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UTEP’s New Online Chicano Studies Program Growing

An online multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary program that offers intuitive understanding of the dynamics of the U.S.-Mexico border and the Latino presence in the U.S. is gaining momentum at The University of Texas at El Paso.

Dr. Dennis Bixler-Márquez, director of Chicano Studies at UTEP, said a new Chicano Studies degree there allows students to learn about U.S.-Mexico economics, culture, history and arts.

“There are large concentrations of ethnic Mexicans residing throughout the country, especially New York, Chicago and California, who hunger for knowledge about their history and culture, who want to see themselves in the grand narrative of the United States. This program provides them with that space,” he said.

Latinos are the largest minority group and fastest-growing population in the U.S. Chicano Studies majors will complete 30 hours of core courses in Chicano literature, cultural diversity, immigration, social justice and more, Bixler-Márquez said. The program grew from the traditional “face-to-face” classroom curriculum to one that is now available “100 percent online,” he said.

“From that model, we developed an extended university that we call ‘university connect’ where everything has to be online,” said Bixler-Márquez. “The process was formed from the feedback of students. We launched in the fall and we cover every area you find in liberal arts, including health services, Latino politics, Chicano literature. It covers the aesthetic dynamics of fine arts, which includes cinema, dance and arts.”

The bachelor of arts program has grown to more than 20 students locally and abroad, including some as far away as Afghanistan and the demilitarized areas in Korea, said Bixler-Márquez. He added that the course “gets a great deal of interest” from the student body, likely because of UTEP’s location, diverse population and rich history of ethnic learning.

El Paso, Spanish for ‘’the pass,” is in the far western corner of Texas on the Rio Grande River, across the international border from the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez.

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