Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas

ABOUT MISSION Founded in 1992, the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas (Huerta Center) at UC Santa Cruz is the first research center in the UC system to put in conversation the historically disconnected fields of Chicanx/Latinx and Latin American studies. Named in honor of Dolores Huerta in 2022, the Huerta Center is a multidisciplinary research unit where we bring together U.S. and international scholars to advance cross-border research, and professionally mentor students to prepare them for future career success. In 2022, UC Santa Cruz renamed its Research Center for the Americas in honor of social justice icon Dolores Huerta, whose legacy has influenced the center’s work and values. The Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas has a long history of working to drive positive social change and continues to innovate and build relationships in service of this goal. Video produced by Nick Gonzales, Senior Videographer, at UC Santa Cruz. About the Huerta Center The Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas (Huerta Center) is the first in the University of California system to advance a broad program of interdisciplinary research that brings together Chicanx/Latinx and Latin American studies, including over 90 faculty and hundreds of students at UC Santa Cruz. Since its founding in 1992 by faculty in Latin American and Latino Studies, the Huerta Center's scope has been hemispheric. The Huerta Center advances three core areas in higher education that fulfill the University of California’s mission: - supporting multidisciplinary research and community initiatives, - mentoring and creating professional development opportunities for primarily under-represented and/or first-generation students, and - hosting thought-provoking public events about issues and questions that matter to both scholars and the communities in which we live and work. Our goals are to support and promote cross-border research that contributes to an enriched understanding of our interconnected lives and futures. Primarily drawing from and bringing together the social sciences, humanities, and arts, our work explores the incredible diversity of the Americas, with specialization on research areas that draw on the expertise of our affiliated faculty. We are also committed to educational equity and thus, teach-mentor undergraduate students to think critically and to prepare them for successful professional careers and actively support graduate students' research and professional development opportunities.