At UC Santa Cruz, the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas advances groundbreaking interdisciplinary scholarship connecting Chicanx/Latinx and Latin American studies. Established in 1992, the center was the first in the University of California system to bridge these historically distinct fields—fostering collaboration among scholars of Latinx, Latin American, human rights, and migration studies.
The Center was named in honor of Dolores Huerta in 2022. Huerta is the founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and, in 1962, co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez. Huerta has spent more than 60 years leading community organizing and lobbying efforts to address issues like labor rights, gender discrimination, voter registration, education reform, LGBTQ rights, and economic inequality on behalf of farm workers, immigrants, women, youth, and others in California and the United States. She has received numerous national awards and recognitions for her work, including from the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Honor. President Bill Clinton honored her with the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, and in 2012, President Barack Obama presented Huerta with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, recognizing her as “one of America’s great labor and civil rights icons” who has “devoted her life to advocating for marginalized communities.”
Latinos represent nearly 40 percent of California’s population and have driven the majority of the state’s population growth over the past decade. Chicanx/Latinx studies offers an expansive, interdisciplinary framework for understanding the historical, cultural, economic, political, and social forces shaping our contemporary world by centering Latinx experiences in the United States.
Similarly, Latin American studies explores the dynamism of the region’s cultures, languages, and economies—its agricultural abundance, energy resources, and global significance. The field provides essential insights for addressing issues of social justice, human rights, health, and law across Latin America and within Latino communities in California and beyond.
Through innovative research, public programming, and community partnerships, the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas embraces a holistic approach to understanding and addressing the humanitarian, environmental, and socio-political challenges shaping the Americas today.