Description of the Program
The intent of the Graduate Minor in Chican@ & Latin@ Studies is to examine U.S. Latina/o experiences in a transnational and comparative context with the goal of fostering a relational and interdisciplinary understanding of racialized ethnocultural groups in the U.S., and of the social, cultural, historical, economic, political, and educational processes by which ethnocultural groups are racialized. Building outward from a core concern with the experiences of U.S. Latinas/os, especially in the Midwestern region of the U.S., the Minor also allows for study that looks beyond the borders of the U.S., so essential in our increasingly interconnected world.
Our courses integrate an array of materials, themes, and methods from many fields: history, literature, psychology, sociology, politics, visual studies, folklore, musicology, film and media, theater and drama, geography, anthropology, health, education, social work, art, and others. The minor emphasizes the diverse demography of U.S. society, paying attention not only to issues of race and ethnicity, but also to those of indigeneity, class, nation, gender, diaspora, sexuality, and other forms of difference and dominance, belonging and identification.
For specific requirements, please visit the following websites:
Requirements for a Ph.D. minor in Chican@ & Latin@ Studies (UW Madison Course Guide)
How to Declare a Graduate Minor (Policy Library)
To pursue the minor, schedule an advising meeting with the CLS Director. After discussing your program of study with the Director, you will complete a Minor Agreement Form and submit it to the Graduate School together with the warrant for your doctoral exams. The Graduate School has enhanced the Graduate Student Portal (accessible through MyUW) to enable students to add, change, or discontinue doctoral minors and graduate/professional certificates, in addition to majors/named options.
Graduate Students interested in Chican@ & Latin@ Studies may wish to connect with the Graduate School’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Funding, as well as other for diversity, equity, and inclusion offered by the Graduate School.
Courses for Minor, Spring 2025
ENGL 816 Topics in Ethnic and Multicultural Literature: Black Latinidades
Instructor: Theresa Delgadillo
T 11:00am – 1:30pm
Requisites: Graduate/Professional Standing
This course explores both convergences among African American and Latinx literature in addressing anti-Blackness as well as Black Latinidades as subjectivities that emerge from hemispheric networks and context. We will consider what Black Latinx cultural expressions tell us not only about race, class, gender, and empire but also what they reveal about decolonial thought and praxis, alternative ways of being in the world, relations that matter, and alternative futures. Students will explore key theoretical and critical readings on diaspora, borderlands, transamerican and hemispheric studies by authors such as Stuart Hall, Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Jose David Salidvar, Lorgia Garcia Peña, Rebecca Hey-Colón, and Silvio Torres Saillant. Students will also read several literary texts and view cinematic texts such as work by Loida Maritza Perez, Junot Diaz, Julia Alvarez, Elizabeth Acevedo, Daniel Alarcón, Sandra Cisneros and others.
HISTORY 901 Studies in American History: US-Mexico Gendered Migrations: Archival Research, Oral History, and Memory
Instructor: Marla Ramírez Tahuado
T 3:30pm – 5:25pm
Requisites: Consent of Instructor
This seminar invites students to explore the history of gendered migrations across the US-Mexico borderlands during the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will analyze the social, political, labor, economic, and legal debates surrounding ethnic Mexican gendered migrations and their effects on migrants and their families. The assigned readings include books and articles that utilize diverse methodologies including memory, archival research, and oral history. Students will engage in the process of conducting archival research and oral histories. To do so, students will attend workshops and engage in readings about diverse intersectional methodological approaches as a way of introduction to begin their own research.