Dr. Yolanda Broyles-González
University Distinguished Professor
Leasure Hall 103A
Office hours by appointment
785-532-5738
ybg@k-state.edu
Dr. Yolanda Broyles-González is a university distinguished professor at K-State, a lifetime title that is the highest honor the university can bestow its faculty.
Broyles-González came to K-State from the University of Arizona where she was a professor of Mexican-American studies. Prior to Arizona, she was professor of Chicano studies and German studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"Many very positive factors inform my decision to join Kansas State University," Broyles-González said. "Among the factors I find especially appealing are K-State's very positive work environment, the distinguished faculty, the administration’s strong commitment to excellence and diversity, the university's strong civic partnerships, and the appeal of the physical environment — the spectacular Konza Prairie, for example, at the intersection of two rivers."
Broyles-González studied at four German universities and was among the first women of color to receive a doctorate degree from Stanford University. As an undergraduate she attended the University of Arizona and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She is a native of the Arizona/Sonora desert and a Yaqui Barrio Libre community elder.
The focal points of her research and teaching are popular culture, gender, oral tradition, Native American culture and the popular performance genres of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, of which she is a native. Among her most recent publications is the first academic study of the legendary singer and National Medal of Arts recipient Lydia Mendoza, titled "Lydia Mendoza’s Life in Music/La Historia de Lydia Mendoza." Broyles-González also recently published the book "Earth Wisdom: A California Chumash Woman."
Broyles-González is a recipient of the lifetime Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies. The award recognizes Broyles-González's multiple and invaluable scholarly contributions and her advocacy for the Chicana/o studies discipline. Other distinguished national and international awards have come from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service, which funded her research in Germany for five years.