Thanks to the outstanding leadership of our director, Solimar Otero (currently on leave); the rich course offerings and attentive mentorship of our core faculty; and the vibrant research, teaching, and intellectual community fostered by our affiliate faculty, Latino Studies continues to thrive. We are especially delighted to announce that the number of students pursuing the Latino Studies minor doubled during the last academic year! This remarkable growth gives us much to celebrate. This fall, we will honor the individuals, organizations, students, faculty, and community members whose work has made possible the creation and flourishing of Latino Studies at IU.
We are marking this important milestone with a carefully curated and especially festive Latinx Heritage Month. Among its highlights will be the Chiricú Journal Symposium, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of Chiricú and its extraordinary history of Latinx intellectual and cultural production. The symposium will bring together important transgenerational and transnational voices, including Norma Alarcón, the foundational Chicana scholar, activist, and publisher, who returns to IU, her alma mater, as well as exciting contemporary academic and literary voices such as Latinx writer Edgar Gómez. La Casa’s Book Club will also host a conversation about Gómez’s latest book, Alligator Tears.
And there will be plenty of movement and music! Punchy and musical co-sponsored First Thursdays’ events await us on the main stage. Stay tuned for Bad Bunny Pilates, led by Sabrina Montiel, and a performance by Tipa Tipo , whose music brings together soft rock, disco, and Latin rhythms. Continuing in this musical spirit, Latino Studies is partnering with the Latin American Music Center to host talks, class presentations, and performances by Afro-Indigenous researcher and musician Yanna. Please visit our events page for dates, locations, and additional details.
Lastly, Latino Studies would like to celebrate the many accomplishments of our core and affiliate faculty, students, alumni, and broader Latino Studies community. Keep an eye out for book talks, presentations, performances, conversations, and other gatherings.
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Olga Rodríguez-Ulloa
Interim Director, Latino Studies Program