College of Letters & Science
Prof. Rubén Medina was invited to the Festival “Poesía en Abril,” sponsored by DePaul University, the Instituto Cervantes, and Casa Michoacán in Chicago, from April 23 to 26. He was also invited to the Feria del Libro de Chicago, at the University of Chicago, from May 7-9. Finally, he curated the Exhibit “Infrarealism: the Permanent …
CLS faculty member Marla Ramírez’s Banished Citizens: A History of the Mexican American Women who Endured Repatriation continues to win awards and inspire acclaim from many different corners. The book chronicles the expulsion of nearly one million people of Mexican descent between 1921 and 1944, more than 60 percent of whom were U.S. Citizens. Ramírez …
Marla A. Ramírez’s Banished Citizens: A History of the Mexican American Women who Endured Repatriation (Harvard University Press, 2025) continues to reach new audiences and win prestigious awards. Recently, the Organization of American Historians (OAH) recognized Banished Citizens with the Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women’s and Gender History, which honors path-breaking books that challenge and/or change …
Suppose you’re a non-Latine actor tasked with playing a Latine character appropriately. Or suppose you’re a Latine actor asked to draw on your heritage for a role, and your training hasn’t prepared you to do that. What do you do? Micha Espinosa, a Professor in Directing with the Theater and Drama department and a CLS …
Recent reporting from the New York Times and others has cast light on extremely concerning reports of sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual harassment perpetrated by Chicano union and civil rights leader César Chávez toward his co-leader Dolores Huerta, Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas in their girlhood, and other women in the farmworker movement. As …
In the wake of the New York Times story that revealed reports of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment by César Chávez, CLS faculty member Armando Ibarra is helping press outlets understand the story’s impact and community responses. In an interview with the Associated Press, Prof. Ibarra noted that the UFW’s 1960s-era victories made the organization …
Is Puerto Rico the most important place in the world? Jorell Meléndez-Badillo thinks there’s a case to be made. On March 17, the CLS affiliate faculty member shared his thoughts about the archipelago’s influence on global popular culture with Carlos Dávalos, guest host of “A Public Affair” on community radio station WORT. He noted that, …
Anthropologist Falina Enriquez was recently named one of 24 winners of the University’s Vilas Associates Competition. The award recognizes new and ongoing research of the highest quality and significance. Recipients are chosen competitively by the divisional Research Committees on the basis of a detailed research proposal. Funds associated with the award will support a two-year …
A recent feature story in the Badger Herald on the relationship between literature and politics of immigration drew on an interview with CLS Director Theresa Delgadillo, a Vilas Distinguished Professor of English and Chicanx/e & Latinx/e Studies. The article noted that fictional stories can shed light on larger truths of immigrant experiences and the realities of …
You could say February has been busy for Jorell Meléndez-Badillo. A CLS affiliate faculty member, Prof. Meléndez-Badillo recently made headlines by contributing historical vignettes to the superstar Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny’s recent album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” (translated as “I Should Have Taken More Pictures”). When Bad Bunny was tapped to perform the 2026 …