Senior Research Project Instructions/Guidelines

Senior Research Project Agreement Form

Past Senior Research Projects

2024

Faculty Advisor: Natalie Lira
Student Title
Carmona, Jessica
"Queer Latinx: Building Community and Creating Spaces in Higher Education"
Castañeda, Jaelyn
"Analyzing Latina/o Studies Programs in Five States"
Hernandez, Jaredth
"Diversity As We See It: Latinos Navigating Predominantly White Institutions"
Mendoza Mota, Amayranet
"Health Effects on Latino/a/x Health As A Result of Inadequate Patient Health Literacy, Medication Nonadherence, and a Providers Lack of Cultural Humility"
Valerio, Michelle
"Lost in Translation: Unraveling Injustice for Incarcerated Latines"

 

2023

Faculty Advisor: José de la Garza Valenzuela
Student Title
Araiza, Guadalupe
"Observing the Current State and Impact of Latine Studies Through the Latina/Latino Studies Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"
DeJesus, Victor
"Gaps Between US Born Latinx LGBTQ+ and their Parents from Latin America"
Garcia Loza, Josymar
"Queer & Chicana: Autoethnography"
Juarez, Dalila
"Latinx Students and the Higher Education System"
Román, Priscilla Valentina
"The Beginning of a Mexican-American Artist from Chicago: New Age Cumbia and the Future of Chicano/Mexicanos: A Collection of Inspiration from Mexican Culture, Music, Mexican Inspired Fashion, and a Chicano Manifesto for the Future of Mexican and Mexican Americans in the United States" 
Rubio, Odeth Guadalupe
"Latinx Through the Television Lens"
Valerio, Fatima
"Political Participation in Belmont Cragin: Identifying Strategies and Issues when Building Political Power in a Latinx Neighborhood of Chicago"
Vasquez, Jacquelyn
"Navigating Academia: A Queer Latinx Student's Experience in Higher Education"

 

2022

Faculty Advisor: Gilberto Rosas
Student Title
Armenta, Esther
"Reckless Fertility: Latinas and a History of Sterilization, Sexualization and Reproductive Injustice"
Delgado, Jailene
"Activism & Air Pollution in Little Village"
Gonzalez, Ariel
"The Erasure of Folk Medicine within Western Biomedical Frameworks Through Public Health Campaigns"
Herrera, Alan
"Depression within Latino Men in the U.S."
Martinez, Luis Julian
"Labor on Immigrant Latinas: The Transfer of Latine Culture in the United States"

 

2021

Faculty Advisor: Julie A. Dowling
Student Title
Rodriguez, Jocelyn
"Reproductive Injustices of Latinas in the U.S."
Sanabria, Gabriel
"Pushing the Boundaries of Gender: The Life of Jenni Rivera"
Santiago, Jailine
"Resisting Neoliberal Conceptualizations of Worthiness: Articulations of Care for My (Un)Deserving Parents"
Solorzano, Christian
"Border Patrol: What it Takes to be a Racist"

 

2020

Faculty Advisor: Julie A. Dowling
Student Title
Alcaide, Jonatan
"La Masculinidad No Viene en una Talla: Analysis of Different Portrayals of Masculinity within Latino Music Artists"
Alejo, Kerime
"Afro-Latinos and the Importance of Identity Through Bachata"
Chavez, James A. 
"Laws Make Discrimination Legal"
Fahey Rodriguez, Elizabeth A. 
"The Body Speaks Back: Transnational Resonance Under Patriarchal Violence"
Gaitan, Denisse
"Afro-Latinxs in Podcasts: Storytelling in New York"
Gonzalez, Nailene
"Housing Policies Gone Awry: The Reality of Latinx Segregation in Chicago"
Jacinto, Vanessa E. 
"The Influence of Latina/o Greek Letter Organizations on Latino Students in Higher Education"
Palafox, Maritza
"Cerrando Las Piernas: The Power Held Over Brown Bodies in the United States" 
Quezada, Yanira
"The Ramifications of the Racialized Criminalization of Cannabis: Who Benefits from the Legalization of Recreational Cannabis?"
Salazar, Rocio
"Mujeres Atrevidas: The Chicana Movement in Pilsen"
Saucedo, Ivan
"City Under Siege"

 

2019

Faculty Advisor: Sandra Ruiz
Student Title
Anonales Bustos, Jackie
"Disposable Bodies on Fragile Land: National Neglect and Natural Disasters"
Correa, Kathleen
"Mobilizing the Immobile: The Undesirable Body Beyond the Border"
Escutia, Patricia
"Makeshift Legality: Temporary Status and the Exploitation of the Undocumented"
Izquierdo, Alejandra
"El Paseo to Displacement: Asserting Green Space in Pilsen Chicago"
Medina, Iris
"Surviving Through Laughter: The Meme and Its Meaning"
Muñoz, Edith
"Can-Bell's Soup: Labor, Community, and Legacies of Migrant Workers in West Chicago"
Pineda, Guillermo
"Disappearing Acts: The Erasure of Racialized Brujos in Popular Media"
Reyes, Daniel
"Embodying Queer Latinidad: Chavela Vargas"
Rodriguez, Bianca G. 
"Bienvenidos a La Villita: Arching into Healthcare"
Vargas, Valeria
"The Haunting of the American Dream: Bullets, Ballots, or Belonging"

 

2018

Faculty Advisor: Lisa M. Cacho
Student Title
Burciaga, Magaly
"Put the Nation on Sazón: Afro-Latinas Redefining Authentic Narratives in Popular Culture"
Camacho, Cindy
"The Labor of Killing: The Animal and the Migrant Body"
Garcia, Vanessa
"Semillas de Cual Tierra?: Analyzing the Reproduction of Violence and Erasure Against Indigenous Peoples" 
Giesso, Victoria
"Chicago and the Pink Ribbon of Mortality"
Perez, Aura
"LGBTQ+, Latinx, & Loud: Queer Latinidades in Contemporary Media"
Rubalcava, Carla
"Hood Solidarity: Coalition Building in Anti-Gentrification Activist Movements" 
Ruiz-Gehrt, Sophia
"Ana Mendieta: The Performance of Spirituality"
Torres Mena, Jema 
"Gentrification in Pilsen: Voices of the Displaced"
Valenzuela, Maria D. 
"Race, Space, and 'Neighborhood Stability': Latinos and Chicago's Southwest Side"