Latina/Latino Studies

09/10/2026

Today! Attend the book launch event for "Quinceañeras: Latinidades and Girlhood in Popular Culture" by Diana Leon-Boys, Jillian Báez, and Angharad N. Valdivia!

📅September 10
🕧4:30-6
📍Spurlock Museum

More details at the link in the comments.

09/09/2026

Congratulations! 🥳

Richard Flores Jardines, a senior Latina/Latino studies and political science major with a minor in minoritarian aesthetics, received second place for an undergraduate research talk at the 2026 Illinois Summer Research Symposium (ISRS).

Flores Jardines presented their senior honors thesis "En Defensa De Madres: Addressing Intergenerational Gaps in Latinx Mental Health Discussions and Somatics."

"Their research and presentation is beautiful and culturally rich. I look forward to following their work, as I believe their theory will further clinicians and researchers understanding of cultural healing practices and inform clinical praxis," said the judge for the symposium.

Learn more at the link in the comments.

09/08/2026

An interdisciplinary group of faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois, including faculty in the Department of Latina/Latino Studies have received a grant from the The Center for Advanced Study at Illinois to study sanctuary spaces and borderlands.

Focusing on the Midwest, the collective hopes to illuminate how sanctuary operates amid contemporary migration dynamics, state policies, and grassroots resistance.

Their first event is on October 8. Learn more at the link in the comments.

09/02/2026

Professor Mirelsie Velázquez has been selected for the 2026-2027 OpEd Project Public Voices Fellowship!

The fellowship is a year-long program led by the OpEd Project that helps faculty amplify their expertise in ways that contribute to public conversations about pressing issues.

Learn more about the fellowship at the link in the comments.

09/01/2026

Mark your calendars for the book launch event for "Quinceañeras: Latinidades and Girlhood in Popular Culture" by Diana Leon-Boys, Jillian Báez, and Angharad N. Valdivia!

📅September 10
🕧4:30-6
📍Spurlock Museum

More details at the link in the comments.

08/20/2026

⭐Graduate Minor Spotlight ⭐
Gerson Morales is a PhD candidate in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and a graduate minor in Latina/Latino studies. He has also been a teaching assistant for LLS 100: Introduction to Latina/Latino Studies. His research focuses on Central American and Latinx cultural studies.

Check the comments for a link to a Q&A with Morales to learn more about his research.

University of Illinois School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics

08/11/2026

How can we support teachers in creating safe spaces for students where they can be their authentic selves?

Saraí Blanco Martinez, a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Latina/Latino Studies, explored this question in a co-authored article that identified 4 practices integral to creating a trauma-informed and healing-centered classroom: safety and agency, rituals and routines, emotions and embodiment, and love and belonging.

These practices create a classroom where students feel like they have the agency to choose their level of participation, feel supported when they express vulnerability, feel a sense of belonging, and are invited to connect with their bodies and emotions.

Learn more about her research at the link in the comments.

07/29/2026

Latina/Latino studies professor Aja Y. Martinez and gender and women's studies professor and Latina/Latino studies affiliate Damian Vergara Bracamontes are two of eleven faculty members across campus to receive the Cohen Innovation Award from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. Congratulations!

Learn more about their projects at the link in the comments. ⬇️

06/15/2026

Congratulations to the LLS faculty, affiliates, lecturers, and TAs who received the Facilitating Learning Excellence Award (FLEX) from their students in the Fall 2025 semester!

06/10/2026

A new edited collection explores the increasing visibility of quinceañeras in popular culture. Co-edited by emerita professor Angharad N. Valdivia and alumnae Jillian M. Báez (PhD, ’09, communications) and Diana Leon-Boys (PhD, ’20, communications and media studies, Latina/Latino studies minor), the collection also features contributions from alumna Ariana Cano and current PhD student and LLS graduate minor Stephanie Perez.

Learn more ⬇️
https://lls.illinois.edu/news/2026-05-27/new-book-co-edited-emerita-professor-angharad-n-valdivia-and-two-alums-explores-quinceaneras-pop

University of Illinois Press

A new collection of essays co-edited by Angharad N. Valdivia, emerita professor of Latina/Latino studies and the Institute of Communications Research, with alumnae Jillian M. Báez (PhD, ’09, communications) and Diana Leon-Boys (PhD, ’20, communications and media studies, Latina/Latino studies m...