UCSD Theater Professor Jorge Huerta Receives Distinguished Scholar’s Prize

November 24, 2008

UC San Diego Professor Jorge Huerta was named a Distinguished Scholar at the annual meeting of the American Society for Theatre Research Nov. 8 in Boston.  He was cited for his lifetime of contributions to Latino and Latina theatre in particular and American theatre studies generally.

Jorge Huerta

“It is with great pride and a full heart that I announce that the 2008 ASTR Distinguished Scholar is the Chancellor’s Associates Endowed Chair of Theatre at the University of California San Diego, Professor Jorge Huerta,” said ASTR President Tracy C. Davis, of Northwestern University.

In 2003, Huerta wrote:  “When my first article was published back in 1971, there was only one anthology of plays by and about Chicanos in print and not a single volume of criticism and analysis; today the number of publications is astounding.” 

Huerta is well known for his path-breaking scholarship, editorial work and translations.  In naming him the Distinguished Scholar, the ASTR aimed to recognize his role in not only breaking the path but setting a direction for it, literally and ethically, officials said. Huerta is continuing both to lay paving stones on this path, step by step, through his own articles, biographical entries in encyclopedias and monographs, and to travel with others on what has become a busy highway.

For nearly 40 years, since he founded El Teatro de la Esperanza in Santa Barbara, Huerta has demonstrated unflagging commitment to developing a field, and along with it, a younger generation of scholars in dialogue with artists, officials said in a statement.  As a mentor, Huerta is generous to a fault, a constant presence as a speaker but also as a listener, whose encouragement of others is integral to the success of Latina/Latino theatre studies, officials added.  Huerta has produced an astounding number of publications, while being engaged in the midst of the cultural politics of Latina/Latino theatre, they also said.