The Latin@ Struggle for Inclusion in Higher Education

What do New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria and Ugly Betty/ César Chavez actress America Ferrara all have in common? They are all Latina/o college GRADUATES! In spite of their successes, many challenges still remain for other Latina/os who dream of finishing college. This course will examine not only the past and present factors affecting the rates of enrollment and completion of Latina/o college students, but also how Latina/o families and individuals experience college. We will examine how issues like racism, segregation, immigration, etc., impact Latina/o college students in New York City. Special attention will be paid to Latina/o student activism in New York City, including how Puerto Rican students successfully fought for more Latina/os to be admitted into CUNY and to establish Puerto Rican Studies (now known as Latina/o Studies) departments across CUNY and at John Jay. Guest speakers will include CUNY administrators, New York State Youth Leadership Coalition representatives, Latina/o graduate school students and others.

It's Your City

Justice is not just about what happens in a courtroom or a police precinct. It’s also about having the opportunity to belong, to claim a rightful place in the life of the city. How well do Latinos and Latinas, who make up more a fourth of the population of New York City, belong to the city? Do they belong in its rich history? Do they belong in the city’s universities? In its government and boardrooms? In its many neighborhoods? This course is about how well Latinos and Latinas can claim to belong in the richest city in the world. It’s your city: do you belong in it? 

So You Want to Be a Lawyer?: Latin@s in the Legal Profession

“Now you're in New York/These streets will make you feel brand new,” but can Latinas/os actually feel “brand new” in the face of injustice? And what is “injustice” or “justice” anyway? Have you ever witnessed a racial, economic, or educational injustice? Who fights to fix these injustices? LAWYERS! But why are there so few Latina/o lawyers, or minority lawyers for that matter, to represent their communities? Join us as we explore issues surrounding Latino/a underrepresentation in education and law, and overrepresentation in prisons in New York City. Through discussions of legal cases and analysis of social movements, through high profile guest speakers, field-trips, and mini-research projects, we will engage in an interdisciplinary and comparative study of Latina/os and their experiences of justice, injustice and the legal profession in New York City, “ the concrete jungle where dreams are made of.”