Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies

Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies

The Department of Latin American, Latino, & Iberian Studies (LALIS) is a diverse community that perceives the study of language, literature, and culture as integral to understanding the human experience. Our interdisciplinary humanities program highlights the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas, including varieties of Spanglish in the United States. Our unique and expanding course catalog, which emphasizes content relevant to the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking worlds, includes courses in languages, literatures, linguistics, and community-based learning, as well as film, theater, performance, translation, cultural, and Latino studies. In LALIS, we welcome students of all linguistic backgrounds, whether their language experience began at home or in school, in the United States or abroad. We prepare students to engage in purposeful lives by fostering intellectual curiosity and integrity, cross-cultural awareness, and linguistic empathy. 

We are committed to empowering students to combat racial and social inequities. 

LALIS Student Award Winners

Student Award Winners

Congratulations to the 2023 LALIS Award Winners:

Outstanding LALIS Majors
Lily Miller

Outstanding Service to the Richmond Hispanic Community
Leah Kulma

Outstanding Assistant Teacher in LALIS
Nicky Ramírez

 

Facilities Staff Contribute to Latest Museum Exhibition

The Department of Latin American, Latino & Iberian Studies and University Museums asked custodial staff for their input on an exhibition by Latinx artist Jay Lynn Gomez focusing on the value of domestic workers. Staff shared their impressions on the art and its layout, and provided comments and opinions that were integrated into the exhibition’s educational initiatives, catalogue, and informational panels. 

“Collaborating with facilities employees offered an opportunity for talking about the vital energy involved in a work that implies much more than keeping up cleanliness and beauty of physical spaces, and for exploring the meanings of work and working time,” said exhibition co-curator Karina Vázquez, director of UR’s Spanish Community-Based Learning Program.

Upcoming Events

No events scheduled at this time.

Faculty Highlights

Dr. Mariela Méndez
Méndez Delivers Presentation

While on a Fulbright Scholar Award in Brazil, Mariela Méndez, associate professor of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies and women, gender, and sexuality studies, delivered the presentation “Impertinências feministas no arquivo clariceano: Proposta para uma aproximação material sensorial e performática às intervenções feministas” [“Feminist Impertinences in the Claricean Archive: Proposal for a Material Sensorial and Performative Approach to Feminist Interventions”] at a roundtable on Impertinências Feministas na Literatura Latinoamericana [Feminist Impertinences in Latin American Literature] organized by the Feminist Lab at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.

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Dr. Mariela Méndez
Méndez Published

Mariela Méndez, associate professor of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies and women, gender, and sexuality studies, published the chapter “Que(e)rying Femininities: Clarice Lispector’s Correio Feminino on TV Globo” in After Clarice: Reading Lispector’s Legacy in the Twenty-First Century.

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Dr. Elizabeth Kissling
Kissling Published

Elizabeth Kissling, associate professor of Spanish and applied linguistics, published the article "Exploring Boundedness for Concept-Based Instruction of Aspect: Evidence from Novice L1 English Speakers Learning the Spanish Preterite and Imperfect" in The Modern Language Journal.

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Dr. Elizabeth Kissling
Kissling Published

Elizabeth Kissling, associate professor of Spanish and applied linguistics, published the article "From Rule-Based Explicit Instruction to Explicit Knowledge: A Pilot Study on How L1 English Speakers Interpret Pedagogical Rules about Spanish Preterite and Imperfect" in Instructed Second Language Acquisition.

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Scholarship Repository Readership

The University of Richmond's Scholarship Repository shares faculty publications with a world-wide audience. The map below shows where articles from LALIS faculty are being read around the globe.

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Contact Information

Mailing Address:
Department of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies
University of Richmond
211 Richmond Way
Carole Weinstein International Center
University of Richmond, VA 23173

Phone: (804) 484-1543
Fax: (804) 484-1544

Department Chair: Dr. Mariela Méndez
Academic Administrative Coordinator: Sarah Helen Studebaker
Director of Community-Based Learning: Dr. Karina Vazquez
Director of Spanish Intensive Language Program: Mr. Ted Peebles