At the start of August, Dr. Cristián Doña-Reveco returned to his alma mater and assumed the role of Director of the Julian Samora Research Institute (JSRI) at Michigan State University. Previously serving as Director of the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, he brings with him to this position a wealth of knowledge and experience in and a dedication to Latino and Latin American Studies within underrepresented Latino communities in the United States. Originally from Chile, he began his academic career studying at the Universidad de Chile and earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology and, later, a master’s degree in Political Science & International Relations from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He came to the United States in 2005, eventually earning a dual Ph.D. in History and Sociology from Michigan State University, with his dissertation focused on Chilean migration to the US starting from the 1950s. During his time at OLLAS, his personal research interest in international Latino migration became linked to the work being done there with Latino communities in the US Midwest. This combination of passion and experience would go on to benefit the mission of the Julian Samora Research Institute.
Named after the first Mexican-American to earn a Ph.D. in Sociology, the Julian Samora Research Institute works to continue the late scholar’s commitment to Midwestern and rural Latin American communities. Since its establishment in 1989, the JSRI has produced several research reports involving these communities, including an ongoing line of research focused on the oral histories of Latinos in the Midwest. Through a partnership between the Census Bureau, IUPLR, and itself, the JSRI also operates as a Census Information Center allowing the institute opportunities to work directly with and disseminate Census data showcasing the unwritten stories of the underserved communities in the Midwest.
While Dr. Doña-Reveco may be a recent addition to the leadership team of the JSRI, he has a long history with them dating back to his time working on his dissertation, where his work was funded, in part, by a fellowship from the JSRI. The work that the institute has done with MSU students has grown over time, now providing scholarship opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students to engage in community research while furthering their own academic careers, reflecting the commitment to the community that the JSRI has maintained since its inception. Dr. Doña-Reveco has expressed a great appreciation for the unique work being done at the institute on social capital and how it can serve to improve knowledge and participation among rural Latino communities. This focus on community engagement is a large part of what he believes is so important about the JSRI. Through it being a part of MSU’s University Outreach & Engagement department, it is strengthened by developing partnerships with both faculty at MSU and the wider community and bridging the two through community relevant research.
The established legacy of this institute informs the work they do today and, as its work continues into the future, the new director hopes to lead it to new opportunities by expanding on their commitment to their local communities. When envisioning the future of the JSRI in a decade’s time, Dr. Doña-Reveco pictures a version of the institute where community chairs are established and have a responsibility to further its ties to the community on a more personal level. Through the creation and development of community events, these community chairs would help these underrepresented groups in becoming more directly involved with the research process at the institute. The director also has his sights set on furthering relationships within MSU, which would provide more avenues for research and academic community engagement. This vision of a more interwoven JSRI is complimented by an interest in furthering relationships across IUPLR as well.
For IUPLR, the JSRI has acted as its demographic epicenter for research, given its status as a Census Information Center and an intense focus on Latino culture and community in regions of the United States studied less frequently. Dr. Doña-Reveco hopes to utilize the institute’s unique position and the resources provided by IUPLR to create collaborative research projects that would paint a more all-encompassing picture of Latino and Latin American communities in the US. He believes this could be achieved through comparative community-focused research across the coastal and inland institutions partnered with IUPLR. This collaborative effort would extend to opportunities for unaffiliated institutions to participate in IUPLR’s working groups, building bridges that could offer new perspectives on community research efforts. He also believes that IUPLR should become a recognizable academic voice for local governments, allowing it to act as an avatar for the faculty behind the institutions. By becoming an active participant on policy and political debates, IUPLR can fight on behalf of the academic and on behalf of Latino Studies in general.
The new director has expressed a great deal of admiration towards Latino Studies, and ethnic/regional studies as a whole. He made note of the impact these programs have on university students, providing something that they likely did not experience during their formative learning years, representation in their coursework, and how having access to them is beneficial to academic performance. Speaking from the perspective of Latino Studies, Dr. Doña-Reveco is aware of the threats against the field, a large part stemming from the current political climate in the United States. With racism and xenophobia being proliferated in society, cultural identity is disincentivized in educational spaces and this lack of identity in academia not only leads to less engagement in Latino Studies, but also to weaker performing Latino students, according to the director. This threat against programs that are responsible for enlightening the histories and characteristics of underrepresented communities while working to address their needs and concerns, is furthered by a lack of proper funding in these programs, which only leads to interested students being pushed away from the social sciences.
When asked for any final thoughts he would like to share with the IUPLR community, Dr. Doña-Reveco reinforced his commitment towards collaboration, saying, “I think it would be important [for IUPLR] to think about adding more members, not for the sake of adding more members, but to look at how we can grow in parts that we are not present and so that our presence can be recognized as a partner to other organizations.”
By: Alex Taveras