Department of Latin American and Latino Studies

The Department of Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) at UC Santa Cruz centers the interconnected experiences and perspectives of Latin American and Latinx communities as a foundation for intellectual analysis and engaged research. As an interdisciplinary department within a Hispanic-Serving Institution, our mission and vision emerge from the diverse communities that the University serves. LALS is committed to transformative research, teaching, advising, and mentoring that advance our understanding of how these communities’ dreams and realities are shaped by migration and mobilities; inequalities, identities, and intersectionality; race and ethnicity; social and political transitions; and culture, power, and knowledge. LALS is a space for dialogues that link the histories, societies, cultures, ideas, and experiences of Latinxs and Latin American peoples in California, the United States, hemispherically, and globally.