The story of the Midwest does not often delve into how, why, and when Latinx communities became part of this regional story. Eleven professors and graduate students across the Midwest have formed a research collaborative project titled “Building Sustainable Worlds: Latinx Placemaking in the Midwest” in order to fill in gaps in the scholarship on the Midwest. Their work is part of a regional collaboration funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/Humanities Without Walls consortium, housed at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The collaborative project began earlier this year and will continue into fall 2018. The project involves researchers at several universities and will culminate in a published volume.  Here are profiles on three of the research projects.

Dr. Theresa Delgadillo

How do Latinx communities today build a sense of belonging in Ohio? The Ohio State University’s Comparative Studies Professor Theresa Delgadillo and graduate student collaborators Laura Fernandez, Leila Vieira, and Marie Lerma spent the summer researching Latina/o participation in and leadership of cultural festivals throughout the state, considering the varied Latina/o populations in Ohio. Delgadillo's research team conducted interviews with festival participants and organizers, carried out participant observation, and reviewed media coverage for Latina/o cultural festivals. For further information, please email Dr. Delgadillo at delgadillo.3@osu.edu.

Dr. Delia Fernandez

Michigan State University history professor Delia Fernandez is continuing new research on Latinx communities in the Midwest. Her work is crucial to understanding the history of Latinos in the Midwest. Dr. Fernandez is investigating how Latino communities in Grand Rapids, MI created place in the mid-twentieth century. Her research uses primary source research grounded in oral histories, newspaper articles, and organizational documents in order to see how cultural identity for Latinos in Michigan develops in relation to both Michigan and other sites. For further information, please email Dr. Fernandez at dmf@msu.edu.

Dr. Ariana Ruiz

University of Iowa Spanish and Portuguese professor Ariana Ruiz is researching Latina zine culture and community-making in Chicago. Dr. Ruiz's contributions are key to bringing analysis of zines rooted in the Latino Midwest. Her project reads zines as a reflexive and discursive space that allows for self-making, placemaking, and community formation. Look forward to the development of their research in the upcoming year. For further information, please email Dr. Ruiz at ariana-ruiz@uiowa.edu.

These three research projects are just a sampling of what the “Building Sustainable Worlds: Latinx Placemaking in the Midwest” project has to offer. Other projects include an investigation of the work of queer Puerto Rican performer Fausto Fernós, the history of the Sanctuary Movement in Wisconsin, and more.