Find your path in Latina/Latino Studies

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Why Study Latina/Latino Studies?

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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.

LLS 100

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.

LLS 479

Latina/o Migration

Topics discussed include the history of international migration to the United States, the relationship between history and the contemporary context, the development of U.S. immigration policy, the incorporation of Latino immigrants in U.S. society, and immigrant and community responses to migration.

LLS 220

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.

LLS 279

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.

LLS 240

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.

LLS 365

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Image of Juan Mora smiling at the camera

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...

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Mireslie Velazquez

Faculty spotlight: Mirelsie Velázquez

Mirelsie Velázquez is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work centers history of education, women's history, Puerto Rican studies, gender and sexuality, and teacher education.