News

Leal Award 2026 | Julissa Arce

The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies presents this year's Leal Award, which this year is being presented to Julissa Arce, who has written her moving memoirs about being an undocumented young person for many years. She is also the founder and director of the Ascend Educational Fund that provides college scholarships to undocumented students of any ethnic background.

Professor Daina Sanchez receives the Association of Latina/o and Latinx Anthropologists (ALLA) Award

Please join us in celebrating Professor Daina Sanchez as she receives the Association of Latina/o and Latinx Anthropologists (ALLA) Award for her most recent book, Children of Solaga: Indigenous Belonging Across the U.S.-Mexico Border! We are deeply proud of this accomplishm

‘Somos sobrevivientes’: el pueblo maya ixil sale en defensa de su territorio en Guatemala

The Maya Ixil people of Guatemala are defending their ancestral lands against hydroelectric projects imposed without prior consultation. In San Juan Cotzal, community members say these developments, like the Palo Viejo plant, disrupt local rivers and livelihoods while profits largely benefit foreign companies.

Announcing Awardees for Horacio Roque Ramirez Central American Studies Scholarship

Award Recipient: Melissa Romero & Sofia Cifuentes Award Date: May 28, 2025

The Division of Social Sciences is honored to announce the Recipients of the 2025 Horacio Roque Ramirez Central American Studies Scholarship. Below is the list of two Recipients and Honorable Mentions! Awardees will be honored at a ceremony that will take place on Wednesday May 28 from 10am-11am at the McCune Room (6020 HSSB). 

Awardees

Statement on Hate Crimes at UCSB

The Faculty of the Department of Chicana/o Studies raises great concern for the hate crimes committed on our UC Santa Barbara campus this week.¹

An Afternoon with Damian: Nuclear Colonialism Through New Mexican Literature

Graduate student Damian Yazzie will be facilitating an hour-long session of community reading on the topic titled, “Nuclear Colonialism Through New Mexican Literature”. In providing historical and cultural context for which the New Mexican Literature becomes positioned in, he will provide a brief historiography of the specified locations affected by Nuclear Waste and Nuclear Testing throughout New Mexico, with accompanying images of locationally relevant sites affected.

Professor Ralph Armbruster Sandoval: Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the ‘Harvest of American Empire’

Professor Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval’s latest op-ed examines the lasting impact of U.S. foreign interventions, focusing on the tragic story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the enduring cycles of violence and displacement they have caused. He calls on the United States to confront and take responsibility for these consequences

— read the full piece to learn more about this powerful and timely argument.

Assistant Professor Giovanni Batz Awarded the Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies Thomas McGann Book Prize in Modern Latin American History

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Giovanni Batz who was awarded the Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies Thomas McGann Book Prize in Modern Latin American History. Assistant Professor Batz was awarded at the 72nd Annual Conference of the Rocky Mountain Council on Latin American Studies in Ottawa, Canada on Saturday April 12.