Beginnings of Critical Theory portion

While the Hispanic/Latino population has typically been homogenized, it is important to understand how this identity is portrayed in, interacts with, and is constituted of larger social and cultural experiences. Below, we identify how this identity may be positioned within higher education, geography, cultural experiences, and politics.

As the population of identified Hispanic/Latino citizens grows in the United States, the place of Latino Studies within higher education is debated. It is an effort to “institutionalize the study of…group experiences” and give a legitimate voice to the increasing numbers of Latino students. The initial attempts at establishing Latino Studies programs were titled “’Chicano Studies’ or ‘Puerto Rican Studies,’ corresponding directly to the vocal, spirited, and politically grounded struggles of the Chicano and Puerto Rican communities for justice and liberation” (Flores, p. 210). This reflects the diversity to be found in the group defined by the umbrella-term “Latino” and how for many people, this identity can be centered on national identity or very specific cultural experiences. To create a program proposing to address issues and educate on the experiences of Latino people is almost in a way legitimizing the term and its use in homogenizing a vast group of people and respecting the cultural hegemony in which the identity was created. However, identities are constructed through their place in larger social discourse and the influence of “feminist, post-colonial, and race theories” have allowed for a recognition that the identity labeled “Hispanic/Latino” is much more complex than initially recognized (p. 213). The globalization of our economies and cultures has blurred the initial foundation of Latino Studies in creating a “reinterpretation of the concept of nation” and therefore, a reinterpretation of the concept of Latino (p. 215). The challenge in crafting Latino Studies lies in respecting and acknowledging all the experiences of ‘Latino’ people while paying close attention to the ways this identity has been shaped, examining the “real or constitutive unities within and among the Latino population” (p. 914). The creation of these programs asserts an authoritative position within society to study and explain the Hispanic/Latino identity.