Home ›
Our Stories

Our Stories

Peter S. Gonzales, ND ‘16 and JD ‘19, joins ILS Advisory Council

Published: November 05, 2020

Institute for Latino Studies

Peter S. Gonzales, a commercial litigation associate at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in Chicago, is the newest member of the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) Advisory Council. As a young alum on the council, he will advance Notre Dame’s mission by serving as an ambassador for ND in his community and profession. Specifically, he will provide counsel and professional...

Hispanic Heritage Month Reminds Us 1000+ ND Students are Latinx

Published: September 15, 2020

Institute for Latino Studies

Over 14% of incoming undergraduates self-identify as Latino/Hispanic students, making over 1000 of the 8731 undergraduates at ND Latinx, not including international and DACA students. The Institute for Latino Studies, the employee resource group AdelanteND and the Hispanic Alumni of Notre Dame (HAND) are observing Hispanic Heritage Month in a number of ways through Oct. 15.

ILS' Hispanic Heritage Month 2019 Events

Published: September 17, 2019

Institute for Latino Studies

This month is comprised of diverse and unique events and scholarly activities aimed to acknowledge the importance and educate the campus community about the intellectual richness that Latino communities provide to the U.S.

Letras Latinas director participates in the Dodge Poetry Festival

Published: October 25, 2018

Institute for Latino Studies

As part of the Institute for Latino Studies’ academic program, the Letras Latinas initiative provides scholarly activities, brings emerging writers to campus to engage with students, and often partners with other Notre Dame departments and national organizations.

ILS collaborates in launching the area's first Spanish-English Immersion program at Holy Cross Grade School

Published: March 07, 2017

Institute for Latino Studies

Around the country, a growing number of schools are beginning these programs of “two-way immersion.” In the two-way immersion model, children from two distinct languages come together to form a learning community in which each benefits from the others’ linguistic and cultural assets.

Latino Studies celebrates graduates of the Class of 2016

Published: May 24, 2016

Institute for Latino Studies

On May 14th, 2016, the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) celebrated 13 students graduating as majors during the Latino Studies Certificate Ceremony. Honorary doctorate recipient Arturo Sandoval, an internationally acclaimed jazz and classical musician and composer who also performed Ave Maria at the University Commencement Ceremony, spoke at the ceremony.

Sociologist Jennifer Jones to convene Afro-Latino conference

Published: October 17, 2014

Institute for Latino Studies

Jennifer Jones, Institute for Latino Studies faculty fellow and assistant professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology, will convene a conference on Afro-Latinos in Movement: Critical Approaches to Blackness and Transnationalism in the Americas on October 31, 2014. The conference and an accompanying volume, for which Professor Jones will serve as co-editor, explore broad questions of black identity and representation,...

Recent Grads use Latino Studies as Springboard for Law Careers

Published: October 19, 2020

Institute for Latino Studies

The field of Latino Studies is marked by its intersectionality: students can take the skills and knowledge they learn down any number of professional paths. In the case of three recent Notre Dame graduates — Gregory Jenn, Cesar Estrada, and Xitlaly Estrada (no relation)…

Latino Studies instrumental in lives of majors, minors, and grad students

Published: May 08, 2020

Institute for Latino Studies

Since 2005, the ILS has provided students with the ability to both major and minor in Latino Studies, in addition to offering many different opportunities for volunteering, networking, and professional development.

Opinion: Where are all the Latinx Catholics at Notre Dame?

Published: September 12, 2019

Institute for Latino Studies

ILS graduate student Oliver Ortega weighs the University's role as a hotbed for Catholic thought against its notable lack of Latinx students.

National Council of La Raza president speaks at Latino Recognition Ceremony

Published: May 15, 2017

Institute for Latino Studies

Murguía has worked to amplify the Latino voice on issues affecting the Hispanic community such as education, health care, immigration, civil rights, and the economy.

Letras Latinas, other poetry groups offer programs on Migration

Published: February 28, 2017

Institute for Latino Studies

The theme of the programs, “Because We Come From Everything: Poetry & Migration,” borrows a line from U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem, “Borderbus.”

Observer letter to the editor: #MigrantLivesMatter

Published: February 17, 2016

Institute for Latino Studies

The cooler opened and the pungent smell immediately hit our noses. Before our eyes were dozens of dead bodies, most of them labeled John and Jane Doe. Migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border are flooding the Pima County medical examiner’s office with hundreds of migrant remains each year.

A Topologist, an Educator and an UndocyAlly Join the ILS Faculty Fellows

Published: September 28, 2020

Institute for Latino Studies

This fall, three leaders from the Notre Dame community have been appointed Faculty Fellows of the Institute for Latino Studies. Assistant Professor of Mathematics Juanita Pinzón Caicedo, First Year Academic Advisor Leonor Wangensteen, and Katy Walter Lichon of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education join a distinguished group of scholars.…

Letras Latinas presents off-campus event in the community

Published: November 04, 2019

Institute for Latino Studies

Letras Latinas strives to enhance the visibility, appreciation, and study of Latinx literature both on and off the campus—with an emphasis on programs that support newer voices, foster a sense of community among writers, and place Latinx writers in community spaces.

Rita Moreno, legend of stage and screen, to discuss her career and issues facing Latinos in entertainment

Published: January 29, 2019

Institute for Latino Studies

Moreno — an American actress, dancer and singer of Puerto Rican descent — is the first and only Latina to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT), and she will be the special guest of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies next month as part of its Transformative Latino Leadership Lecture Series.

Letras Latinas partners with the Smithsonian for poetry event

Published: May 09, 2017

Institute for Latino Studies

Letras Latinas, the literary initiative at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies presented a poetry reading at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, D.C.

Engaging America’s future: Latino youth

Published: September 16, 2016

Institute for Latino Studies

In this blog post, co-director of the Institute for Latino Studies, Luis Ricardo Fraga, focuses on the obligation society’s leaders have to provide the younger Latino community with opportunities to take lead and develop a state of responsibility for their community’s future.

What it's like to be a DREAMer on campus

Published: May 22, 2015

Institute for Latino Studies

IILS faculty and staff have been actively involved with the University's efforts to admit and support "DREAMer" students to pursue their aspirations through a Notre Dame education. We are very proud of all our students, including the authors of the following editorial that recently appeared in The Washington Post.