After more than a year of unsuccessfully seeking a professor to teach Latino studies, Dartmouth has hired a Harvard University graduate student to fill the tenure-track position. Some Latino studies classes were canceled Winter term because there was no teacher.
Harvard PhD candidate Christina Gomez, who begins teaching Fall term, will be appointed to the sociology department. She will teach sociology classes and two Latino studies classes Fall term.
With the addition of these classes, the formerly named Latin American and Caribbean Studies program will appear in the Organization, Regulations, and Courses book as Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies.
Gomez, who attended the University of Chicago, holds a Masters degree and an MBA, said Marene Jennings '98, one of five students who participated in the selection process. Jennings said Gomez has taught courses at Harvard and is currently teaching a course in Latino women's studies at Smith College.
LACS Chair Marysa Navarro said the addition of courses devoted to Latino studies will enrich the program and its offerings.
La Alianza Latina President James Gallo '99 said he feels Gomez will "fill the void" in the LACS department since "she's not just an expert in one area but is experienced in the entire field of Latino studies."
LACS major Unai Montes-Irueste '98 said he is looking forward to the arrival of Gomez and the addition of Latino studies to the LACS program.
"Latino studies to me means that there is an acknowledgment and understanding that within 10 years, Latino Hispanics will be 20 percent of the U.S. population," he said.
Montes-Irueste explained that Latino studies is an important part of the LACS program since Latin American studies refers only to a specific geographical region. Latino studies, by contrast, focus on "the study of the children of those people from Latin America within the United States ... and historically their origins."
In her doctoral thesis, Gomez examines race "as a variable that determines socio-economic conditions rather than the other way around," Jennings said. She said Gomez told the search committee her theory that "race is dependent on factors such as education, where you grew up, and in the case of Latinos, how long you have been" in the United States.
Dean of Graduate Students Edward Burger said it is not unusual for graduate students to be offered teaching positions while still in the course of their studies.
"Since Latino studies is a new and upcoming field, there are a lot of young people in the field, a lot of fresh blood," Gallo said.
Despite the delay of more than a year between the institution of the tenure-track position and the hiring of Gomez, Navarro said the process ran "on schedule." Navarro explained that last year's hurried search efforts "don't count" because they were begun late.
