Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies

Welcome to the 2011-2012 academic year. I am delighted to continue my service as chair of the Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies. I joined the Lehman faculty seven years ago, and have enjoyed teaching courses on Caribbean and Latin American literature, Latin American film, and Latin American and Puerto Rican popular music. My main areas of research include gender and sexuality studies, critical theory, and popular culture. Currently, I am working on a book entitled The Politics of Voice: Gender and Popular Music in Puerto Rico, 1935-1995, forthcoming from Duke University Press. It will appear in the series “Refiguring American Music.” As chair, I work to strengthen connections between Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies and other departments across the College, increase the richness of our already strong curricular offerings, attract more students to our major, promote stimulating events to showcase the faculty’s research strengths, and work to bring majors and minors together in face to face interaction and also virtually, through our newly redesigned webpage.

As the department enters its fifth decade, we are excited to offer a full complement of courses in Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies, as well as offerings in our new Mexican-American studies minor. Feel free to contact the department faculty to discuss any questions related to our programs and courses. We are here to serve majors, minors, and all students interested in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the diverse Latino migrations to the United States. We look forward to a very productive year. –Licia Fiol-Matta