Latinx Visions

As an ending to our season dedicated to Puertorriqueñas, we dedicate this episode to the renowned spoken word poet, bomba player, and educator, Mayda del Valle, the most recent poet laureate of Chicago, who in her work  introduces a sense of knowledge rooted in the street vernacular of Black Diasporican communities during the Hip Hop era. We first talk about del Valle’s background, who she is, the...

As we gear up for fall registration, we wanted to highlight some of the many reasons that students at Baruch College choose to study Black and Latinx Studies. This episode is divided in two conversations: the first with BLS major Kaitlyn Moran and LTS minor Isai Ajpacaja, and the second with BLS minor Derek Fernandez. The students share what led them to taking classes in the BLS Department, some s...

En este episodio entrevistamos a la académica e investigadora cultural, Bárbara Abadía-Rexach. Abadía-Rexach es una mujer negra puertorriqueña, antropóloga activista, afrofeminista y líder antirracista. Recibió un bachillerato en Comunicación Pública, una maestría en Teoría e Investigación de la Comunicación de la Universidad de Puerto Rico y un doctorado en Antropología de la Universidad de Texas...

Bienvenidas, bienvenidos, bienvenides. Welcome back everyone!   Esta temporada 10 nace de la recepción positiva que han tenido nuestros episodios de entrevistas, espacios que se han convertido en un eje central del podcast. Conversaciones que documentan trayectorias y nos permiten pensar colectivamente el presente. Desde ahí reafirmamos una de nuestras apuestas principales: amplificar voces y proy...

Today we bring you a conversation with Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo, the duo behind the fantastic YA graphic novel, Frontera. This interview took place on October 15, 2025, via Zoom. Before we begin the interview, we share a bit of background on both Anta and Salcedo as well as about the graphic novel we are focusing on today. After the conversation with the author and artist, we share our though...

This month we wanted to shine a spotlight on the Black and Latino Studies Department at Baruch College! In this conversation with BLS minors Ashanti Charon and Michelle Estrada and BLS major Sam Quervalu, the students share their reasons for choosing to study in our department and encourage students who might be curious to sign up for a class and learn for themselves what it's all about!   Follow...

In this episode, we look at at children’s picture books and discuss the importance of border stories for children (and adults) of all ages. In the main section we explore two specific titles, Mama’s Nightingale, by Edwidge Danticat and Bright Star by Yuyi Morales. Both of these children’s picture books approach telling border stories in distinct ways that are age appropriate without erasing the im...

Welcome to season NINE of Latinx Visions. This season the “hilo” connecting our episodes will be The Border (or Borders, plural).  We’re centering Latinx voices—artists, researchers, storytellers—who are offering counter-narratives. Perspectives that resist the flat, racist tropes dominating headlines. We’ll highlight works that humanize migrants, that complicate the story, that insist on dignity...

In this episode, we wrap up our season on Latinx Cultural Politics with a conversation by, and interview with, Cuban-American Graphic Artist, Edel Rodriguez. We are also joined by our colleague and professor of English, Dr. Jennifer Caroccio-Maldonado. To start the episode, we provide a bit of background on Rodriguez and his career along with an overview of his graphic memoir, Worm: A Cuban Americ...

In this episode, we continue our focus on Latinx Cultural Politics by conversing with artist and teatrero Miguel Trelles from Teatro LATEA. This episode includes background on LATEA and Miguel as well as an interview that was recorded in front of a live audience at El Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center on March 7, 2025. After the interview, we return to share our reflections on th...

Bienvenidas, bienvenidos, bienvenides! Welcome to season 8 of Latinx Visions. Our theme for this semester is Latinx Cultural Politics and we will be bringing you three episodes in which we will be in conversation with academics, visual artists, and authors to discuss the many ways in which they engage in cultural politics. Cultural politics examines how power, identity, and social struggles are ne...

Bienvenidos, bienvenidas, bienvenides. If you have been listening for a while, you might know that we usually release student work between semesters. We released three episodes during January and the final two will be released in February. These episodes were fully created by the students in Rebecca's fall 2024 Survey of Caribbean Literature course. The students worked together in groups throughou...

Bienvenidos, bienvenidas, bienvenides. If you have been listening for a while, you might know that we usually release student work between semesters. We released three episodes during January and the final two will be released in February. These episodes were fully created by the students in Rebecca's fall 2024 Survey of Caribbean Literature course. The students worked together in groups throughou...

Bienvenidos, bienvenidas, bienvenides. If you have been listening for a while, you might know that we usually release student work between semesters. This time we will be releasing one episode a week throughout January. These episodes were fully created by the students in Rebecca's fall 2024 Survey of Caribbean Literature course. The students worked together in groups throughout the semester to cr...

Bienvenidos, bienvenidas, bienvenides. If you have been listening for a while, you might know that we usually release student work between semesters. This time we will be releasing one episode a week throughout January. These episodes were fully created by the students in Rebecca's fall 2024 Survey of Caribbean Literature course. The students worked together in groups throughout the semester to cr...

Bienvenidos, bienvenidas, bienvenides. If you have been listening for a while, you might know that we usually release student work between semesters. This time we will be releasing one episode a week throughout January. These episodes were fully created by the students in Rebecca's fall 2024 Survey of Caribbean Literature course. The students worked together in groups throughout the semester to cr...

Para este episodio que cierra nuestra temporada número 7 sobre narrativas especulativas hemos invitado a Dr. Enrique González Conty. Enrique es profesor de español y cine en Ithaca College y buen amigo de Rojo. En este episodio abordaremos la película del 2008 Sleep Dealer dirigida por Alex Rivera con las actuaciones de Luis Fernando Peña como Memo Cruz, Leonor Varela como Luz Martinez, y Jacob Va...

In this episode we discuss the graphic novel Low, Low Woods. First, we provide a synopsis of the book along with brief introductions of its authors: Carmen Maria Machado and artist Dani. In the context of this graphic novel, Rojo conducts an ecological and feminist analysis of body horror, with particular attention to the different meanings and representations of sinkholes. Rebecca then focuses on...

Today, we are in conversation with Alana Casanova-Burgess, co-creator, host, and producer of WNYC Studios’ La Brega: Stories from the Puerto Rican Experience.  This conversation was recorded on May 2nd, 2024 in front of a live audience of our students and colleagues and it was sponsored by The Harman Program at Baruch College. Special thanks to Esther Allen and Elena Martínez for organizing the ev...

Bienvenidas, bienvenidos, bienvenides! Welcome back to season 7 of the podcast! This season our focus is on speculative narratives.  In this episode, we start by defining speculative fiction and speculative narratives. Then, we share some background information on each of the authors and collections of short stories we are analyzing today. During the main segment of the episode, Rojo explores how...

Bienvenidas, bienvenidos, bienvenides! Welcome back everyone. As mentioned in the previous student episode from July, today we will be sharing a bonus episode from New York Comic Con in 2023.  The panel took place on Thursday, October 12th, 2023 and was titled, “Comics in College, Pop-Culture Pedagogy, and Fandom Final Projects.” Participants included professors Asif Saddiqi, Jennifer Caroccio Mal...

In this episode we feature student projects by LTS 1003 students Jasmin Reyes and Jose Perez, and LTS 3012 student Ashanti Charon.   First is Jasmin’s episode on Gender-based violence in Haiti. She sheds light on some of the different forms of gender based violence in the country and addresses topics including intimate partner violence, violence after the 2010 earthquake and more. Next, Ashanti di...

Bienvenidas, bienvenidos, bienvenides. Welcome back, everyone! Today, we are in conversation with Olivia Juarez and Val Z. Schull from GreenLatinos. GreenLatinos is a national non-profit organization that brings together Latine leaders committed to addressing environmental and conservation issues that affect the well-being of Latine communities in the US. This interview was recorded on Friday, Apr...

In this episode, we are joined by scholar and activist, Dr. Jennifer Martinez-Medina. We recorded this conversation on Friday March 22nd, 2024 over Zoom. Dr. Martinez-Medina is an Assistant Professor of Politics, Policy, Law and Ethics at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Our discussion touches on various aspects of her research and work, with a focus on the effects of the climate crisis on...

Bienvenidas, bienvenidos, bienvenides, al segundo episodio de la sexta temporada centrada en el activismo climático. Hoy presentamos otro episodio en español, esta vez con un enfoque en la literatura y poéticas que se concentran en temas climáticos. Iniciaremos el episodio introduciendo a nuestro invitado, Xavier Valcarcel. Compartiremos algunos datos biográficos para darles una idea de su trabajo...