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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Latina/Latino Studies
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  • a collage of images from the 1992 protests for Latina/o rights on campus. Text on the Image says LAS in History, The Movement for More Opportunity
    Honoring our history: Celebrating 30 years of the Department of Latina/Latino Studies at Illinois
    2025-05-14 - 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...
  • Cecelia Escobar
    Latina/Latino studies major Cecelia Escobar selected for Fulbright's Summer Institute
    2025-05-14 - 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.
  • image of graduates
    Congratulations to our 2025 graduates and award winners!
    2025-04-23 - Congratulations to the class of 2025!
  • Professor Velazquez
    Professor Mirelsie Velázquez receives Campus Research Board Grant
    2025-04-02 -  The Department of Latina/Latino Studies is pleased to announce that professor Mirelsie Velázquez received a Campus Research Board grant from Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. The grant will fund her project, De Isla a Chicago: Stories of Puerto Rican Teachers, 1970-1990. The project will...
  • book cover of critical race theory and headshot of Aja Martinez
    New book by professor Aja Y. Martinez recounts history of critical race theory
    2025-03-12 - A new book by rhetoric and history scholars examines the origins of critical race theory in legal studies. The movement is an area of legal scholarship that seeks to understand the relationship between race and racism and the law and other societal institutions in the U.S., the authors said. It is highly controversial, with politicians at all levels of government trying to ban it from classrooms...
  • Professor Velazquez
    Professor Velázquez awarded Campus Fellowship from Humanities Research Institute
    2025-03-12 -  The Department of Latina/Latino Studies is pleased to announce that professor Mirelsie Velázquez has been awarded a 2025-26 Campus Fellowship from the Humanities Research Institute for her project “Genealogies of Empowerment and the Makings of Home: Latina/o Activism at the University of Illinois, 1970–1992." Campus Fellowships are awarded to Illinois faculty and graduate students...
  • Aja Y. Martinez
    Professor Aja Y. Martinez joins the Department of Latina/Latino Studies at the University of Illinois
    2025-03-05 - This spring, the Department of Latina/Latino Studies is excited to welcome professor Aja Y. Martinez as an associate professor. She is a critical race theory scholar and storyteller and author of the multi-award-winning book Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory....
  • A headshot of Senator Celina Villaneuva
    LLS alumna Celina Villanueva receives LAS Outstanding Young Alumni Award
    2025-02-26 - We’re pleased to announce that LLS alumna Celina Villanueva (BA, ’08, Latina/Latino studies) has been awarded the LAS Outstanding Young Alumni Award. The award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated the values derived from a liberal arts and sciences education by outstanding achievement or who have...
  • Rochellle
    LLS affiliate professor Rochelle Gutiérrez named to National Academy of Education
    2025-01-29 - Education professor Rochelle Gutiérrez has been named to the National Academy of Education. A professor of curriculum and instruction and of mathematics education, Gutiérrez challenges deficit views of racial minority students and believes that teachers must have more than pedagogical or content knowledge to be successful. An Illinois faculty member since 1996, Gutiérrez also holds appointments...
  • Iván Olivo and Marcelo Lepeley
    Humanities Research Lab courses provide community based research education: Spotlight on LLS affiliate professor Yuridia Ramírez' oral history methods class
    2024-12-11 - As an oral historian, Illinois history professor, Yuridia “Yuri” Ramírez records the stories of people who have never been written about in history books. “These people have, in some ways, made the most impactful legacies in their communities, and people don’t know...
  • Teresa Ramos
    LLS and anthropology alumna Teresa Ramos named first secretary of Illinois Department of Early Childhood
    2024-12-04 - LLS and anthropology alumna Teresa Ramos (BA, ’04; MA, ’08; PhD, ’12; anthropology with a minor in Latina/Latino studies) has been named the first secretary of the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC). Ramos is currently the first assistant deputy governor for education in Governor JB Pritzker’s office. Pending state Senate approval, Ramos will begin her new role in January and the...
  • Adriana Matsumoto with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois
    The early days of public service: LLS student serves as intern to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
    2024-12-04 - Taking the risk of applying for an internship can be frightening for any student. When Adriana Matsumoto, now a senior studying political science and Latina/Latino studies, applied for her internship with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, she was not only following a goal to work on important legislative issues like immigration, but she was the first...
  • decorative image
    Read the fall 2024 LLS newsletter !
    2024-11-20 - The fall 2024 LLS newsletter is here! Learn about the revival of the graduate student conference, research highlights, student internship updates, and more!
  • Isabel Molina Guzman
    Sabbatical spotlight: Associate dean Isabel Molina-Guzmán’s work on Afro-Latinidad in digital spaces and Hollywood reboots
    2024-11-13 - For most academics, sabbatical is a crucial time to focus on your research and a break from teaching duties. For administrators it’s especially essential, because their duties often leave little time to devote to their scholarship. For Isabel Molina-­Guzmán, associate dean for student academic affairs for the College of LAS and professor of Latina/Latino studies and communication, it was a...
  • Jose Atiles
    New book examines the impact of colonialism on Puerto Rico: Interview with LLS affiliate professor Jose Atiles
    2024-11-13 - Powerful hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic, spiraling public debt and political corruption triggered humanitarian, economic and environmental crises in Puerto Rico. However, a new book suggests that the Puerto Rican and U.S. governments made these multilayered crises catastrophic through the socioeconomic, legal and racialized structures and conditions they created. ...

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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Latina/Latino Studies
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1207 W. Oregon Street

MC-136

Urbana, IL 61801

Phone: (217) 265-0370 | Fax: (217) 244-4526

Email: lls-studies@illinois.edu

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