The Department of Chicano Latino Studies actively engages in graduate student education, research capacity building, and professional development through the following five programmatic avenues:
 

1. Through Disciplinary Advising and Mentorship. Chicano Latino Studies faculty serve as advisors, dissertation Ph.D. committee members (including as Chairs and Co-Chairs), and readers for for graduate students enrolled in doctoral programs in their disciplines of training. They serve as a source of scholarly expertise on Latinx communities and topics that are not always available in Ph.D. students’ “home” departments, thereby diversifying the kinds of research that doctoral students may carry out. CLS faculty members also provide mentorship for Latinx and other URM students who may otherwise not have access to faculty of similar backgrounds, identities and worldviews among in their disciplinary faculty. In these ways, they provide essential support to other departments’ graduate programs and contribute to the retention and success of UCI URM graduate students.
    
2. Through Our Graduate Emphasis. This program awards a certificate to Ph.D. students who wish to complement their disciplinary course of study with training in Chicano/Latino Studies. Our faculty provide direct instruction in Chicano/Latino Studies via a required core seminar (ChcLat 200A) and graduate course offerings, many cross-listed with other departments. The Emphasis also hosts a professional development workshop series focused on research, writing and pedagogical skills, as well as events to facilitate community building and discussion of the unique challenges and needs of Latina/o/x students. In these ways, the Graduate Emphasis contributes to the recruitment, retention, and success of Latina/o/x/URM graduate students at UCI.
    
3. Through the UC-Cuba Multi-Campus Academic Initiative. Our faculty founded the systemwide “UC Cuba” initiative in 2006 and continue to serve as its Executive Secretary and Co-Director. Housed in the Department of Chicano Latino Studies, UC Cuba provides systemwide graduate students in many disciplines with funding and faculty mentorship to advance research related to Cuba and its diaspora. Our annual graduate student workshop also provides students with opportunities to share their research, engage in professional development, form meaningful relationships with Cuba scholars across the UC, and create community with other emerging scholars in the field. Through these activities, UC Cuba contributes to the success of a diverse range of graduate students while advancing the research mission of the entire University of California system.
    
4. Through Community Based, Culturally Competent Medical Education. The Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community was established in order to prepare physician-leaders with the cultural toolkit necessary to address the specific needs of Latino patients in CA. As part of the UCI Medical School’s Prime-LC program, the Department of Chicano/Latino Studies yearly offers seminar-style courses that are designed to help physicians in training to think about the social determinants of health and to develop culturally competent care when treating Latino patients. The Department of Chicano Latino Studies thus provides crucial support for the School of Medicine and medical education at UCI by helping PRIME-LC students develop an M.A. thesis and by offering community-based, health-related projects.
    
5. Through Major Research Grants and Projects. Our faculty serve as principal investigators on major research grants and projects that build UCI’s capacity to provide graduate research training. They routinely hire graduate student researchers to serve on their project teams, providing hands-on training, funding, and presentation and publication opportunities. Many of these grants uplift ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion, assuring that projects further advance the retention and success of underrepresented graduate students.