JUNE 2023
VOLUME 2
La crónica /A crônica The newsletter of the Latin American & Latinx Studies Program at The University of Scranton
Director's Note
Aiala Levy, PhD
It’s been another action-packed year for Latin American and Latinx Studies! The South Side Restaurant Tour, Hispanic Heritage Month panel, semesterly film series, Concentrators Charla, fall lecture, El Carnaval, and end-of-year celebration (see left) now constitute an annual rhythm, engaging University and community members in timely discussions about and celebrations of Latin and Latinx Americas. Accompanying this rhythm were a handful of collaborative events, including an interactive introduction to Latin American and Latinx Studies for middle-school students in the STARS program. Additionally, program concentrators pioneered a new genre of events: the LALS beverage hour. LALS students prepared and served Mexican champurrado in the fall and a selection of aguas frescas in the spring, along with materials explaining the beverages and LALS, to nearly 100 attendees! (Much more on this and other events in the pages below.) LALS concentrators, and especially Erika Aguilar '23, also took the lead designing a LALS icon (see right) to visually explain the program's scope and identity on promotional materials. The icon challenges viewers to rethink Latin/x America as well as our worldview.
Contents
DIRECTOR'S NOTE FACULTY UPDATES GRADUATING STUDENTS COURSES EVENTS ALUMNI SPANISH CULTURAL SOCIETY
Speaking of our innovative students, I’m happy to share that LALS tripled its number of concentrators during the 2022-2023 academic year! We warmly welcome new students to the program as we bid farewell to our small but mighty senior class, spotlighted on page 5. It’s also time for me to bid a bittersweet farewell to LALS, at least for the time being. I am grateful to the faculty on the LALS Steering Committee for their hard work, passion, and collegiality. Many thanks are also due to Erika Aguilar '23 and Elizabeth Anzures '24, LALS’s work-study students this past year, and Donna Rupp, LALS administrative assistant, for making possible all that the program does. PAGE 1