The Latina/o Studies Workshop (LSW) responds to evolving paradigms in the field of Latina/o Studies. Latina/o Studies is an interdisciplinary field informed by work in history, psychology, anthropology, political science, Native American and African American studies, women of color feminism, and queer theory, among other disciplines and fields. Our graduate student members as well as the faculty composition of the Latina/o Studies Program at Michigan reflect such a diversity of interests. Therefore, we seek to create a professionalizing space to capacitate University of Michigan-based Latina/o studies scholars with the tools to be on the cutting edge of our field. We offer an intellectual space where we can collaboratively track emergent formations in the field as they pertain to critical ethnic studies, gender theory, digital studies, global hispanisms, and, recently, scholarly interventions under rubrics such as “queer latinidades,” a theme this year’s workshop aims to interrogate. 

For the 2015-2016 academic year, the LSW will offer a vibrant program of activities from talks by leading intellectuals in the field to meetings where students discuss their own research (i.e. conference papers, dissertation chapters, articles) and job materials (i.e. job talks, cover letters, CVs) in a collaborative and engaging environment. One innovative aspect of the LSW is how it bridges graduate students at Michigan with graduate students at other universities in an interdisciplinary peer-network that further strengthens their professional and scholarly endeavors.