Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies

Happy Week 2 to all our Session C enrolled students! ☀️ Don't forget, if you're looking for a place to take a break, the Sculpture Garden north of Bunche Hall is a great place filled with art and green spaces 🌱

Congratulations, Class of 2026!!! 🎊🎓🎉

Thank you for choosing CCAS. We can't wait to continue to celebrate you and all the amazing things you'll do after your time with us. 🌟

We continue to celebrate our faculty by congratulating Dr. Genevieve Carpio for receiving multiple awards this academic year. 🎊

They include the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Faculty Writing Retreat Grant to support self-organized writing retreats designed to foster sustained research, collaboration, and intellectual community among faculty.

As well as the Research Excellence Award for Associate Professors whose research address questions important to the fields of critical race and postcolonial studies and/or gender, sexuality, and ethnic studies.

¡Felicidades Professora Carpio! 👏🎉👏

We continue to celebrate our faculty's recent achievements with Dr. Yessica Garcia Hernandez who received two awards. 🥳

The first award is the 2026 Catrióna Rueda Esquibel Publication/Creative Works Recognition Award for her article titled, "The Singer, The P**n Star and Me: Vulgar Feminism as Theory of Chicana/Mexicana Sexual Economies," from the Chicana Caucus at National Association of Chicana/o Studies. Additionally, Dr. Garcia Hernandez recently received the 2026 Undergraduate Research Week Faculty Mentor Award from UCLA Division of Undergraduate Education.

Help us congratulate Professora Garcia Hernandez! 🎊

📣 Interested in Research? APPLY NOW: Insurance Research Lab 2026-2027 (CCAS 199)

The Insurance Research Lab examines how systems of risk and insurance structure everyday life and inequality. Through collaborative undergraduate research and public-facing work, students will contribute to humanities-based projects that make these infrastructures visible and accessible beyond the university.

Students will:
• Conduct collaborative research
• Create public-facing projects
• Receive professional mentorship
• Earn 2 units through CCAS 199

Lower-division students are especially encouraged to apply.

🗓 Applications due tomorrow May 29, 2026

Questions: [email protected]

We are pleased to share Dr. Leisy Abrego has been selected to receive Gold Shield's 30th Faculty Prize. Awarded annually, the Gold Shield Faculty Prize recognizes a UCLA faculty member who has demonstrated exceptional achievement in undergraduate teaching, research or creative work, and service to the university.

Dr. Charlene Villaseñor Black, Professor Emerita and 2016 Gold Shield Faculty Prize Recipient shared the following words, “Abrego is one of UCLA’s most gifted and influential teachers, in addition to being an internationally-recognized impactful scholar. Her research on Central American Studies and Illegality Studies is widely cited across multiple fields and has informed national U.S. policy, while her teaching deeply shapes the lives of our students, inspiring them to action.”

Please help us in congratulating Professor Abrego 🎊

The Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies would like to congratulate our Honors Thesis students: Cris Avitia Camacho, Javier Murillo, Nathalie Escobedo, and Mireya Gutierrez Vasquez. They recently successfully presented their work at the Departmental Honors Thesis Colloquium. 🎊🌟🎊

Your dedication, passion, and hard work have brought you to that special moment as scholars, and we are so proud of everything you have accomplished. 📚🎓📖

Check out our Undergraduate Research Spotlight 🌟 Help us congratulate our honors student, Mireya Gutierrez Vasquez, who will be returning to UCLA in the fall to pursue her MSW/PhD in Social Welfare.

Title of Thesis: Resilience en la Lucha (Struggle): The Migration Trajectory of Central American Adults
Committe: Dr. Leisy Abrego & Dr. Floridalma Boj Lopez

Research Spotlight: We take a moment to congratulate Dr. Veronica Terriquez, Professor in Chicana/o and Central American Studies, on her recent book "Learning to Lead: Youth Organizing in Immigrant Communities."

To learn more about the book and where to purchase it, click the link below. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Terriquez on her book! 📖🎊📚

https://www.russellsage.org/publications/book/learning-lead