Asian American Studies

Enrique de la Cruz

Dr. Enrique de la Cruz - Professor Emeritus

Dr. Enrique de la Cruz"I came to Asian American Studies via my participation in grassroots organizing activities and political campaigns. These are what influenced my views and interests in Asian American Studies."

Dr. de la Cruz received his Ph.D. in Philosophy (Mathematical Logic) from UCLA. He has written on Asian Americans, Filipino Americans and Philippine-U.S. Relations.

Prior to coming to CSUN, he served as the Assistant Director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, where he was instrumental in the development of the B.A. degree program in Asian American Studies.

His most recent publication is the Forbidden Book: The Philippine American War in Political Cartoons, which is a collection of political cartoons from 1898-1907, the period of the Philippine-American War, and which he co-authored with Abe Ignacio, Jorge Emmanuel, and Helen Toribio. This book was recognized with a Book of The Year award from the Gustavus Myers Center for The Study of Bigotry and Human Rignts.

In commemoration of the Centennial of Philippine-U.S. Relations, he edited a special double issue of Amerasia Journal, 24:2 and 24:3. "Essays into American Empire in the Philippines", devoted to an examination of the impact of 100 years of Philippine-US relations; in addition, with Pearlie Baluyut, he developed a 100 year photographic retrospective of Philippine-U.S. relations titled, Confrontations, Crossings, and Convergence: Photographs of the Philippines and the United States, 1898-1998, and published a book with the same title.

His teaching and research interests include, race and racism, US-Philippine relations, and the Filipino American opposition to the Marcos dictatorship. In addition to teaching and scholarly interests, De la Cruz is actively engaged in community issues having served in the boards of SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans), FASGI (Filipino American Service Group), the National Council of Filipino Civil Rights Advocates (FILCRA), and APAHE (Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education). He is currently a trustee of the Filipino American National Historical Society and a member of the Filipino Legacy Fund Committee with UCLA.

Dr. Enrique de la Cruz comic cell

Education

  • Ph.D. Philosophy University of California, Los Angeles, 1974
  • B.A.Philosophy, University of the Philippines-Diliman, 1964

Scholarship Highlights

  • THE FORBIDDEN BOOK coverIgnacio, A., dela Cruz, E., Emmanuel, J., Toribio, H., The Forbidden Book: The Philippine American War in Political Cartoons, T'boli Publishing, San Francisco, California, 2004
  • Book of the year award for The Forbidden Book, from the Gustavus Myers Center of the Study of bigotry and Human Rights, Boston, MA, 2005
  • Peace and Justice Award from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 2005