The Institute for Latino Studies ( ILS ) at the University of Notre Dame has established the Chicago Latino Research Collaborative to conduct academic research aimed at providing decision makers with important information about matters affecting Chicago-area Latinos.
Funded by the Chicago Community Trust and the Arthur Foundation, the collaborative includes interdisciplinary policy research teams from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and DePaul, Roosevelt and National-Louis Universities.
“This is the beginning of a research network that would help move Latinos out of their marginalized status and into the American educational, economic and civic mainstream,” ILS project director John Koval said.
Each team is working in a specific area of policy research. The UIC team is examining the civic participation of Latinos; DePaul is researching Latinos and education; Roosevelt’s focus is Latinos in work and economy; and National-Louis University is addressing urban change.
Serving as the administrative center for the project, the ILS has oversight of the teams’ data bases and statistical needs and will generate policy research briefs for use by decision makers and service providers.
In December, each team will present initial white papers, report on the present state of Chicago-area Latinos, provide research goals for future years of the project and offer baseline data to help gauge the magnitude of change over the course of the project.
This is not the first time the ILS has worked with other universities on Latino issues. Along with its 10-year presence in metro Chicago, the ILS is a member of the Interuniversity Program of Latino Research (IUPLR), which is a national network of Latino research institutes, and has maintained numerous other collaborative relationships.
“This is, perhaps, our most ambitious and complex undertaking, especially considering the organizational challenge of coordinating a project involving faculty from five universities,” Koval said.
Founded in 1999, the ILS plays a pivotal role in providing an academic environment that advances knowledge and understanding of the Latino experience in the United States. As an interdisciplinary unit, the institute seeks to incorporate the study of the Latino population of the United States as a vital component of Notre Dame’s academic mission and also provides an administrative home and support for the Latino student clubs on campus.
Additional information about the ILS is available by visiting http://latinostudies.nd.edu/ .
Contact: John Koval, 773-325-4434, jkoval@nd.edu
Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on October 19, 2009.
