly ''OC Weekly''. He is most notable as the author of the c ...

), Fullerton, California San Antonio College, San Antonio, Texas
The Centro Cultural de La Raza, in Balboa Park, San Diego, California
Department of

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Scho ...

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Casa Familiar, in San Ysidro, California (as Xicanoholic)

2010

South Texas College's Pecan campus Art Gallery
The Laredo Center of the Arts at Laredo, Texas

Interviews

References

External links

Bio
Dr. William A. Nericcio @ SDSU
webINDEX
Memo @ SDSU
memogr@phics
William Anthony Nericcio's graphic design portfolio
Text-Mex Galleryblog
William Anthony Nericcio's online supplement to his book "Tex Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America"
MEXtasy Exhibit Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nericcio, William Living people San Diego State University faculty American academics of English literature American literary critics Teachers of English Comparative literature academics Year of birth missing (living people)