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OLLAS Celebrates 20 Years of Teaching, Research, and Community Engagement

  • published: 2023/11/20
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2023 marks the 20th anniversary of UNO’s Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS)! Two decades ago, in November of 2003, OLLAS was established with the support of UNO faculty, staff, and students as well as the metropolitan community. Since then, OLLAS has been a leader in education, community engagement, and community-based research on topics that impact tens of thousands of residents in the city, state, and nation. Today, they are the only academic unit within the University of Nebraska system dedicated to the research, teaching, and community engagement of the Latino community and Latin American Nations in the state.

Curriculum

OLLAS prepares the next generation of Latino leaders and professionals to thrive in a culturally and demographically changing environment through the Latino/Latin American Studies major and Chicano/Latino Studies minor. Students graduate with a comprehensive understanding of Latino and Latin American peoples, societies, and cultures. The programs create problem-solvers, team players, critical thinkers, and ethical professionals who are knowledgeable about the local Latino cultures and Latin America. Over 140 students have graduated with a minor in Chicano/Latino Studies since its creation in 1998, and about 60 with a degree in Latino/Latin American Studies since 2004.

“During my undergraduate journey at UNO, OLLAS provided a home, community, guidance, and encouragement,” says alumna Liz Codina. “OLLAS gave me the opportunity to better understand myself, my heritage, and my community. I will forever be grateful for the dedicated staff that shared their knowledge and care. I would not be where I am today without the support of OLLAS.”

Since 2002, OLLAS has administered the Next Generation Leadership Scholarship (NGLS) and since 2019 the Anne C. Boyle Scholarship, both funded by the Mammel Family Foundation. This year, OLLAS was awarded additional funds by this Foundation to further support UNO students for the next three years. These funds helped OLLAS award this scholarship to nineteen students, the biggest cohort since the inception of the NGLS.

Community Engagement

Over the past 20 years, OLLAS has developed a strong cultural and educational program to promote and showcase Latino and Latin American culture. Some of the community events that OLLAS has organized include:

  • Cinemateca, a biennial celebration of Latino, Latin American, and Spanish film, presented by Film Streams and OLLAS, which began in 2008 and is one of the three longest-running Latino/Latin American Film Festivals in the Midwest with the Chicago Latino Film Festival and the Twin Cities’ Cine Latino.
  • ArteLatinx, established in 2015, is a nationally recognized biennial exhibition of Latinx Artists from the Great Plains region. In addition to an exhibition, ArteLatinx programming includes lectures, artist talks, workshops, and other forms of outreach.

OLLAS has also worked with local high schools to promote college enrollment among Latino students by developing the first-ever OLLAS Student Conference this past March 2023, which promoted higher education and informed Latino high school students about the resources and opportunities available at UNO. The conference brought in over 200 students, teachers, counselors, undergraduate volunteers, and community members.

“For these paintings to be hanging up with other amazing artworks is surreal to me. What’s even more amazing is the thought that my motivation to create these paintings was to realize my worth as an artist,” says Kevin Tacuri, ALX 2022 Participating Artist. “My artworks are signs of hope and symbols of perseverance. So, I’m grateful for this opportunity that has been presented to me by UNO ArteLatinX and Gallery 1516.”

Research

OLLAS has worked with the Latino community to develop data-gathering and analysis collaborations to promote evidence-based policies that will help improve the lives of the Latino community in Omaha and Nebraska. This community-relevant research has served to frame important policy debates, such as awarding driving licenses to DACA recipients in 2015. It has also helped community organizations inform their work, through its research in areas such as educational attainment, health care, Latino voting, Latino business, and the economic impact of immigrants in the state, among others. Since 2003, OLLAS has published more than 40 research reports, policy briefings, blogs, and factsheets relevant to the Latino community.

OLLAS’ objective is to continue its research to understand and highlight the Latino community’s future characteristics, changes, successes, and needs.

“Total gratitude for your investigative work and preservation of Latin culture, your research available to the community is an invaluable resource that the Commission has made use of several times, finding in OLLAS an ally for the struggle and voice of migrants, Hispanics and Latinos in Nebraska,” says Maria Arriaga, Executive Director of the Nebraska Commission on Latino Americans.

OLLAS' work throughout these 20 years has been instrumental in enhancing the lives of the Latino/Latin American people in the state and region. OLLAS’ academic program has contributed to young generations becoming successful professionals and leaders in the community at local, regional, national, and international levels. OLLAS’ community-engaged research has demonstrated its significant impact in incrementing knowledge on topics relevant to the Latino and Latin American communities. The community engagement initiatives have been pivotal in preserving and exposing the Latino and Latin American culture.

In the words of Dr. Cristián Doña-Reveco, OLLAS Director, “OLLAS is definitely one of UNO’s jewels.”