LibGuides: Hispanic Culture: Home

Websites

For more web links, see the Spanish page on the Languages libguide.

Biodiversity Heritage Library Exhibition: Latino Natural History From the Biodiversity Heritage Library comes this online exhibition dedicated to prominent Latino/a natural scientists and their work. On this exhibit's homepage, visitors are invited to explore exhibition materials by People of Note, which highlights nine individuals. These individuals include Ynes Mexia, a Mexican-American plant collector who worked with Stanford University botanist Roxana Stinchfield Harris and helped collect over 500 plant species. Another is Jose Zeledon, a Costa Rican ornithologist who identified numerous birds in the country. For each featured individual, visitors can check out a timeline of their lives, featured images, and digitized books from the Biodiversity Heritage Collection (available via the Find Me in Books Link). In addition to exploring this collection by individuals, visitors are invited to browse by Country or Language of featured material or explore material via an interactive timeline. This exhibition is available in both English and Spanish.
Chicana Por Mi Raza Digital Memory Collective Digital archive of Chicana feminist activities in the late 20th century.
Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho
Hispanics: An Overview, Education, Labor Force and Economy
Reports from McClure Center for Public Policy Research, UI
Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs
Latin America Reports The digital publication Latin America Reports describes itself as "an ambitious editorial project that aims [...] to illustrate the importance of Latin America for a global audience by explaining current events, analyzing diverse perspectives, and seeking out the human story." Launched in early 2019, this site offers readers English-language articles covering news stories from Central and South America. From the home page, visitors can browse the most recently published articles, as well as a selection of featured articles from each category. Readers can also access the categories on offer -- as of this write-up, these are Economy, Politics, Society, and Technology -- via the menu at the top of the website. This section also houses shortcuts to view stories by country, for the 11 Latin American countries currently covered. For readers who are interested in Latin American news and analysis beyond the coverage available in mainstream English-language news outlets, but who lack Spanish or Portuguese knowledge, Latin America Reports may be a helpful resource to bookmark. Latin America Reports is a project of Espacio Media Incubator, a digital media company based in Medellin, Colombia.
Latino Cultures in the U.S. On September 8th, in honor of Hispanic Heritage month, Google Arts and Culture launched Latino Cultures in the US - an extensive collection that features dozens of curated online exhibits and thousands of digitized items. This extensive site is the result of collaboration with many museums and cultural institutions, including The Smithsonian, the National Museum of Mexican Art, the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation, and many more. Visitors can browse these exhibits by topic, including Influential Figures (featuring Dolores Huerta, Roberto Clemente, and Sonia Sotomayor, among others), Discover U.S. Latino Art, The LGBTQ Experience, Defining Moments in Latino History, and much more. A few of the many highlights of this collection include The Masters of Murals, Up Close, which allows visitors to closely explore murals created by artists including Diego Rivera and Mario E. Castillo; a collection of nine Latino neighborhoods that one can explore via Google street view; and the powerful Voices Oral History Project, which allows visitors to explore photographs and interviews of Latinos who served in WWII.
Mujeres Unidas de Idaho
Unidos US
National Hispanic Cultural Center
National Park Service: American Latino Heritage Theme Study One of the many digital offerings from the National Park Service is this fine collection of essays focusing on Latino heritage and history in the United States. The collection opens with a core essay by Stephen Pitti, Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University, who provides an "overview of the Latino journey...personified in five historical figures: the Cuban priest Felix Varela, the Mexican American author Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, the Puerto Rican bibliophile Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, the Guatemalan civil rights organizer Luisa Moreno, and the Mexican American politician Edward Roybal." The meat of this theme study is in the sixteen essays that follow Pitti's introductory essay. Written in accessible language by professors from across the country, these sixteen essays (eight of which are also available in Spanish) are organized into four groups discussing the role of Latinos in American nation-building, culture, economic life, and struggles for equality. As the NPS puts it, "Latino history is American history," and this resource offers an excellent introduction that students and scholars, as well as the general public, can appreciate.
New Roots/Nuevas Raices: Voices from Carolina del Norte New Roots: Voices from Carolina del Norte is a collaborative oral history project from the Latino Migration Project, the Southern Oral History Project (housed in Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and UNC Chapel Hill University Libraries. This collection features over 160 interviews with North Carolinians who immigrated to the state from Latin America. This collection includes interviews conducted in English and Spanish. Visitors can browse this collection by North Carolina county, the interviewee's country of origin, year of the interview (2011- present), or theme. Tagged themes include adult education, DREAMers and DACA, identity, migratory experience, and receiving communities, to name just a few. For social studies, Spanish, and ELL instructors, these interviews offer a rich classroom resource. As of this write-up, this project also includes three lesson plans designed to facilitate student exploration of and reflection on some of these interviews.
Remezcla Readers interested in contemporary Latin American culture should check out Remezcla. This independent media brand began in 2006 "as a grassroots project among writers and creatives," who noted that "there were so many great stories about new Latin music, culture, and events that no one was covering." Since then, Remezcla has firmly established itself as an influential English-language media outlet for Latinx Millennials, with an audience of millions hailing from the US, Latin America, and Spain. Visitors to Remezcla's website will find ample content to explore, such as discussions of films, music, and art that engage with Latin American culture, as well as announcements and write-ups of live events. Remezcla also publishes commentaries on the bicultural experience of young Latinx people in the U.S. and even articles on sports and food. A handy menu at the top allows readers to view articles in the category of their choice, and the site is searchable as well. Based in Brooklyn with offices in Los Angeles and Mexico City, Remezcla was founded by Andrew Herrera.
Teacher's Guide: Hispanic Heritage and History in the United States Social studies and humanities educators at a variety of levels should check out this teacher's guide assembled by the folks at EDSITEment to help celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15). This guide puts together numerous high-quality resources created for EDSITEment and other National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) projects, in addition to resources from around the web. Organized thematically, the guide opens with summaries and links to plentiful resources exploring the roots and influences of Hispanic culture, as well as its rich literary heritage. The Lessons from the Chihuahuan Desert section, which highlights teaching materials exploring themes of borders and borderlands, may be of particular interest to educators of grades 6-12. This section is followed by one containing links to more than a dozen of EDSITEment's other excellent lesson plans and curriculum units related to Hispanic history and culture, helpfully organized by academic subject. The guide closes with a selection of links to additional relevant online resources, some of which are available in both English and Spanish. While EDSITEment's resources are generally crafted with K-12 educators in mind, others interested in learning more about Latin American history and culture can also find something to interest them in this guide.
Voces Oral History Project from the U of Texas at Austin. Interviews with veterans of WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War

Magazines in the Library

Newsweek en Español (online via Flipster)

People en Español

Streaming Videos

El Corrido Mexicano: Música y Cuernos de Chivo
Fiesta [Day of the Dead]
15: A Quinceañera Story Series A "quinceañera" is a coming-of-age celebration for a Latina girl’s 15th birthday, marking her transition from girl to woman. But for many American Latina teenagers, it is an event that means much more, allowing the girls to embrace their chosen identities while still honoring their cultures, traditions and, most of all, the families who have sacrificed so much to give them a good life in the U.S. "15: A Quinceañera Story" is a series of four short films, each under a half hour, that follows five girls from different cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, bonded together by this traditional rite of passage. As the girls pick out their dresses, ready their courts and venues, practice their intricate dance routines, and conquer their nerves, they also reflect (as do their proud parents) on the struggles that have led them to their quinces and the hopes they have for the future. Heartfelt and inspiring, the series highlights a new generation of diverse, young Latina women, coming into their own with confidence and determination while never forgetting where they came from.
The Graduates/Los Graduados - Part 1: Girls This episode looks at the special challenges faced by many Latina students through the stories of three remarkable young women.
The Graduates/Los Graduados - Part 2: Boys This episode profiles three young Latinos who have overcome enormous challenges, through the help of family, friends and community organizations, en route to completing their education.
Hispanic Americans: The Second Generation
The Latino Americans: Foreigners in Their Own Land (1565-1880) This film covers conflicts between the British and Spanish colonial systems as Manifest Destiny pushed the U.S into the Mexican territories of the South West, and the Mexican American War. By exploring the Spanish Mission System, California rancheros, the Gold Rush, and Las Gorras Blancas (The White Caps), learn how conquest, shifting borders and dispossession shaped Hispano culture and identity in former Mexican territories of the Southwestern United States. Part of PBS series The Latino Americans. (52 minutes)
The Latino Americans: Empire of Dreams (1880-1942) Widespread immigration to the U.S. from Latin countries begins – first with a small group from Cuba, then a larger one from Mexico. Both flee chaos and violence in their home country and seek opportunities in the United States. The first Puerto Rican arrivals establish a network in New York. We follow Juan Salvador Villaseñor's story; first through a grueling journey and poverty, then as a bootlegger, and finally as a successful businessman. During the 1920s, Mexicans and Mexican Americans build a thriving community in Los Angeles. But when the economic boom ends with the catastrophic Depression of the thirties, the pendulum swings. Immigrants are deported en masse. Emilia Castaneda loses her home and her family when she is deported to Mexico. Puerto Ricans, also caught in the depths of the Depression, rebel against U.S. rule on the Island, and eventually gain Commonwealth status from the U.S. Government.
The Latino Americans: War and Peace (1942-1954) World War II is a watershed event for Latino Americans with hundreds of thousands of men and women serving in the armed forces, most fighting side by side with Anglos. In the Pacific, East L.A.'s Guy Gabaldon becomes a Marine Corp legend when he single-handedly captures more enemy soldiers than anyone in U.S. military history. But on the home front, discrimination is not dead: in 1943, Anglo servicemen battle hip young "Zoot suitors" in racially charged riots in southern California. After the war, Macario Garcia becomes the first Mexican National to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits fighting in Europe, only to be refused service in a Texas diner. The experience during the war pushes Latinos to fight for civil rights back home. A doctor from South Texas, Hector Garcia, organizes the American GI Forum, transforming himself into a tireless advocate for civil rights and the friend of a future president. Although Latinos make significant gains, the journey for equality is far from over. (54 minutes)
The Latino Americans: The New Latinos (1946-1965) Until World War II, Latino immigration to the United States was overwhelmingly Mexican-American. Now three new waves bring large-scale immigration from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Films like West Side Story, etched the stereotype of the knife-wielding Puerto Rican in the American consciousness, fueling hatred and discrimination. Follow the story of seven immigrants seeking a new life in the United States, the discrimination they faced, and their fight for recognition.
The Latino Americans: Prejudice and Pride (1965-1980) In the 1960s and 1970s a generation of Mexican Americans find a new way forward, through social action and the building of a new "Chicano" identity. The movement is ignited when farm workers, led by César Chavez and Dolores Huerta, march on Sacramento. Through plays, poetry and film, Luis Valdez and activist Corky Gonzalez create a new appreciation of the long history of Mexicans in the South West. In Los Angeles, Sal Castro leads the largest high school student walkout in American history. In Texas, activists such as José Ángel Gutiérrez, create a new political party and change the rules of the electoral game. By the end of the 1970s Chicano activism and identity transformed what it meant to be an American.
The Latino Americans: Peril and Promise (1980-2000) In the 1980s, the nature of the Latino Diaspora changes again. From Cuba a second wave of refugees to United States – the Mariel exodus – floods Miami. The same decade sees the sudden arrival of hundreds of thousands of Central Americans (Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans) fleeing bloodshed and death squads. A backlash ensues: tightened borders, anti-bilingualism, state laws to declare all illegal immigrants felons. But a sea change is underway as Latinos spread geographically and make their mark in music, sports, politics, business, and education. Latinos present a challenge and an opportunity for the United States. America's largest and youngest growing sector of the population presents what project advisor Professor Marta Tienda calls, The Hispanic Moment. Their success could determine the growth of the United States in the twenty-first century; however their failure, contributing to an underclass, could also pull this country down. The key to their success is education.
May 5th: Glory of Mexico This program tells the story of Cinco de Mayo - in particular the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862 - which marks a turning point in the resistance against French occupation, a resounding win by the Mexican army led by Ignacio Zaragoza. Coming after Mexico's civil war, the struggle against the French invasion helped develop a sense of national unity and pride that is celebrated today. In Spanish.
Mexico: Rendezvous with the Dead In this program, we head to Michoacán, one of the most picturesque regions of Mexico, where we immerse ourselves in the festivities of Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead). Agricultural activities, rituals, displays of skills, culinary traditions all teach us about the ancient customs attached to this important ritual.
Moyers & Company: Between Two Worlds—Life on the Border
Moyers & Company: Hispanic America’s Turn
See Me : Five Young Latinas Five teen-aged Latinas living in San Francisco's Mission District-most of them recent immigrants from Mexico or other Central American countries-talk frankly about their lives, from discrimination and school , to friends and family relationships, experiences with gang activity and violence, and plans for the future.
Santiago de Cuba: Luchando por la Vida

DVDs in the Library Catalog

America By the Numbers by Maria Hinojosa This series explores the impact of the growing number of Asians, Latinos, African Americans, persons of mixed race, immigrants, women, youth and LGBTs whose influence over culture, commerce and the outcome of elections is affecting every aspect of the life in America.
Call Number: DVD HM1176.A44 2014
ISBN: 9781627891196
Publication Date: 2014
Calle 54 by Fernando Trueba
Call Number: DVD ML3506.C35 2001
Publication Date: 2001
Latin jazz
Cinco de Mayo by May Herz Explains the historical significance of this Mexican national holiday held on May 5 to commemorate the historical defeat of the French army.
Call Number: DVD F1233.C56 2004
Publication Date: 1995
Como agua para chocolate = Like Water for Chocolate by Alfonso Arau (dir)
Call Number: DVD PN1997.C656 2000
Publication Date: 1994
Day of the dead in Janitzio by Roger Cudney
Call Number: DVD GT4995.A4D39 1998
Publication Date: 2004
Fiestas mexicanas! : Mexican holidays by Roger Cudney
Call Number: DVD GT4814.A2F54 2004
Publication Date: 2004
Latin Music USA by Jimmy Smits Latin music USA highlights the great American music created by Latinos, and celebrates the Latin rhythms at the heart of jazz, rock, country, and rhythm and blues. It's a fresh take on American musical history, reaching across five decades to portray the rich mix of sounds created by Latinos and embraced by all.
Call Number: DVD M1668.4.L38 2009
ISBN: 9780793670963
Publication Date: 2009
Latino influence on the United States by Richard Arsenault
Call Number: DVD E169.12.L38 2005
Publication Date: 2005
Campus use only
Mexican popular customs by May Herz
Call Number: DVD GT4814.A2M49 2004
Publication Date: 2004
El Norte by Gregory Nava
Call Number: DVD PN1997.N668 2008
Publication Date: 2008
The Sounds of Mexico by Silvia Lozano
Call Number: DVD M1683.18.S68 2004
Publication Date: 2004

Getting Started with Your Research

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by Ross Sempek Last Updated May 8, 2024 356 views this year

Articles

Fuente Academica This link opens in a new window Full text for scholarly journals from Latin America, Portugal, and Spain. Topics include agriculture, biological sciences, economics, history, law, literature, philosophy, psychology, public administration, religion and sociology.
Informe Académico (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new window Provides access to a wide range of full-text Spanish- and Portuguese-language scholarly journals and magazines both from and about Latin America.

Hispanic Culture: Home

Cultura

Websites

Magazines in the Library

Streaming Videos

DVDs in the Library Catalog

Getting Started with Your Research

Articles