Center for Latino/a & Latin American Studies

05/18/2026

TOMORROW! Latinx Studies & CLLAS Celebration⁠
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📅 Tuesday, May 19⁠
⏰ 4 PM–6 PM⁠
📍 McKenzie Sunken Courtyard (McKenzie Hall)⁠
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Join us tomorrow for the 2026 CLLAS & Latinx Studies Outstanding Undergraduate Awards Ceremony & Mixer! CLLAS and Latinx Studies invite you to a vibrant celebration honoring exceptional seniors and other undergraduate students who have completed outstanding coursework that sheds light on Latinx and Latin American issues around the world. Enjoy music, delicious food, and drinks while learning about their remarkable work. ⁠
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This free event is open to everyone – we look forward to celebrating with you!

05/14/2026

Join CLLAS on Thursday, May 14, for a Lunch & Learn roundtable featuring new University of Oregon faculty whose work contributes to Latinx and Latin American studies across multiple disciplines.

We are excited to welcome:

Rutger Ceballos, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Arifa Raza, Assistant Professor of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies
Blanche Wright, Assistant Professor of Psychology

This roundtable will offer an opportunity to learn more about their research, teaching, and the valuable contributions they bring to UO in areas such as labor politics, immigration, racial justice, youth mental health, and Latinx and immigrant communities.

📅 Thursday, May 14
⏰ 12 PM to 1:15 PM
📍 Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center
1870 East 15th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97403

Lunch will be provided. We hope to see you there!

05/12/2026

Join CLLAS this Thursday, May 14, at the Black Cultural Center, for a Lunch & Learn with new Latinx Studies faculty, featuring Dr. Rutger Ceballos, Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Oregon.

Dr. Rutger Ceballos is an Assistant Professor of Political Science whose research explores the relationship between American political development, African American politics, and American political thought, focusing on the contestation over labor and land regimes in the context of the Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction.

His current book project, Managing Emancipation: Land, Labor, and the Reconstruction of the American Racial Capitalist State, examines how complex interactions between federal officials and newly emancipated Black workers reshaped the American federal state and restructured racialized labor and land regimes. In addition to his work on Emancipation and Reconstruction, Rutger has studied the history of labor organizing in the Pacific Northwest, left-wing political movements in the early 20th century, and the political thought of Frederick Douglass.

This roundtable will also feature brief research showcases from Arifa Raza, Assistant Professor of Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies and Blanche Wright, Assistant Professor of Psychology. We look forward to seeing you there!

05/08/2026

CLLAS is proud to celebrate Lynn Stephen, Founding Director of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies at University of Oregon, on her election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Stephen, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and professor of ethnic studies, was recognized for her decades of groundbreaking scholarship, advocacy, and community engaged research focused on Latinx, Indigenous, immigrant, and transborder communities. Her work has helped shape conversations around migration, human rights, social justice, and Latin American studies both nationally and internationally.

As a co-founder of CLLAS, Lynn Stephen helped build a lasting foundation for interdisciplinary Latinx and Latin American studies at the University of Oregon, creating opportunities for students, faculty, and community collaboration that continue to grow today.

Read more: https://cllas.uoregon.edu/lynn-stephen-cllas-co-founder-elected-to-the-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences/

05/07/2026

Join CLLAS on Thursday, May 14, for our Lunch & Learn with new Latinx Studies faculty, featuring Dr. Arifa Raza, Assistant Professor of Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies.

Dr. Raza's research examines the criminalization of immigrants through humanitarian laws, focusing on relief for victims of human trafficking and (im)migrant children. Her scholarship is grounded in her prior experience as a non-profit immigration attorney where she specialized in deportation defense and representation of detained individuals. Arifa is currently working on a book manuscript tentatively titled, Criminalization Through Protection: Central American Migrant Youth and the Politics of Childhood.

This roundtable will also feature Rutger Ceballos, Assistant Professor of Political Science, and Blanche Wright, Assistant Professor of Psychology.

05/07/2026

Moe Gámez is a doctoral student in English at the University of Oregon whose research explores the intersection of Latinx literature, environmental justice, and q***r/trans theory. Their dissertation examines how q***r and trans Latinx authors and artists represent ecologies through embodied, speculative, and political narratives. Through archival and literary analysis, Gámez’s work contributes to the growing subfield of q***r and trans Latinx environmentalisms, highlighting how questions of environment, identity, and embodiment are deeply interconnected.

05/06/2026

Join CLLAS on Thursday, May 14, for our Lunch & Learn with new Latinx Studies faculty, featuring Dr. Blanche Wright, Assistant Professor of Psychology.

Dr. Wright is a licensed clinical psychologist whose work focuses on supporting the mental health needs of minoritized communities, as well as the systems and providers who serve them. With specialized training in public health and policy, her research works to close gaps between research, practice, and policy in pursuit of more equitable mental health care through community and school partnered research.

This roundtable will also feature Rutger Ceballos, Assistant Professor of Political Science, and Arifa Raza, Assistant Professor of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies.

📅 Thursday, May 14
⏰ 12 PM to 1:15 PM
📍 Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center
1870 East 15th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97403

Lunch will be provided. Join us in welcoming these new faculty members to UO and learning more about their research, teaching, and contributions to Latinx and Latin American Studies.

05/05/2026

Join CLLAS for a series of upcoming events celebrating community, research, and the end of the academic year.

May 14 | 12:00 to 1:15 PM
Lunch & Learn with New Latinx Studies Faculty
Black Cultural Center, 1870 East 15th Avenue
Meet new UO faculty Rutger Ceballos, Arifa Raza, and Blanche Wright and learn about their work in Latinx and Latin American studies. Lunch provided.

May 19 | 4:00 to 6:00 PM
CLLAS and Latinx Studies Celebration
McKenzie Sunken Courtyard (McKenzie Hall)
Celebrate outstanding seniors and undergraduate students and their work in Latinx and Latin American topics. Food, music, and drinks provided. Open to all!

June 1 | 12:00 to 1:30 PM
CLLAS Tamale Social
Knight Library Browsing Room
Connect with CLLAS faculty, students, and staff while enjoying tamales from Mami’s Mexican Grill. Vegan and vegetarian options available.

We hope to see you there!

04/29/2026

04/13/2026

Join us for a CLLAS Research Colloquium featuring new faculty and graduate student research on migration, embodiment, environment, and belonging across Latinx and Latin American contexts.

Dr. Salomé Herrera (English) presents “Trans* Epistemologies: Tracing the Womb across the Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa Papers,” drawing from archival research at the Benson Library at University of Texas. This talk explores Anzaldúa’s concept of “el cenote” as a spiritual and material site of creativity, tracing how q***r Chicana feminist thought reimagines the womb from a colonized and policed space into one of collective, decolonial possibility.

Moe Gámez (English PhD) examines the intersections of Latinx literature, environmental justice, and q***r and trans theory. Their work explores how q***r and trans Latinx artists represent ecology through embodied, speculative, and political narratives, contributing to the growing field of q***r and trans Latinx environmentalisms.

Alejandro Marín (Romance Languages PhD candidate) presents research from his dissertation, The New Errancy, which analyzes migrant literature from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Equatorial Guinea. His work explores how contemporary authors challenge colonial frameworks, reimagine family, and construct transnational identities. Supported by a CLLAS Graduate Research Grant, his research includes archival work and fieldwork in the Dominican Republic, grounding these ideas in lived migration contexts.

Together, these scholars offer powerful interdisciplinary perspectives on identity, space, and belonging.

Join us to learn more about this emerging research at the University of Oregon.

Presented by the Center for Latino/an and Latin American Studies (CLLAS).

04/03/2026

PUBLIC TALK! What’s Happening in Cuba? 1959 Revolution to Current U.S. Pressures

📅 Thursday, April 9
⏰ 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
📍 Eugene Public Library (Downtown), Bascom/Tykeson Room

Join us on April 9 from 6–7 PM at the Eugene Public Library (Bascom/Tykeson Room) for a public talk by Dr. Lanie Millar, Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Oregon.

This talk explores Cuba’s current economic crisis, recent protests, and ongoing questions of political legitimacy, placing them in context from the 1959 Revolution to today’s evolving U.S.–Cuba relations. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the historical and contemporary forces shaping Cuba’s present moment.

This event is presented by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) and the Department of Global Studies at University of Oregon, with support from UO’s Division of Equity and Inclusion.