Faculty - Andres Torres
E-mail Addres: Andres.Torres1@lehman.cuny.edu
Phone Number: 718-960-7717
Office: Carman Hall, Room 288
Rank: Distinguished Lecturer
Degrees and Sources of Degrees: B.B.A., Manhattan College; M.A., New York Univ.; Ph.D., New School for Social Research
Since joining Lehman in 2010 as Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Andrés Torres has taught courses on Latin@s in the United States, Latino Political Economy, Latino New York, and Latino Urban Development.
He received his Ph.D. in economics from the New School for Social Research and his M.A. in economics from N.Y.U. His undergraduate alma mater is Manhattan College. During his academic career Dr. Torres has taught in the fields of Puerto Rican/Latino Studies, Labor Studies, Urban Studies, and Economics. He has written extensively on economic and socio-political trends among the various demographic groups that comprise the U.S. economy and society. A main theme running through his work is the persistence of racial/ethnic disparities, their sources and potential remedies.
Previously he was Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, where he also served as Director of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy. He has also been associated, in academic and administrative roles, with Hunter College, Fordham University, and Pace University. Prior to coming to Lehman, he was Research Associate and Interim Director at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College.
His past publications include Latinos in New England (2006, editor); The Puerto Rican Movement (1998, co-editor); Workforce Development: Health Care and Human Services (New England Journal of Public Policy, Special Issue, 1997, co-editor); and Between Melting Pot and Mosaic: African Americans and Puerto Ricans in the New York Political Economy (1995). Dr. Torres’s most recent book is Signing in Puerto Rican: A Hearing Son and His Deaf Parents, a memoir about his growing up in an extended deaf family. His parents were among the first deaf migrants to come to New York City from the Caribbean and Sign was his first language. A public event on this work can be accessed here and here.
Recent writings include: “Pathways to Economic Opportunity: An Overview of Innovative Career Pathway Collaborations for Latinos in Frontline Health Care Occupations”, (co-author), Hispanic Health Care International, 12:2 (2014): 81-89; review of Blurred Borders: Transnational Migration between the Hispanic Caribbean and the United States, Jorge Duany, for The Americas 71:2 (October 2014): 362-364; “Latino New York: An Introduction”, in NACLA Report on the Americas, 46: 4 (Winter 2013):16-20; “Puerto Rican Studies: Four Decades and Counting”, Latino(a) Research Review (2011-2012) 8, 9-24; and review of Encountering American Fault Lines, by José Itzigsohn, for The Journal of American Ethnic History(Summer 2012) 31:4, 131-133. Forthcoming publications are: “Puerto Ricans” and “Puerto Rican Civil Rights Movement”, entries in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Politics, Law, and Social Movements(2015/2016); and “Where Have All the Puerto Ricans Gone? Outmigration from New York City: 1985-2000” (co-author), in Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition, (Notre Dame Press), Second Edition, (2015/16).
Andrés, or “Andy”, as he is also known by acquaintances, was born in the South Bronx and raised in Washington Heights. Since his youth he has participated in Puerto Rican/Latino political organizing, and in movements for social change, racial and economic justice. He enjoys long trail walks (having abandoned serious jogging), listening to music (all popular genres), and reading literature (now working his way through Proust). He and his wife, Carmen Vivian Rivera, delight in family gatherings, especially hanging out with their five grandchildren.
