Latino/Latina Studies Program — The Program

The Latino/Latina Studies Program, administered collaboratively by the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Public and Community Service, is an ethnic studies program focusing on Latino(a)s in the United States, the largest minority group both in the country as a whole and in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Immigration is an important theme of the program, but Latino/Latina Studies also gives attention to the 64% of all Latinos who are US born, and to the extensive contributions that Latino(a)s have been making since the 16th century to the history of North America. As an ethnic studies program, Latino/Latina Studies also provides a site for more organized mentoring of UMass Boston’s Latino/Latina students, as well as many non-Latino students, who seek deeper understanding and cultural competency of this important and still growing population group in contemporary North America.

The core of the program lies in the unification of its interdisciplinary character through a social science emphasis. Institutionally, this posture is enhanced by the program’s coordination and affiliation with faculty and personnel from a number of the university’s colleges, institutes and academic departments. These include, among others, the Programs in American Studies, Latin American Studies, and Women’s Studies; the Departments of Africana Studies, Anthropology, Hispanic Studies, Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology; and the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy. These affiliations enhance the mentorship of program concentrators who are encouraged to acquire research skills comprising familiarity with and use of scholarly source materials and the acquisition of skills in quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Many of the faculty teaching in the program are social science researchers who encourage students to do replications of, as well as carry out their own original research.

More than a congeries of courses, the Latino/Latina Studies Program’s social science orientation emphasizes theory, research, and policy objectives. The core faculty associated with the program are familiar with and use social science theories, concepts, data, and course materials in the study of US-based Latinos. The ongoing research work of staff and faculty at the Gastón Institute and their support of the Latino Leadership Opportunity Program (LLOP) represent an important resource to students working on issues significantly affecting the Latino community. The Latino/Latina Studies curriculum consists of courses predominantly taught by social scientists in CLA departments and programs, the Gastón Institute, and CPCS.

Although its primary emphasis is social science, the program recognizes the importance of the humanities, and incorporates them through a range of courses on cultural issues and history, related both to sending regions for some Latino immigrants and the dynamics of everyday life in the US-based Latino communities. These courses are offered by faculty in such disciplines as American Studies, Anthropology, Africana Studies, Hispanic Studies, and Latin American Studies. All areas of the program are dedicated to encouraging clear, critical thinking about issues of social organization, politics, policy and cultural production.