Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies Major

Study Latin American experiences within the United States and wider diaspora, and explore the intersections with issues of race, ethnicity, class, culture, gender and sexuality.

As a major or minor in Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies, you’ll learn about the history of people of Latin American descent within the United States and the wider diaspora. The Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies is an intercollegiate program, offering a broad array of courses covering four areas of concentration:

  • Border and transnational studies
  • Educación: social justice, formation and critical pedagogy
  • Literature, art and representation
  • Politics, social movements and labor

In these multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary classes, you’ll inquire, discuss and research issues of race, ethnicity, class, culture, gender and sexuality and how they intersect with the Latin American experience.

In class with Professor Tinker Salas
In class with Professor Miguel Tinker Salas
In class with Professor Gilda Ochoa
In class with Professor Gilda Ochoa

What You’ll Study

    • ​One course in Chicana/o-Latina/o history
    • Advanced Spanish
    • Courses from each of the four areas of concentration
    • Service learning or community engagement component
    • Senior exercise
30
hours of community service are required for a Community Partnerships course that combines learning with meaningful change-making.

Researching at Pomona

Rene Valenzuela

Border Dynamics

René Valenzuela ’20 was awarded a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) to conduct research on the evolving dynamics between two sister-cities that straddle the Mexico-U.S. border.

Julián Villaseñor

Understanding and Positioning Mexicans in Chicago

Julián Villaseñor '21 is excited to look at how Mexicans immigrants have made Chicago – a city far from the U.S.-Mexico border – the third largest enclave of Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans in the U.S.

Diana Rodriguez '20

(Re)Claiming Voices in Latinx Communities

Diana Rodriguez ’20 enjoyed the final project for the (Re)Claiming Voices in Latinx Communities taught by Professor Gilda Ochoa which consisted of giving voice to people through testimonios or oral histories.

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Julián Villaseñor
Julián Villaseñor '21

I chose to major in Chicanx Latinx studies because of how interdisciplinary the major is; CLS is a blend of linguistics, history, literature, anthropology, sociology, education, and so much more. Furthermore, because Chicanx Latinx studies covers the wide range of perspectives and histories of all Latin America and the relationship with the United States, expanding my worldview as well -- I am actively learning about experiences different than my own.

Faculty & Teaching

Among our Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies professors are historians, sociologists and psychologists—all of whom have won awards for their excellence in teaching. But their impact on you will extend beyond the classroom as they take you into the wider Los Angeles community to show you how to put scholarship into practice.

Professor Miguel Tinker Salas

Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies majors are uniquely prepared to navigate an increasingly global and diverse society in which Latino/as are playing an ever more important role. Rooted in the humanities and social sciences, our majors learn to explore the interrelated web of connections that exist between race, ethnicity, class, culture, gender and sexuality and their role in our contemporary society.