We are pleased to share 2020-21 highlights from the Latina/o/x Studies Program at the University of Iowa.

On October 1, 2021, Elizabeth Rodriguez Fielder, Assistant Professor, Department of English, The University of Iowa, will present at the American Studies Floating Friday lecture. Her talk is entitled, “Labor of Love: Intimacy as Activism in Madeline Anderson’s I Am Somebody (1970)."

During the summer of 2021 three of our PhD students had the opportunity to work with local locations through the Obermann Center Humanities for Public Good intern program. Learn about their work here.

The Latina/x/o Migration and Education Working Group explores the contemporary knowledge production and experiences of migrants moving between the Americas.

Dr. Lina-Maria Murillo, assistant professor of Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies and History, has received a 2021-22 American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship.

McKrina Lopez, who is studying Marketing Analytics with a Minor in Latina/o/x Studies, was recognized as a "Tippie Top 21" in 2020-21.

The University of Illinois announced that it has hired Dr. Jacki Thompson Rand as the inaugural Associate Vice Chancellor for Native Affairs and Senior Adviser to the Chancellor on Native Affairs Issues. Dr. Rand is a historian and member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, with decades of experience in academia and at the Smithsonian Institute.

The students, staff, and faculty of NAIS were saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend, Dr. Michelene Pesantubbee, Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of Religious Studies.

Dr. Eric Vázquez, Assistant Professor in Latina/o/x Studies, published "Left Out of Bukele’s Bitcoin Decision, Salvadorans Face Deepening Inequality" on the NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America) website.