Faculty | Department of Latina/Latino Studies

Professor José A. de la Garza Valenzuela's book shows how ‘lawful fictions’ are used to manage immigration, citizenship

2026-04-22

Professor José A. de la Garza Valenzuela looks at the experiences of queer migrants, and at how immigration practices shape particular fictions about them, in his new book “Queer in a Legal Sense: Brown Citizenship and Other Lawful Fictions.”

Professor Natalie Lira receives Humanities Research Lab Award from HRI and OUR

2026-04-15

Professor Natalie Lira was awarded the Humanities Research Lab Award by the Humanities Research Institute and Office of Undergraduate Research to transform the course LLS 100: Introduction to Latina/o Studies into a local community-based research experience.

Professor Elena Guzman joins the Department of Latina/Latino Studies

2026-03-25

This spring, the Department of Latina/Latino Studies welcomes assistant professor Elena Guzman. Professor Guzman's research studies ritual art and performance in the Afro-Caribbean. She also creates films that focus on the metaphysical and ethereal experiences of African diaspora spirituality. Read...

New book edited by LLS faculty examines how the contemporary reboot craze perpetuates inequality

2026-03-03

"Rebooting Inequality: Critical Takes on Film and Television Remakes: (NYU Press) is edited by Isabel Molina-Guzmán, Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs in the College of LAS and professor of Latina/Latino studies and communication, and Angharad N. Valdivia, emerita professor of Latina...

Professor Nic Flores selected to co-develop Humanities Research Institute Interseminars course

2026-01-28

LLS professor Nic Flores and French and Italian professor Daniel Nabil Maroun have been selected by the Humanities Research Institute's Interseminars initiative to develop the graduate seminar "Remembering and Reimagining HIV/AIDS in Contemporary Times."

Professor Gabriela G. Corona Valencia joins the Department of Latina/Latino Studies at the University of Illinois

2025-10-08

This fall, the Department of Latina/Latino Studies welcomes assistant professor Gabriela G. Corona Valencia. Professor Corona Valencia was previously a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Associate from 2023-2025. Her research interests include histories of eugenics, public health, medicine,...

Latina/Latino studies professor elected to leadership positions with Latina/x/o Studies Association and Berkshire Conference of Women Historians

2025-10-01

Professor Natalie Lira was recently elected to leadership positions within two professional associations, joining other Department of Latina/Latino Studies faculty who serve on professional associations in their fields.

Professor Mirelsie Velázquez named Conrad Humanities Scholar

2025-09-10

Professor Mirelsie Velázquez has been named a Conrad Humanities Scholar for her contributions in education and research in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.Velázquez is...

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...

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...

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