Latinx Studies Initiative at the University of Kansas
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The KU Latinx Studies Initiative aims to support the production of research and community-based projects by creating a comprehensive network of allies.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2015, Latinxs are one of the most rapidly growing segments of the U.S. population, accounting for nearly half of total demographic growth and representing over 18 percent of all U.S. residents. Since 2008, Latinxs have been the largest and fastest growing “minority” group at the University of Kansas (KU) and in the state of Kansas. Latinxs are a critical c
omponent of our expanding and growing nation, and they represent significant social, economic, and political contributions. What happens to Latinx happens to the nation; and Latinxs’ physical, economic, and cultural well-being is critical to the well-being of the United States as a whole. The Latinx experience intersects Anthropology, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Spanish and Portuguese, Sociology, and Religious Studies, along with programs such as American Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, African and African American Studies, Indigenous Nations Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies, among others. In 2006-2007, when the number of KU Faculty with specialization in Latinx populations in the U.S. reached critical mass through several new hires, a group of these faculty came together to raise the profile of Latinx Studies at KU. At the time, KU offered majors or minors in African and African American Studies and Indigenous Nations Studies, but not in Latino/a Studies. These faculty successfully proposed a new U.S. Latina/o Studies minor, housed in American Studies. The KU Latinx Studies Initiative (LSI) embraces the heterogeneous identities, socioeconomic status, racial, national, and generational differences of Latinxs by building interdisciplinary relationships among departments, programs, and units on campus as well as community organizations that represent related interests. In February 2007, we organized a national, interdisciplinary U.S. Latino/a Studies conference at KU: “Nuestra América in the U.S.?”. This conference, one of the earliest to focus exclusively on Latinx Studies at a national level, featured prominent, internationally known scholars and writers such as Juan Flores, Suzanne Oboler, Emma Pérez, Roberto Suro, and Helena María Viramontes, and brought over 200 people from across the nation to KU. Latinx Studies Initiative seeks to teach, research and serve the many manifestations of Latinx culture and identity and make visible the voluminous histories and experiences of Latinxs in celebration of their invaluable intellectual and cultural contributions. We welcome students, staff, colleagues, community members, and you to join us in our lectures, presentations, and symposia that strive to create an intellectual community on campus and in the region.
