Welcome to Chicana/o and Central American Studies at UCLA!

I am honored to serve as the new chair of the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, founded thirty years ago after the 1993 Hunger Strikes. I take over from my amazing predecessor, Professor Leisy Ábrego, and other illustrious colleagues who have led this historic department. Welcome to CCAS as we begin another academic year!

I am driven by a vision of the importance of Chicana/o and Central American Studies in the world. We have witnessed first-hand the impacts of our research and teaching in our communities and here at UCLA. I believe that we have important lessons to offer the world, through the research we do, the activism we engage in, and the dialogues we create in our classrooms. Our perspectives on migration, the environment, racial relations, the expressive arts, gender, politics, education, and beyond, make contributions around the globe.

Stay tuned for exciting new developments this year. UCLA will soon be designated a “Hispanic Serving Institution,” with 25% of the undergraduate student body identifying as “Latina/o/x.” With this federal designation comes increased funding and support for our students. To complement our change in status, we have a new Media Team in CCAS, dedicated to making our work known in the wider world through our website, newsletter, FB, IG, and TikTok accounts. We are also focused on fundraising, committed to generating support for our students, many of them with significant financial need, and for our impactful research.

I look forward to being in dialogue with you – students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members – as these new developments unfold and as we strive to rebuild community in the wake of the pandemic and last year’s academic workers’ strike. I envision the positive changes we will enact together as we create a more just and equitable world through our scholarship, teaching, service, and activism – and in our daily lives with each other and our communities.

What do Chicana/o and Central American Studies mean to you?

Please be in touch.

Take care,

Charlene Villaseñor Black (she/her/ella)
Professor and Chair

César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies

Professor, Department of Art History
Editor, Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies
Founding Editor-in-Chief, Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture