Contributed by H. Kenny Nienhusser

La Comunidad Intelectual (LCI) is a living/learning community with a mission to nurture a sense of community for and support students who identify as Latina/o/x and/or Caribbean or have an affinity to learn more about the Latino and/or Caribbean diasporas. LCI was born from the efforts of many current and former UConn staff and faculty, including Dr. Diana Rios, an associate professor in ELIN.

LCI supports students’ learning while empowering their engagement on the UConn campus and in our communities. First- and second-year students, this year totaling over 40, live together on the same floor in a residence hall on campus (Peter J. Werth Residence Tower), learn together in seminar courses, and are empowered to succeed at UConn and beyond.

The LCI Leadership is composed of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate student leaders. The current leadership team is Dr. H. Kenny Nienhusser, Faculty Director (Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Higher Education and Student Affairs; Vanessa Esquivel, Graduate Assistant (PhD student, Human Development and Family Sciences), Catherina Villafuerte, Graduate Assistant (PhD student, Educational Leadership); Danielle (Dani) Jorge, Floor Mentor; Jason Valverde, Floor Mentor; and Emily Diaz, FYE Mentor.

An integral element of LCI is our four-part seminar course sequence offered each semester a student is enrolled in our living/learning community.

• “Transitioning to UConn and LCI” (first-semester course; fall term). The course is designed to support students with their transition to and success at UConn. It also introduces students to LCI and issues that impact the Latina/o/x community at UConn and beyond.
• “Surviving and Thriving” (second-semester course; spring term). This course focuses on empowering our Latina/o/x identities at a Historically/Predominantly White Institution (H/PWI). Students engage in weekly conversations surrounding the experiences of Latina/o/x students in colleges and universities. Students work on a semester-long group project designed to pave the way for the success of future LCI students.
• “Contributing to our Comunidades” (third-semester course; fall term). Students engage in service-learning activities that contribute to our Latina/o/x communities near the Storrs UConn campus. In small groups, students work on a group project associated with their service-learning site.
• “Thinking Ahead” (fourth-semester course; spring term) This course assists students in thinking about their goals post-LCI and post-UConn. Students participate in career and graduate school exploration, resume building, networking, and learn other skills to prepare them for their futures.

LCI works collaboratively with campus partners, including El Instituto (ELIN) and the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center (PRLACC). For example, in the “Transitioning to UConn & LCI” course, students are required to interview a faculty or affiliate faculty member of ELIN and to prepare a rich summary of that conversation.

Beyond academics, LCI students engage in programs and events to further develop their understandings of the Latino diaspora and have fun. A signature monthly event (#ThirdThursday) is an opportunity for all LCI members to connect, learn, and have fun. For example, during our September #ThirdThursday event we visited the exhibit “Immigrant Eyes: Photographs by Joe Standart” at The William Benton Museum of Art on campus.

To learn more about the beautiful LCI living/learning community see this video.

 

         

Contributed by Samuel Martínez

UConn’s El Instituto and the University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras’ Centro de Recursos de Investigación y Aprendizaje Subgraduados (CRiiAS) and the UPR’s Archivo de Ciencias Sociales are teaming up during the 2021-22 academic year for a new series of on-line livestreaming talks. According to the co-organizers, CRiiAS Director Carmen Maldonado-Vlaar and the Archivo’s Director Jorge Giovanetti-Torres, the aim of the series is to feature the work of some of the outstanding Puerto Rican studies faculty and students in both universities, and to familiarize students with the many opportunities on the island and in the mainland for professional development and research and study on Puerto Rican themes.

The emphasis of the series during Fall 2021 has been on familiarizing UPR undergraduates with Puerto Rican studies at UConn.

The first talk in the series, titled “Autodeterminación el el contexto de la situación de la isla,” was presented on 13 September 2021, by Angel Oquendo, George J. and Helen M. England Professor at the UConn School of Law. Oquendo gave emphasis to the need for new narratives to emerge about Puerto Rico’s political status if needed creative thinking is to occur about the present situation of crisis and how the island can replace the outmoded Estado Libre Asociado with a new model for its relationship with the United States and the world.

The second event was a presentation on 22 September 2021 of the book Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire: Puerto Rican Workers on US Farms, by UConn Anthropology PhD and Professor of Anthropology at CUNY Staten Island, Ismael García-Colón. García-Colón’s talk on the challenges involved in researching and theorizing this topic was preceded by a brilliant appreciation of the book by UPR Professor Emeritus Silvia Alvarez-Curbelo.

The third event of the series, 13 October 2021, was “Cómo lograr exitosamente la admisión a programas graduados en universidades de Estados Unidos.” In it, Master’s program graduates of El Instituto, who started out as undergraduates at la UPR and are now doing doctoral research at UConn and other universities, shared their experiences in grad school and gave tips for undergraduate students about how to find the right graduate program for them. The panelists were Katherine Pérez Quiñones, Stephanie Mercado Irizarry, Lauren Pérez Bonilla, and Ashley Ortiz-Chico, all graduates of both UConn-El Instituto and la UPR.

Further events in the series will be advertised through our events distribution list, on El Instituto’s events calendar, and on Facebook.

 

Contributed by Samuel Martínez

 

El Instituto’s core faculty has added two new jointly-appointed faculty in Fall 2021:

Linda Citlali Halgunseth is joining El Instituto through a transfer of one-half of her appointment from the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, where she is a tenured Associate Professor. Professor Halgunseth’s areas of research specialization include Mexican/American and African American parenting, cultural influences on parent-child relationships and parenting, children of immigrants, culturally-appropriate measurement development, and minority health and well-being. Halgunseth is also Director of Academic Affairs at UConn Hartford.

Katerina Gonzalez Seligmann is coming to UConn from Emerson College, as a tenured Associate Professor, jointly appointed with El Instituto and the Spanish section of the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages. Gonzalez Seligmann studies the ways in which authors, works, and influences travel between Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Martinique and other territories of the Antilles.

We welcome Linda and Katerina to our core faculty and wish them many productive and happy years with El Instituto and their primary appointment departments.

As we welcome two new colleagues, we also congratulate and offer warmest wishes to another on her retirement from UConn. After nearly 25 years on the faculty of the Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Institute and later El Instituto, Marysol Asencio has retired from her joint appointment with the Department of Sociology. Advisor and mentor to dozens of undergraduate and graduate students over the years, Professor Asencio leaves a legacy of igniting student interest in the topics of Latina/o/x reproduction, sexualities research, and health care. Her wisdom, knowledge, humor, and calor humano will be irreplaceable.

Marysol asked that we not organize a formal retirement celebration at El Instituto — a request consistent with her “it’s-not-about-me” outlook — but she would very much appreciate hearing individually from people whose support made a difference for her in her career at UConn. Our hope is that Marysol will continue to be a strong friend of El In.