Univ. to offer classes on Latino Americans

The university will offer new classes focusing on the experiences of Latinos in the United States beginning this fall, making the school the first in the area to recognize the contributions of the Latino community through an academic program, according to those involved.

Drawing on research and literature of the Latino diaspora, the program seeks to tell the story of the first Latinos to immigrate to the United States.

"This means that the U.S./Latino voice will be heard and be acknowledged," said Ruth Zambrana, director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity, where the program will be temporarily housed. Zambrana, who will serve as interim director of the program, added, "It will help us develop a central research and scholarship center that will put the University of Maryland on the map."

Associate Provost for Academic Planning and Programs Phyllis Peres and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Bill Destler announced the new classes during a symposium sponsored by the Latina/o Studies Working Group last week.

"We hope to really build an intellectual program that is of caliber to really make us have a signature program nationwide," Peres said. "We are not only about outreach but we are also about being producers of knowledge."

The architects of the proposal have spent almost two years developing a plan that outlines the establishment first of classes, then a permanent Latino studies program that could become a graduate degree or minor.

Immigration from Latin America has made the Latino population the largest minority in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau, and their numbers are projected to continue upward for decades to come.

"One of the things I keep telling people is that by the year 2020 there will be 50 million Latino/Latina-Americans in this country," Destler told students at the symposium, "so any institution such as the University of Maryland ... had better find a way to respond to the needs of this growing population, or they are simply not going to be relevant to a very large fraction of the American population."

Professor Joe Palacios, visiting from Georgetown University, said the Washington area is a perfect spot to house a Latino studies program.

"I think it's exciting to be in D.C., because no Latin group has any historic claim," Palacios said. "We can think through Latino in a whole new way - construct a totally new idea."

Carmen Román is a professor and community outreach coordinator for the Spanish and Portuguese department. She said her students, most of whom are Latino, are interested in constructing majors around Latino studies but have been unable to in the past because of university reluctance.

"It's long, long overdue," Román said, pointing to the significant Latino population that surrounds the school. "We have got to open our eyes to exactly where is the university located. Look around the College Park area."

Contact reporter Arelis Hernandez at hernandezdbk@gmail.com.