Thank you so much for your interest in the Global Latinidades Project, a multidimensional research center based in the UCSB English Department. We founded this global studies research, mentoring, and programming center in 2017 with funds from my appointment as the inaugural Robert and Liisa Erickson Presidential Chair in English. This endowed chair position was created with a generous donation from John Arnhold and the Arnhold Foundation, with matching funds by from the University of California Regents. With this seed money the Global Latinidades Project developed collaborative teams of faculty and students in an aggressive grants campaign designed to compound our resources to support the unique array of institutes and initiatives described in our website. In our first four years we submitted $3,243,311 of grant requests, and received $2,358,579 in grant awards, and continue pursuing grant renewals and new awards to support our main constituents and beneficiaries: students.
Now more than ever, Global Latinidades benefits from unrestricted gifts and major support from our alumni, parents, and friends. As shown by our careful deployment of past gifts, the Global Latinidades Project avoids using gifts for routine purposes. Instead, we nurture gifts as strategic reserves for genuinely future-oriented initiatives that encourage students, develop new ways of teaching, and advance research for our integrated community of faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students. Even small gifts sponsor key research and teaching activities that help innovate for the future.
There are many ways to support Global Latinidades and its constituent institutes and initiatives. Listed below are our current highest priorities.
First Goal: Extend the AfroLatinidades Institute’s UCSB-HBCU Partnerships
The AfroLatinidades Institute is one of the most dynamic and exciting components of the Global Latinidades Project, and we seek to continue—and continue expanding—the AfroLatinidades Advanced Mentoring and Summer Research Program partnerships between UCSB and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This year-long, three-year initiative is part of the AfroLatinidades Institute’s ongoing and planned research-based activities and programming, and provides a pathway for creating, supporting, and sustaining research-based relationships between UCSB and prospective students at HBCUs with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of Black students in UC graduate programs. We seek to continue the AfroLatinidades Advanced Mentoring and Summer Research Program partnership with Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Texas Southern University, and possibly expand the partnership to additional HBCUs from among several that have expressed interest in joining the initiative beyond the 2024 termination of the current UC Office of the President Grant. The current cost is approximately $185,000 per year for 6 student interns, or $31,000 per student intern per year, and we seek another 3-5 year extension of the AfroLatinidades Mentoring and Summer Research Institute for approximately $550,000 – $925,000. We have assembled grant-writing teams and are actively partnering with Co-Principal Investigators in applications for external funding, and also seek donations of any size.
Second Goal: AfroLatinidades Postdoctoral Fellow
The next immediate goal of the Global Latinidades Project is to fund an AfroLatinidades Postdoctoral Fellow to support research for one year in this subject area by a recent PhD. This support will enhance the PhD’s marketability on the academic job market, and also continue to make important interventions into expanding the study of AfroLatinidades within Latinx, American, and Latin American Studies fields and areas. Equally as important, this Postdoctoral Fellow will further diversify the professoriate. The cost of this program is approximately $100,000 per year (for stipend, benefits, nominal research funding for archival work and conference travel). We seek full or partial foundation, donor, and institutional support as we pursue this goal through grants.
Third Goal: Support Research on AfroLatinidades
We seek to create a fund for grants-in-aid to support research in the unique, dynamic, and growing field of AfroLatinidades. This will include supporting archival research, domestic and international conference travel, and related research expenses. We currently are submitting grants to fund this initiative and also are accepting donations to support the creation of this fund, and also to fund grant-writing teams at approximately $20,000 per year.
Fourth Goal: Undergraduate and Graduate Student Research Funding in Global Latinx Studies
Research on topics of a student’s choosing enhances every student’s educational experience, skill set acquisition, critical thinking capacities, personal sense of accomplishment, and marketability across different types of careers. We seek support to augment current Global Latinidades Project funding for students. In its first five years, the Global Latinidades Project has funded approximately 75 undergraduate and graduate students for research related activities through various means: research travel grants, grants-in-aid for archival research; stipends for supplies; research assistantships, and co-sponsorship of student-generated programming from $500 to $3,000. We continue to pursue grants for student research support, and also accept donations to continue and expand support for this valuable educational experience at a cost of approximately $30,000 per year.
Fifth Goal: Endowed Named Speaker Series and Short-Term Scholar Residency
We seek to create an endowed named distinguished speaker series in world literature and culture to add new expertise that complements the high-quality scholarship and teaching at UCSB, which would also bring additional national and international notoriety to the English Department and institution. Activities would include a major university address, followed by a department specific presentation in addition to several class visits as a guest instructor and discussion facilitator. These scholarly and teaching activities would include lunch and dinner meetings with students, faculty, and community members. The cost for each 7-10 day residency for a top research scholar and/or public figure would involve approximately $17,500 per year. This initiative is ideal for an alumnus to endow.
How to Give
To support these goals, the Global Latinidades Project seeks gifts and major support from our alumni, parents, and friends. As shown by our careful deployment of past gifts and grants, the Global Latinidades Project—and its constitutive institutes and initiatives—avoids using gifts for routine purposes. Instead, we nurture gifts as strategic reserves for genuinely future-oriented initiatives that support students, develop new ways of teaching, and advance research for our integrated community of faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students. Even small gifts sponsor key research and teaching activities that help innovate for the future. There are many ways to support the Global Latinidades Project's constitutive institutes and initiatives, and I am very happy to discuss these with you. You can make your gift through any of the following convenient methods.
Giving Online
Online donations to the Global Latinidades Project and its constitutive institutes and initiatives can be made via the UC Santa Barbara secure online giving website.
Contact by Phone or Email
If you are making a gift by phone, please contact Leslie Gray, Senior Director of Development, Humanities and Fine Arts (805) 893-4193 or leslie.gray@ucsb.edu, or contact Julie Weiner, Director of Development, Humanities and Fine Arts (805) 893-3922, or julie.weiner@ucsb.edu.
Physical Mailing Address
Leslie Gray
Senior Director of Development
Office of Development
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-2013
Major Gifts
If you are interested in making a major gift, please contact Leslie Gray, Senior Director of Development, Humanities and Fine Arts (805) 893-4193, or leslie.gray@ucsb.edu. The Director of the Global Latinidades Project and its constitutive institutes and initiatives would also be delighted to meet and speak with you. We look forward to working with you to meet your philanthropic goals.