Interdisciplinary Programs in Latin American Studies and Latinx Studies

Welcome to Latin American Studies and Latinx Studies!

Program Director: Dr. Laura Matthew


What is Latin American Studies?

Latin American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to analyze critically many aspects of life in Latin America in order to develop a greater understanding of the region, its importance in the hemisphere and the world, and the complex relations between the US and Latin America. Students in Latin American studies benefit from the study of methodologies in a variety of academic fields while at the same time developing a deep understanding of the region. Our interdisciplinary degrees draw from course offerings in Economics, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Social Welfare and Justice, Spanish, and Theology. A degree in Latin American Studies can lead to fulfilling careers in areas that require an understanding of globalization and international regions. Please find more information about our interdisciplinary major and minor in the Undergraduate Bulletin.


What is Latinx Studies?

Latinx Studies is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to examine critically the rich and varied experiences of peoples of Latinx descent in the US. Built on a foundation developed in Race and Ethnic Studies, Latinx Studies engages with the history, politics, social movements, and literary and cultural production of Latinx populations in the US, including but not limited to those of Mexican/Chicanx, Caribbean, Brazilian, and Filipinx backgrounds. Latinx Studies is critical for a more profound understanding of Latinx experiences in and key contributions to the history and culture of the US as well as of race and ethnicity in the US as a whole. A degree that includes Latinx Studies can lead to fulfilling careers in a variety of fields that incorporate an understanding of complex and dynamic factors shaping Latinx communities as well as our society as a whole. Please find more information about our interdisciplinary minor in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

Event Calendar

Please email the Program Director, Dr. Laura Matthew, if you would like to share an event with us.

INLA/LX Facebook Page

Event Calendar

Spring 2021 

  • “Not Even a Grain of Rice: Buying Food on Credit in the Dominican Republic”
    Dr. Christine Hippert - UW-La Crosse
    April 7, 2021 (virtual event)
    Co-sponsored by Center for Peacemaking, Center for Transnational Justice,
    and CURTO
    Contact: Dr. Laura Matthew, History      

Fall 2020 

 Fall 2019

  • Latin American Studies and Latinx Studies – coffee hour
    Speaker: Dr. Grant Silva
    3:00-5:00 pm, AMU 157
    Friday, September 4
    Contact: Dr. Julia Paulk
  • Dr. Frances Aparicio
    AMUW Women´s Chair in Humanistic Studies
    Welcome Reception
    September 12, 5:00-7:00 pm
    Arts@Large in Walker’s Point
    1100 South 5thStreet
    Contact: Dr. Eugenia Afinoguénova, LLAC
  • “Spanish for Heritage Speakers and Learners Workshop”
    Marquette University invites Spanish middle and high school instructors who teach heritage Spanish courses or who have heritage speakers in their classes to take part in a workshop designed to examine current pedagogy in the field. As students who are raised in homes where Spanish is spoken, heritage speakers bring unique possibilities and challenges into the classroom.  This workshop will help teachers understand methodological, linguistic and cultural issues involved in teaching heritage speakers and how to address them.
    Saturday October 12th
    9:00-1:00 a.m.
    Lalumiere Hall 292
  • Somos Latinas: Voices of Wisconsin Latina Activists
    “Somos Latinas: Voices of Wisconsin Latina Activists, shares the stories of 25 women with Wisconsin ties who have lived the words of celebrated civil rights activist and co-founder of the United Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta, who wrote the book’s foreword.”
    October 14, 2:00-4:00 pm (room TBA)
    Contact: Dr. Sergio Gónzalez, HIST and LLAC
  • Dr. Susana Chávez-Silverman – Bilingual Poetry Performance and Reception
    2:30-4:00 pm, October 21
    Haggerty Museum
    “Chávez-Silverman is doing nothing less than creating a new genre . . . through the only language capable of apprehending it: Spanglish as the new language of national becoming.” —Lázaro Lima, Bryn Mawr College
    Contact: Dr. Julia Paulk
  • Dr. Arturo Arias - UCMerced
    Talk in honor of the Year of Indigenous Languages
    Tuesday, October 29
    (title, time and room TBA)
    Contact: Dr. Tara Daly
  • Héctor Concohá, Guatemalan Kaqchikel Maya Historian
    Tues, Nov. 19 at UWM – 3:00 pm
    Contact: Laura Matthew
    Spring, 2020
  • Latin American Studies and Latinx Studies – coffee hour
    Dr. Gabriel Velez, Marquette University
    3:00-5:00 pm, AMU 157
    Friday, January 31
    Contact: Dr. Julia Paulk
  • “Calibans and Caribbeanisms: Troubling the Image”
    2ndConference on Caribbean Studies at Marquette University
    April 2-4, 2020
    Contact: Dr. Dinorah Cortés-Vélez

Faculty and Staff

Our outstanding faculty members are housed in a variety of academic programs at Marquette University but share research and teaching interests in Latin American and/or Latinx Studies.

Faculty and Staff Directory

  • Laura Matthew, Ph.D.,Director,  Associate Professor, History
  • Abel Arango, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish
  • Sonia Barnes, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Spanish
  • Ruth Ann Belknap, Ph.D., RN, PMHCN-BC, Professor, Nursing
  • Pilar Bellver, Associate Professor of Spanish
  • Belén Castañeda, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Spanish
  • Dinorah Cortés-Vélez, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Spanish
  • Tara Daly, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Spanish
  • Michael Donoghue, Ph.D., Associate Professor, History
  • Noelle Brigden, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science
  • Lisa M. Edwards, Ph.D., Professor, Director of Counselor Education; Coordinator of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program
  • Sergio González, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, History
  • Todd Hernández, Ph.D., Professor of Spanish
  • Erin Hoekstra, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Social and Cultural Sciences
  • Michelle Medeiros, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Spanish
  • Brian Palmer-Rubin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science
  • Julia C. Paulk, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Spanish
  • Jessica Rich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science
  • Stephanie Rivera Berruz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Philosophy
  • Grant Silva, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Philosophy
  • John Thiede, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Theology
  • Lucas Torres, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Psychology
  • Mónica Unda Gutiérrez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science
  • Gabriel Velez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Educational Policy and Leadership
  • Julissa Ventura, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Educational Policy and Leadership