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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Latina/Latino Studies

Mirelsie Velázquez

Mirelsie Velázquez, PhD, is an associate professor of Latina/o Studies. As an interdisciplinary scholar, her work centers history of education, women's history, Puerto Rican studies, gender and sexuality, and teacher education. Her book, Puerto Rican Chicago: Schooling the City, 1940-1977 (University of Illinois Press 2022), chronicles the Puerto Rican community’s response to the urban decay in which they were forced to live, work, and especially learn. Her work has most recently appeared in the journals Latino Studies, Centro, and Gender and EducationPuerto Rican Chicago was an American Educational Studies Critic's Choice Book Award recipient in 2023. Dr. Velázquez is currently working on a second book project that historicizes Puerto Rican women and other Latina activists in higher education across the Midwest, from the 1970s to the 1990s, as they worked to create homespaces. 

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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Department of Latina/Latino Studies

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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