Find your path in Latina/Latino Studies
Community Resources
- In 2026, we will celebrate 30 years at the University of Illinois. We owe our history to the 1992 student movement for Latina/o rights on campus. The courageous activism and dedication of Latina/o students, faculty, and staff led to the creation of a Program in Latina/Latino Studies in 1996. In 2010, we became the first Department of Latina/Latino Studies in the country. As we near the 30 year milestone, we're looking back at our history, and... Read full story Honoring our history: Celebrating 30 years of the Department of Latina/Latino Studies at Illinois
- Second-year student Cecelia Escobar, who is double majoring in political science and Latina/Latino studies, was selected for the three-week Understanding Northern Ireland” summer program at Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland. Read full story Latina/Latino studies major Cecelia Escobar selected for Fulbright's Summer Institute
- Congratulations to the class of 2025! Read full story Congratulations to our 2025 graduates and award winners!
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Why Study Latina/Latino Studies?
Professor Mirelsie Velázquez shares the value of the major, favorite spots in Champaign-Urbana, and why the Latina/Latino studies department is the best kept secret on campus in an interview with the College of LAS.
Intro Latina/Latino Studies
Interdisciplinary introduction to the basis for a Latina/Latino ethnicity in the United States.
Race, Medicine, and Society
The idea of race has historically been central to how Western cultures conceptualize and think about human difference. This course examines the historical significance of race through one domain of knowledge: medicine.
Mexican-American History
Examination of the history of Mexican Americans living within the United States from the Spanish Conquest to the twentieth century. Explores the process of migration, settlement, assimilation, and discrimination with emphasis on continuity and change in Mexican cultural development.
Latina/o Popular Culture
Provides an introduction to Latina/o popular culture in the United States. Specific modes of popular culture might include mass media, music, film, video, performance, and other expressive forms.
Chicana/Latina Autobiography, Memoir, Testimonio
Focuses on how Chicanas/Latinas describe their own experiences and how they both understand and negotiate their sense of self, and centers on the new crop of memoir and autobiography, as represented in the most recent texts by well-established Chicana writers, such as Sandra Cisneros, Gloria Anzaldúa and Ana Castillo.
Upcoming events
Alumni spotlight: Juan Mora, PhD, '13 - Assistant Professor, Department of History and Latino Studies Program, Indiana University, Bloomington
Juan Mora, PhD, earned his BA in History and Latina/Latino Studies in 2013. He arrived at UIUC as an undergraduate majoring in History. For his first two years at Illinois, he struggled to find the specific areas of studying history that could encourage him to succeed. As he explained, “It was when I combined Latina/o Studies with History that I was able to thrive.” Courses with Dr. Adrian Burgos Jr. and Dr. Mireya Loza, like Caribbean Latina/o Migration and Latino Social Movements, respectively, were instrumental to his development as a student and shaped his decision to eventually major in...
Faculty spotlight: Janett Barragán Miranda
Janett Barragán Miranda is currently working on her book manuscript tentatively titled, "Hungering for Equality: Mexican and Mexican Americans from Post WWII To Civil Rights," a monograph about the community of Mexican origin and their struggle for food justice in the 1960s.