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Students recognized for their contributions to Latino Studies

Oliver Ortega

Each year, the Institute for Latino Studies recognizes exemplary work by undergraduate and graduate students in the humanities and social sciences. This past academic year, five students were recognized for their written work in classes related to Latino Studies or Spanish-speaking populations. Four graduate students and one undergraduate students were celebrated for their contributions.…

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Senior Alejandra Osorio aspires to be bilingual physician and public health leader

Oliver Ortega

Dressed as a bright orange carrot at the front of the grade school classroom, Alejandra Osorio would ask students to pick between her and their cupcake outfit-clad peer standing a few feet away. Almost unanimously, the students would choose her sweeter counterpart as their preferred snack. The scene repeated itself in classroom after classroom, in virtually all the schools the then-high...

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Kristen Millares Young to read from acclaimed novel about culture, race, storytelling for Hispanic Heritage Month

Oliver Ortega

Deep questions about culture and race lie at the heart of Kristen Millares Young’s debut novel, Subduction. The book follows Claudia, a cultural anthropologist doing fieldwork in the Pacific Northwest, in a coastal community of indigenous people known as the Makah. The half-Mexican, half-White American protagonist invites readers to grapple with the country’s history of coloniality and deciding who gets...

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The Latina/o Studies Association Holds its Biennial Conference at Notre Dame, Looks Toward the Future

Oliver Ortega

  After two years of delay, the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame hosted a gathering this past summer for one of the most important academic organizations in ethnic studies. Hundreds of scholars and artists flocked to the Duncan Student Center over the course of four days in July to attend the Latina/o Studies Association's biennial...

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Young Scholars Symposium in Latino Studies to convene emergent scholars from across country and distinguished Professor Charlene Villaseñor Black

Oliver Ortega

Seven up-and-coming scholars from across the country, along with distinguished professor Charlene Villaseñor Black of UCLA, will headline the Young Scholars Symposium at the Institute for Latino Studies next week. The virtual gathering on March 18 and 19 is part of an annual ILS initiative to bring together advanced graduate students and junior faculty working to complete a dissertation, book, or other form...

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One-day gathering celebrates Latinidad and poetics in all its complexity

Oliver Ortega

A select group of poets and critics convened at the University of Notre Dame for "Latinx Poetics, a One-Day Gathering", as part of a marquee spring event for Letras Latinas, the literary arm of the Institute for Latino Studies. The event, held on the second floor of McKenna Hall, was composed of an afternoon session and an evening session, with a...

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Think. Pair. Share.: Dr. Luis Fraga Speaks on Podcast about the Transformative Nature of a Catholic Education

Oliver Ortega

ILS Director Dr. Luis Fraga, the Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Professor of Political Science, recently appeared on the podcast Think. Pair. Share. to discuss the transformative nature of a Catholic Education. Hosted by Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives, Think.Pair.Share. describes itself as exploring "learning--from the everyday exchange of thoughts and ideas--to the theories and practices behind entire systems."…

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Sociology and Latino Studies guide recent grad to Fulbright in Mexico

Oliver Ortega

Since high school, Erin Albertini has been focused on becoming a bilingual doctor serving children and families. But the recent Notre Dame graduate’s path to medicine is uniquely intersectional. Eschewing traditional pre-med majors such as biology and chemistry, Albertini instead took on sociology, Latino studies, Spanish and early childhood literacy during her time at Notre Dame, which culminated this May.

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