Chicano and Latino Studies

Congratulations to our 2025 graduating seniors! Follow this link to read their bios!

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Academic Advising

College of Liberal Arts Advising Center (ATLAS) LA1-LO0102 – https://cla.csulb.edu/advising

For advising regarding the CHLS minor, major, or special track major, contact Dr. Rigoberto Rodriguez, Department Chair and Academic Advisor, at rigoberto.rodriguez@csulb.edu

CHLS Spanish Exam Waiver

If you are a CHLS major and are interested in meeting your language requirements by exam, the Department will offer a Spanish language exam on Friday, March 7, from 10:30am-12:30pm.

Register for the exam by 4 PM on Friday, February 28, by emailing Ana Canela at ana.canela@csulb.edu Please include your student ID number.

Contact our CHLS Department

Department Chair: Dr. Rigoberto Rodríguez, MHB 202 / 562-985-8560

Department Administrative Support Coordinator: Ana Canela

Location: MHB 201
In-Person Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Online Office Hours: Monday and Friday

8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Main Office: (562) 985-7277
Fax: (562) 985-4631
E-mail: ana.canela@csulb.edu

More than 18% of Americans identify as Hispanic or Latino, the nation’s second largest racial or ethnic group. But two trends – a long-standing high intermarriage rate and a decade of declining Latin American immigration – are distancing some Americans with Hispanic ancestry from the life experiences of earlier generations, reducing the likelihood they call themselves Hispanic or Latino. Among the estimated 42.7 million U.S. adults with Hispanic ancestry in 2015, nine-in-ten (89%), or about 37.8 million, self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. But another 5 million (11%) do not consider themselves Hispanic or Latino, according to Pew Research Center estimates. The closer they are to their immigrant roots, the more likely Americans with Hispanic ancestry are to identify as Hispanic. Nearly all immigrant adults from Latin America or Spain (97%) say they are Hispanic. Similarly, second-generation adults with Hispanic ancestry (the U.S.-born children of at least one immigrant parent) have nearly as high a Hispanic self-identification rate (92%), according to Pew Research Center estimates. By the third generation – a group made up of the U.S.-born children of U.S.-born parents and immigrant grandparents – the share that self-identifies as Hispanic falls to 77%. And by the fourth or higher generation (U.S.-born children of U.S.-born parents and U.S.-born grandparents, or even more distant relatives), just half of U.S. adults with Hispanic ancestry say they are Hispanic.1 Among adults who say they have Hispanic ancestors (a parent, grandparent, great grandparent or earlier ancestor) but do not self-identify as Hispanic, the vast majority – 81% – say they have never thought of themselves as Hispanic, according to a Pew Research Center survey of the group. When asked why this is the case in an open-ended follow-up question, the single most common response (27%) was that their Hispanic ancestry is too far back or their background is mixed.

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