Meet Dr. Lucia Leon: New Faculty Member Leading New Minor in Latin American & Latino Studies
Meet Dr. Lucia Leon, incoming Assistant Professor of Latino Studies and Social Justice. Dr. Leon obtained her PhD from UCLA in Chicana/o and Central American Studies. Her journey into the professorship is motivated by her personal, political and intellectual commitments to immigrant communities and social justice. In the Fall 2022 Dr. Leon will teach PHIL 2106 Ethics of Citizenship and Immigration and LALS 3000 Latino Studies and U.S. Community Context.
“Dear students, faculty, staff and community members, I am thrilled to join the Dominican community! I am especially excited to form part of the academic growth on campus with the addition of the new Latin American & Latino Studies minor. The minor has great promise to transform our understanding of diverse experiences of Latino communities. We will draw on the developments of Latino Studies to engage in a collective critical thinking and social justice praxis — a solidarity approach that is particularly important during this crucial moment in U.S. history. I look forward to our collective learning and community building. See you in the fall!”
The inspiration for the new Latin American & Latino Studies minor emerged during the pandemic when we mobilized our heritage Spanish speaking students to serve specific interests and needs in the Canal immigrant community with whom we have long-standing community partners.
In Fall 2020, over 30 Spanish bilingual students came together to create programming to support Canal parents in building their digital literacy skills to support their children. We subsequently expanded to have students support many other programs in the Canal neighborhood, including Rental Assistance, Covid-19 testing and vaccination, and most recently our collaboration with Voces del Canal on a participatory action research to advocate for increasing public lighting in the Canal.
Over 50 heritage Spanish speaking students, most first-generation college students have supported vital programming over the past two years, many for the full two years. Centering the knowledge, skills, lived experience — cultural wealth — of our students created a powerful learning experience for all involved. Our students bring passion and commitment to community engagement. They share that contributing and learning more about Latinx identity, culture, community — using and expanding their Spanish skills — is vital, meaningful and important to their education. Thus, the new minor was born and we are so pleased to welcome a new faculty member to our community!
