School of Occupational & Educational Studies
Colorado State University
Introduction
The Hispanic/Latino population represents the fastest growing ethnic
minority group in the United States. Many colleges and universities have
developed programs to attract and retain Hispanic students. These programmatic
efforts have included special recruitment and admissions programs tutorial
programs, and other"front loading" strategies to help insure success (Justiz &
Rendon, 1989). The purpose of this article is to illustrate, using the methodology
of visual anthropology, how the non-verbal messages of the campus ecology can
enhance or hinder the efficacy of campus programmatic efforts designed to assist
the Hispanic/Latino students.
Visual anthropology is a relatively recent area of specialization in
anthropology (Seymour-Smith, 1986). The intent of visual anthropology is to
study human culture through a variety of photographic methods. Collier (1967)
described visual anthropology as an inductive technique to capture a cultural
"slice of reality." More recently, Collier and Collier (1986) describe this use of
photography as a "can opener" to understanding human organization.
Banning (1992) published a series of photographs to answer the question :
Can photographs of the campus environment capture the presence of sexism?
Similar questions are being raised in this article: Can photographs capture
important messages about Hispanic/Latino culture on campus? Do these messages
support the celebration of Hispanic culture or do they support negative
stereotypes? These are important questions to college and university campuses as
they design and program for Hispanic/Latino students. The methods of visual
anthropology can help provide insights in answering these questions.
Nonverbal Communications of the Physical Environment
Before addressing the topic of photographing messages regarding
Hispanic culture, it is important to describe the process of how a physical
environment communicates. First, the physical environment includes buildings,
signs, symbols, and various forms of artwork. In addition to the functional uses of
these physical aspects of the campus environment, they also contain symbolic
messages. These symbolic messages are communicated "non-verbally" (Banning,
1992). The designers and builders of the physical environment encode cultural
values and messages and the users of the campus environment decode the
messages.
MATRIX, a group of feminist architects, in their book Making Space:
Women and the Man-made environment give insight into the potential content of encoded non-verbal messages (Matrix, 1984). They point out the "man" made
nature of the physical environment. Men are typically over represented in the
groups that approve, fund, design, and build physical environments. Using a
similar analysis, it is also unlikely that the men involved in the "making" of a
physical environment are Hispanic. In other words, messages regarding
Hispanic/Latino culture become encoded by a group that is primarily Anglo. Will
Anglo men encode messages of celebration of Hispanic/Latino culture or will the
encoded messages communicate values that hinder that celebration?
Campus Photographs of Hispanic/Latino Messages
Following the method of visual anthropology, photographs were taken at several colleges and universities to capture examples of the non-verbal symbolic communications regarding Hispanic/Latino culture. Photograph1 illustrates the celebration of the culture by recognizing and using the language of the culture. This West Coast university includes both Spanish and English on their major campus informational signs. The nonverbal message is clear. We value the Latino culture enough to use the Hispanic language. Campuses without such signage do not communicate or send this message of celebration.
Photograph 2. Spanish Language Sign
The painting in Photograph 2 was found in a Rocky Mountain library. The painting depicts a number of themes important to Hispanic culture and multiculturalism in general. The painting shows the inclusion of different cultural bases. The Indo-Hispanic theme of the innerconnections of all life forms is also very vivid. Again, the non-verbal messages are clear. The university supports not only the pictorial presentation of Hispanic culture, but it also promotes the empowerment that comes from speaking for one's own culture; Hispanics speaking for and about Hispanics.
Photograph 2. Library Painting
Negative messages can also be illustrated by photographs. Photographs 3.,4., and 5. are of three murals found in a university library of a Southwest university. Photograph 3. is of a mural depicting Hispanic culture. Several stereotypes exist. All persons in the scene are laborers or farm workers. They are engaged in work activity that provides minimal income. The work is difficult (backs are bowed). The equipment in use is out of date (animal drawn plow). In contrast, Photograph 4. portrays Anglo culture. People in this mural are scientists and physicians. They are earning an income at the highest level. Their equipment is scientific and modern. The Anglo physicians are engaged in the most cherished activity of all cultures - the "delivery of newborns" into the culture. There are "stars" in the background indicating future hope and a brighter tomorrow.
Photograph 3. Hispanic Culture
Photograph 4. Anglo Culture
Photograph 5. Three Cultures
These contrasts become even more vivid through the messages of the
mural in Photograph 5. The central figure in the mural is the Anglo. The Hispanic
and Native American are at his "side" - side men to the main act. The impression
is given that the Anglo is leading the "others" out from somewhere. A closer
examination of the photograph indicates that the Hispanic and Native American
have changed their native dress to Anglo dress "trousers and dress shirts." The
non-verbal message for the Hispanic and Native American students appears to be
that you have to become Anglo before you become successful. This non-verbal
message does not suggest the celebration of Hispanic culture, but the necessity of
giving it up to accommodate to Anglo culture. The message to all students
Hispanic, Native American, and Anglo is one that supports stereotypes of ethnic
minorities and privileges for Anglos.
Photograph 6. is of campus graffiti at a Rocky Mountain university campus. The graffiti reads: "What's so good about minorities anyway? Answer in the box. The box is so small because there is nothing good about them White Power!" The overt message is clear, but the encoded messages are that the university has not cared enough to remove the graffiti. Given the frequency of such graffiti in our environments, the anger that is communicated in Photograph 7. is understandable.
Photograph 6. Campus Graffiti
Photograph 7. Columbus Graffiti
Summary
If a photograph is worth a "thousand words," then the foregoing
photographs document volumes of campus messages about Hispanic/Latino
culture. Unfortunately, many of the messages that are encoded by traditional
designers and users of the campus environment are negative stereotypical
messages. Many campus programmatic efforts and public messages of support are
damaged by the presence of these non-verbal messages. Campuses that are
serious about providing a supportive environment for all of its students must
begin to "look and listen" to its buildings, signs, and symbols. Given that
non-verbal messages are often seen as more truthful (Mehrabian,1971), a picture
may not only be worth many words, it may also be more truthful.
Banning, J.H. (1992). Visual anthropology: Viewing the campus ecology for
messages of sexism. The Campus Ecologist 10 (1), p 1-4.
Collier, J. (1967). Visual anthropology: Photography as a research method. New
York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Collier, J. & Collier, M. (1986). Visual anthropology. Albuquerque, NM:
University of New Mexico Press.
Justiz, M.J. & Rendon, L.I. (1989). Hispanic students. In M. Lee Upcraft, John N. Gardner, & Associates (Eds.). The freshman year. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
MATRIX, (1984). Making space: Women and the man made environment. London: Pluto Press
Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent messages. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing
Company, Inc.
Seymour-Smith, C. (1986). Dictionary of anthropology. Boston: G.K. Hall & Company.
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