UNM Chicana/o Studies

The Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at the University of New Mexico is an interdisciplinary program. The purpose of the department is to promote a critical understanding of Chicano/Hispano/Mexicano communities through teaching, research, and advocacy. Since our program resides at the flagship institution of the state that has the largest percentage of Hispanics in the country, this mission is integral to furthering the understanding of New Mexico’s present and the nation’s future.

Chicana and Chicano Studies accomplishes its mission by offering an undergraduate minor, promoting research, and establishing community partnerships. Curriculum and community engagement efforts focus on three areas:

Chicana/o cultural studies
Politics and social justice
The transnational U.S.-Mexico experience

The program offers courses on gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, arts and culture, political and social mobilization, immigration and citizenship, history and heritage, land grant studies, Chicana feminism, and queer studies. We address our three areas through a curriculum taught in both English and Spanish and maintain a regional and transnational focus on New Mexico, the U.S. Southwest, and Mexico. We view our partnerships with community and student organizations as central to our academic mission and our objectives for student learning.