Mora-Torres, Gregorio

Lecturer AY-C, Mexican American Studies

Email

Preferred: gregorio.mora-torres@sjsu.edu

Telephone

Preferred: (408) 924-5472

Office Hours

Location: YUH 36, Fall 2011-Monday -Thursday 2pm-3pm & by appointment

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Univ Of Cal-Irvine, 1987

Bio

Professor Gregorio Mora –Torres was born in Tlalpujahua, Michoacan, Mexico and was raised in the Santa Clara Valley. To help his family, as a youth he worked in agriculture—picking cherries, apricots, pears, and grapes while also harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and topping onions and garlic. During high school and college, he worked in various local canneries, such as Contadina and Del Monte Plant #3. When Gregorio Mora Torres first went to college in 1972, his goal was to study civil engineering but he soon discovered that he had a greater talent for history. In 1976, he graduated from Santa Clara University and then went to the University of California at Irvine to pursue a MA and PhD degrees in Latin American history, with an emphasis on Mexican history. In his doctoral dissertation, he studied entrepreneurs in 19th Century Sonora, Mexico. Beginning in 1988, he has taught at San Francisco State University (La Raza Studies), the University of California, Davis (Dept. of History), and, since 1989, at San Jose State University (Mexican American Studies Dept). Professor Mora Torres enjoys working with students--he has mentored some of them, he has given others career guidance, and he has help others adjust to college life. Often, he joins students for a cup of coffee to explore topics on history or Chicano Studies or to just simply discuss the sport of soccer. He also relishes talking to parents and to community groups about education and history. Finally, he enjoys giving historic tours on Mexican San Jose. In addition to teaching, Dr. Mora-Torres has done extensive research and writing on Northern Mexico and Chicano history. In 2005, he edited and translated the Spanish language oral memoirs of a 19th century Californio soldier, Don Jose Maria Amador, published by the University of North Texas Press. At present, he is editing the diaries of Jesus Maria Estudillo, a young 19th century Californio. He is also working on a two volume history of Mexicans in the Santa Clara Valley during the 19th and 20th centuries.