Hannah Noel '08

Latina/o Studies Concentrator

August 03, 2007

Latina/o Studies is important to the Williams community because it allows students and faculty to observe, critique and address current social and political issues throughout the hemisphere in an interdisciplinary way that incorporates new media and performance studies along with more traditional academic scholarship. More specifically, my Latina/o Studies classes at Williams have forced me to consider Latina/o populations in the United States not just from a variety of points of view, but from different ways of viewing.

David DeVaughn '07

Latina/o Studies Concentrator

August 03, 2007

Latin@ Studies is not a fringe discipline only for Latin@ students taught by Latin@ professors. Yes, I was the only non-Latin@ Latin@ Studies concentrator in the class of 2007, but the issues covered and the support for all students let me know that it is not an exclusive club. Every other class I took at Williams was expanded by the concepts and theory taught in Latin@ Studies classes and overall gave me a different perspective on history. Do not let your peers or other faculty members paint Ethnic Studies classes as unimportant/waste of time because they do not fall under the "classically" held disciplines. Latin@ Studies in fact expands upon the knowledge found within those disciplines, and with a multidisciplinary approach, tackles historical issues. Take a class. You owe it to the country/world in which we actually live.