Latinxs in the South: About Us

The idea for this course emerged from Dr. Bazo Vienrich's ongoing research on Latinx undocumented immigrants in North Carolina. As a service-learning course, the opportunity to create a resource for the campus community, and for anyone who might be interested in learning about the Latinx experience in the U.S. South, was one of the primary objectives of the course.  

Throughout the Spring 2020 students explored the historical presence of people with roots in Latin America in the U.S. South, and learned about the relatively recent growth of Latinx communities in states like North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The creation of the research guide was driven by the desire to create a comprehensive resource that engages with how Latinxs experience life in the U.S. South, while focusing on experiences in education, the labor force, the criminal justice and immigration systems, culture, and in healthcare. Students accomplished this through the writing of exploratory papers on a number of topics within these areas. Each category of the guide presents a handful of papers on topics ranging from bilingual education, Latinx mental health, Latinx youth soccer, to the role of religion in the incorporation of Latinx immigrants, the 287(g) program in North Carolina, among others. 

We encourage those using this guide to treat students' exploratory papers as a first stop in their continued exploration of the Latinx experience in the U.S. South. Each paper includes a reference list which can further illuminate readers' understanding of these issues.