Melissa+Campbell

As a discipline, Latino studies addresses the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of the 40 million Latinos in America while providing a broader cultural understanding for all Americans. Current areas of inquiry include issues of race and prejudice; the question of when a Latin American becomes a Latino; and border studies, which looks into the effects of immigration patterns and policies.

On a global level, today’s Latino studies scholars are working together to advance programs and lines of inquiry that better meet the needs of a growing and recognizably diverse Latino population as well as the collective American culture of which Latinos are an integral component.

Over the past few years, Latino studies has gained momentum, as evidenced by the creation of new programs, journals and conferences.

By definition, Latino studies programs investigate the historical roots, cultural aspects and contemporary conditions of Hispanics living in America. The term Hispanic, created by the government in 1977 to help in census data collection, arbitrarily placed Chicanos and Puerto Ricans in the same category, despite drastic historical and cultural differences between the two groups. This collective term works to belie and even obscure the multitude of cultures and experiences the Hispanic population possesses. Latino studies scholars make distinctions between old Latinos – those living in areas that were annexed by the United States, and new Latinos, those who have immigrated to America. Even among new Latinos, there are multiple layers of newness, incorporating Cubans who arrived in the 1960s, Dominicans and Salvadorans who sought refuge in the 1980s and the more recent Colombian immigrations. Each group represents a unique set of circumstances and cultural roots that often gets lost or forgotten when thinking of Hispanics as a single, “equal opportunity” group.

Current Latino studies programs seek to change that perspective among scholars, among Latinos and among our communities at large. Interdisciplinary in nature, Latino studies curricula focus on providing understanding of indigenous regions, cultural backgrounds and how Latinos are adapting and engaging in the American cultural landscape.

The first Latino studies programs date back to the 1960s, reactive products of the civil rights movement, which sought to develop and broaden understandings of Black and Hispanic cultures and communities. Early programs were ethnically oriented, for example, the PuertoRican focus of Hunter College of the City University of New York or the Mexican/Chicano focus that shaped programs in California. Now, the diversification of the Latino population in previously ethnically specific communities is impacting the field itself. Older Latino studies programs have had to expand to incorporate changing demographics, often experiencing growing pains. By incorporating a broader focus, some ethnic groups feel marginalized, as they are no longer the sole object of study.

But in geographic areas without a concentration of one ethnicity, pan-Latino studies programs are emerging, with a comparative approach prevailing. Deborah Pacini-Hernández of Tufts University in Boston, Mass., believes that her school’s new Latino studies minor provides two benefits, which she calls the mirror and the window.

“The mirror allows students of Hispanic descent to learn about their own history and cultural background, while the window is the portal through which all students can gain an understanding of the many components of Latino studies and learn about the collective Spanish-American history of Americans.”

She also sees Latino studies as a bridge between American studies, which tend to have a European focus, and Latin American studies, which focus on countries in Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Iberian Peninsula. Latino studies, with a focus on the American experience, is inherently different from Latin American studies in both subject and foundations. The roots of Latin American studies and all international studies lie in national security programs funded by the government through the National Defense Education Act of 1958 to enhance security and promote interests through an advanced understanding of foreign languages, countries and people. Conversely, the origins of Latino studies programs are domestic developments of the past 30 years.

Pacini-Hernández and colleagues from the Boston area recently organized the first of what will be an annual conference focusing on Latino studies-related issues and activities. Sponsored by the Greater Boston Latino Studies Consortium, the conference, held at Tufts University, was titled “A Gathering of Voices: Latino Studies and Pedagogies for Building Community.” Latino studies scholars gathered in May 2004 to discuss the foundations of their field and to identify new directions within the context of a changing cultural complexion of both the Greater Boston area and the country.

Participants in the conference also discussed how and to what extent Latino studies programs connect to their local Latino communities for the benefit of both the communities and the students. “We share the idea that our programs need to be responsible to the Latino communities, not just function as an academic enterprise,” she explained.

According to Pacini-Hernández, the overall goal of Latino studies is to advance and increase the public’s understanding of Latino people in all areas, including history, politics, economy, culture, and the arts. “Knowledge is essential to critical consciousness,” she said.

That sentiment is echoed by another Latino studies scholar, Suzanne Obeler from the University of Illinois-Chicago, who believes that the historic social invisibility of many Latino groups has limited our country’s knowledge and understanding of Latinos living in the United States.

“Racism can take many forms, including discrimination and segregation,” she said. But she believes that exclusion from our country’s collective understanding of American culture renders Latino people invisible, the worst type of racism. Education through Latino studies programs, then, becomes critical to making Latino people visible.

“Many people do not know that Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since 1917,” she said. Other people are unaware that Chicanos are indigenous to the Southwest, an area that was annexed by the United States through conquest in the Mexican War. These two examples illustrate why Latino studies focus on the many different countries and cultures that comprise the Latino population. Explicating why and how different Latino groups came to be in the United States is an important part of expanding cultural understanding among all Americans and Latinos themselves.

“Just because someone speaks Spanish doesn’t mean they will have an automatic affinity for a Spanish-speaking person from another country,” said Obeler, who also sees Latino studies as a way of promoting interaction among all Latinos.

As editor and founder of the new Latino Studies journal, Obeler believes in the learning and affirmation that is inherent in Latino studies as a discipline. But she acknowledges the tendency to see Latinos as the mere sum-total of the Chicano/a, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central and South American populations as a challenge. She and colleagues came together in March 2002 to discuss the state of the field and help define its directions for the future.

To that end, Obeler wrote in a subsequent issue of the journal an open letter to university presidents regarding the necessity for Latino studies. Citing the central mission of most universities – “to serve the national community as a whole by creating greater self-awareness and self-knowledge in the society,” she stated that one aspect of this responsibility entails diversifying the American educational experience to include the many ethnic backgrounds that are “visibly represented in the population, which have contributed to making this nation what it is.” She sees the establishment of Latino studies programs as part of the university’s societal responsibilities. Within the context of the growing population of Hispanic people in America, it is clear that the scope of study at universities needs to include Latino studies.

“Latino studies is not only for Latinos, it is for American society, for everybody to have a wellrounded education,” according to Obeler. This legitimate field of inquiry, she writes, is a means of “enriching both the university curricula and the national community in ways that will enable all of us to deal more appropriately and effectively with the overall socio-ethnic and political changes under way” in our country.

To facilitate this call to action, a number of Latino studies scholars are serving as consultants to colleges and universities, advising administratorsand faculty on how to develop their own Latino studies programs. Juán Flores, a professor in the department of Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean studies at Hunter College of the City University of New York and well-known scholar in the field, has shared his expertise with a number of schools as a visiting professor. In addition to teaching students courses not normally offered by institutions such as Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, and Tufts, Flores counsels faculty and administrators on how to establish Latino studies on their campus.

Programs are organized in many different ways but usually build across departmental lines to create a concentration. Some programs are incorporated into ethnic studies; others, into American studies; still others find themselves under anthropology departments or in history departments. Other Latino studies programs are incorporated into Latin American studies. Tufts University, which just approved a Latino studies minor in May 2004, is the first private university in the Boston area to have a free-standing program not attached to another department.

In Flores’ opinion, the more autonomy a Latino studies program has, the better. “The ability to hire Latino studies faculty is a key issue,” he said. When programs are developed across departments, each department must approve candidates, which can sometimes delay or prevent the hiring process. Sometimes, Latino studies positions are developed as part-time positions, in which faculty members spend half of their time in Latino studies, the other half of their time teaching classes in another department. Flores sees this as a lack of full commitment to Latino studies, which compromises the perceived legitimacy of the field. However, Flores believes this will change as the presence and prominence of Latinos in America grows and Latino studies is acknowledged as a field that is germane to what is going on in the world.

“Latino studies are so much a sign of the times,” he said. “The demographic changes we are experiencing have an impact on all aspects of life, including what people think it is important to study. As a Latino studies scholar, I feel like I am helping to make history.”

LATINO STUDIES PROGRAMS The first Chicano studies department was founded at California State College in Los Angeles in 1968. Other Chicano and Mexican-American studies departments or programs soon appeared at Arizona State University, the University of California-Los Angeles, and the University of Texas-Austin.

The department of Black and Puerto Rican studies was established at Hunter College of the City University of New York in 1969, a product of a Black-led civil rights effort.

The University of Illinois-Chicago established the Latin American studies program in 1972, incorporating study of Latin American countries as well as Latinos in the United States.

The University of Michigan created the Latino/Latina undergraduate concentration program in 1984. Nine years later, the program became part of the schools’ international institute. A minor was offered for the first time in 2000; and the following year, a graduate certificate program.

The Cornell Latino studies Program, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, is an interdisciplinary, pan-Latino program focusing on historical, linguistic, literary, social, economic, and political experiences. It was founded in 1987.

The Institute of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at the University of Connecticut has offered an interdisciplinary research and teaching program since 1994, promoting a more culturally diverse and aware university through a comparative program.

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University in Boston, established in 1994, supports and encourages teaching and research on Latin Americans and Latinos. Through the center’s inter-faculty committee on Latino studies, research into Latino studies, particularly immigration issues, has been supported. Since 1985, the university has published The Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, a peer-reviewed journal investigating interdisciplinary research on politics and policy-making affecting the Latino community.

Founded in 1995, the department of Chicana and Chicano studies at Arizona State University is a unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and seeks to increase the direct participation of Mexican-Americans and other Latinos in the human and capital development of American society.

The Latino studies program at Columbia University was established in 1996 after a studentled movement escalated to a hunger strike. The goal of the interdisciplinary program is to survey and study the history, culture and social fabric of the Latino populations of the United States. Located in New York City, where one-quarter of the population calls itself Latino/a, the program is at the center of one of the most diverse concentrations of Latinos in the United States, including growing populations of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Mexican, and other Latino groups.

In 2004, Tufts University introduced a Latino studies minor through a free-standing program.

Reprinted with permission from The Hispanic Outlook In Higher Education Magazine®, Vol. 15 #7, December 27, 2004. For more information, visit http://www.HispanicOutlook.com

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