The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies offers a competitive honors program that allows motivated undergraduates to work with either a Chicana/o Studies faculty member or an affiliated faculty member to produce an advanced academic project during their junior or senior year. Upon successful completion of all requirements, students will graduate with “Distinction in the Major".
2026-2027 Application
Application Process:
To apply for admission to the honors program, department majors must hold a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 with a minimum 3.5 GPA in the major. Special circumstances will be considered for those short of the major GPA minimum requirement.
Applying to the honors program consists of:
1. A completed application form
2. A one-page cover letter that addresses why the student is interested in participating in the honors program, explanation of possible topics of research, and previous research experience (if any); and
3. A letter of recommendation from a Chicana/o Studies or affiliated faculty member who is familiar with the student’s work (not necessarily the faculty mentor for the project).
4. Endorsement from proposed mentor, acquired by the student (emails are acceptable)
This application form is due August 21st, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST. Form is set to automatically close after the deadline.
Applicants will be notified of their acceptance no later than September 11, 2026.
*PLEASE NOTE: The F26 Honors Course is scheduled for Wednesday's 9:00 - 10:50am
2025-2026 Academic Year Projects
Melanie Hidalgo-Garcia
Many system-impacted Latina students did not know about support programs until later in their college journey. Because of this, they spent many years believing they had to deal with trauma, stress, and school challenges alone.
- Crenshaw's (2013) work on intersectionality reminds us that women of color experience overlapping pressures (gender, race, class, and family trauma), yet schools rarely offer programs that address these combined needs.
- Because these resources aren't known or explained to students, they grow up believing their struggles are their fault instead of seeing them as symptoms of unequal school systems.
- Many system-impacted Latina students only begin healing once they enter college and discover communities designed for them
Jay Landaverde
Research Significance
Highlighting the success of children of immigrant parents. Despite the impact of the U.S. immigration system, all participants are pursuing higher education and creating a sense of privilege within their own lives.
Emerging Implications
Creating safe spaces for young scholars and building a barrier of resilience during pivotal stages of personal growth and decision-making.
Broader Implications for Latinx Youth
Systemic involvement and forced separation often lead to identity insecurities (lowered self-confidence, lost autonomy).
Angie Ocampo
Educational and social impacts of legal status on undocumented immigrants from Latin America has been significantly studied.
Missing from this work = intersections between aging and undocumented status
My research calls attention to undocumented aging individuals who are headed towards and are living the "tercera edad".
Defining the "tercera edad" = sector of the population usually around the age of 65 and older who are societally prescribed as being entitled to retire from the workforce.
"Tercera edad" also characterized by biological, psychological, and social changes.
Special thanks
to our Honors Advisors!
Professor Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval
Professor San Juanita Garcia
We are deeply grateful for their invaluable guidance and mentorship to our Chicanx/a/o Studies Honors students. Their expertise and continued support has empowered students to challenge narratives and make meaningful contributions to our campus community.
2024-2025 Academic Year Projects
Sasha Alvarez
How do the working conditions and structural inequalities within the H-2A visa program reflect historical patterns of exploitation seen in the Bracero Program, and what potential exists for these conditions to spark a sustained farmworker movement, in the United States?
From milpa fields in El Salvador to the strawberry fields in Oxnard – this is personal.
Grisel Jiménez-Santos
In what ways do the experiences of undocumented University of California students engaged in the Opportunity for All campaign provide insights into shaping dignified immigration reform? How did Opportunity for All fail to address the holistic needs of undocumented people?
Constitutional Citizenship & Immigration federalism
The basis of “legal” citizenship as a social contract with the Nation-State
- the right to civil disobedience
10th Amendment, Article 1-Section 8
- immigration federalism
- Opportunity for All (O4A)
Krystal Gonzalez
How have Ethnic Studies courses affected the academic and personal development of Students of Color at UCSB?
Although Ethnic Studies departments have been expanded at the college level over the course of the last few decades, there has been a resurgence of anti-ethnic studies movements that has been amplified with the new presidential administration
This research is significant because it included the expeirences of students who have taken Ethnic Studies courses in fields including but also outside of Chicana/o Studies here at UCSB.
Rather than strictly focusing on the statistical data of students academic achievement, this research examined if and how their emotions developed as a result of the courses they took that is just as important during such developmental years in our lives as Undergraduate students.
Susana Nuñez
How does race, class, and gender affect the everyday experiences of undocumented, foreign-born, or formerly undocumented Indigenous cis women/trans-women?*
How do race, class, and gender impact undocumented, foreign-born, or formerly undocumented Indigenous cis women/trans-women’s interactions with legal systems, including immigration officials and legal officials?
How do undocumented, foreign-born, or formerly undocumented Indigenous cis women/trans-women’s interactions with mainstream society and legal systems affect their well-being and the wellbeing of their loved ones?*