LALS and CLJ Students Attend NACCS
Introduction
Students from the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) and Criminal Law and Justice Program (CLJ) presented their research at the annual National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) conference hosted at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 5, 2025. The four-day conference is a gathering of scholars, community leaders, and students dedicated to Chiana/o/x and Latina/o/x studies and is one of the most prominent national gatherings in the field. It offers a vibrant space for intellectual exchange, community building, and critical engagement with pressing social issues.
The 2025 conference theme Sustaining Centeotzintli y Calli: Our Sacred Knowledge, Conciencia, and Home centered discussions around Indigenous paradigm shifts in Chicana/o/x studies, encouraging participants to reflect on historical legacies and contemporary struggles impacting our communities.
One of our panels, “Calmécac in Our Bodies” centered on body-knowledge and the body as an instrument to survive and resist colonial borders. Irving Moran (LALS) discussed the advocacy work of trans immigrant caravan Arcoris-17 and how their march and chant “tiembla imigración.” Rodrigo Cortes Espinoza (Mathematics/LALS) shared his evolving understanding of the connection between color and art theory, natural sciences, mathematics, and danza as practiced in Chicago. Cristina Mendoza Texcahua (LALS) presented on the topic of her MA paper; a meditation on the process of recovering erased histories centering her Purepecha grandmother and long-time Pilsen resident, Mama Linda.
The second panel, “Deepening Our Range of Perception” called on Gloria Azaldúa’s concept of conocimientos to connect the work of Cecilia Rasgado (LALS) on Chicanas navigating the Midwest “not so nice” spaces in higher education. Sofia Recio (CLJ) reflected on connected curandermismo to Indigenous and Black abolitionist history and praxis underscoring how abolition is a creative act. Native Burqueña Isabela Ortega (LALS) spoke about her understanding of grief as a soft, heavy, affect state as represented in her domestic textile-based, alebrije-like art.
Throughout the multi-day conference, students also attended a wide range of panels featuring scholars and organizers mainly from across the US Southwest with some limited representation from other Midwest universities. Featured speakers included Isabel Millan who received the book award for Coloring into Existence: Queer of Color Worldmaking in Children's Literature. Another notable new book this year is Writing that Matters: A Handbook for Chicanx and Latinx Studies by Heindenriech and Urquijo-Ruiz.
In addition students attended the 32nd Annual César Chávez and Dolores Huerta Celebration at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, explored Old Town and the Sandia Mountains. Students expressed their appreciation for professional development, collaboration, and inspiration that we will carry into our academic and community work in Chicago.
