Find your path in Latina/Latino Studies
- The deadline for the call for abstracts has been extended for the 2024 Latine Graduate Student Conference to July 31, by 11:59PM. The conference, themed "Reclaiming Insurgency" will be October 24-25, 2024. We welcome abstracts for oral presentations, multimodal presentations, or creative works from across all disciplines on... Read full story Deadline Extended! Call for Abstracts for Latine Studies Graduate Student Conference
- In the summer of 2024, LLS graduate minor, and history doctoral student Grace Maria Eberhardt traveled to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island and the American Philosophical Society archive in Pennsylvania. Read full story LLS graduate minor Grace Maria Eberhardt follows the trail of the Eugenics Record Office
- Jesse Carmona, a Latina/Latino studies major, gave the following speech at our convocation ceremony on May 11, 2024. It has been reprinted below with her permission. Read full story The Spaces We Create: 2024 Convocation Speech
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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.
Puerto Rican Diaspora
This course will examine the social, political, and cultural history of Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans across the diaspora, from 1898 to the present.
Race, Gender and the Body
Focuses generally on the relation between power and the body. In western culture, the body is typically thought of as a natural, biological entity. However, as a number of social theorists have pointed out, the body can never be reduced to mere biology.
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.
Upcoming events
Alumni spotlight: Mayra Diaz, ’17 – Policy Analyst, Health & Medicine Policy Research Group
Without a doubt, I credit who I am as a leader and professional in large part to my undergraduate education in Latina/Latino Studies. As a Policy Analyst at Health & Medicine Policy Research Group with master’s degrees in social work and public health, I research and advocate for policies that prevent and mitigate the systemic root causes of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in Illinois. My LLS background has been indispensable throughout my graduate education and now in my current role. Learning about topics such as Critical Race Theory and the impact of U.S. policy on...