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The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at ����Ӱҵ is the new headquarters of the , the first national consortium dedicated to Latino research in the U.S.

Founded in 1983, IUPLR, as it is known, includes 20 member institutions committed to advancing the intellectual presence and scholarship of Latino studies across disciplines and communities. A hub for interdisciplinary collaboration, IUPLR serves as a catalyst for producing and disseminating groundbreaking research and new frameworks in Latino studies.

Member institutions have access to a network of scholars and universities, opportunities to showcase their work on national and international platforms, and the ability to collaborate through interdisciplinary working groups and public initiatives.

Establishing IUPLR’s headquarters in the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, where CUNY DSI resides, acknowledges CUNY DSI’s decades of leadership and innovation in research, public scholarship, and academic programming in the field of Latino Studies, said CUNY DSI Director Ramona Hernandez. 

"IUPLR’s network offers a unique opportunity to expand the reach of ����Ӱҵ and CUNY’s research initiatives in Latino studies,” said Hernandez, who is also the executive director of IUPLR. “We are at a pivotal moment, one that calls for reinvigorating our communities through programs that have proven effective, as well as innovations that will further consolidate the field by emphasizing the integration of methodological and scientific approaches to understanding the histories and present realities of our peoples."

As executive director, Hernández plans to collaborate with her co-directors to develop a portfolio of initiatives aimed at advancing the production and dissemination of scholarly research in the field of Latino studies. “These efforts promise to introduce transformative research methodologies, expand the boundaries of Latino studies, and forge new pathways for scholarly impact,” she explained.

“CUNY is proud to welcome the Inter-University Program for Latino Research to our City College campus,” said . “The consortium is producing powerful work that compliments the mission of CUNY’s Dominican Studies Institute, another leading research center dedicated to the study of Latino populations in the United States.”

“The DSI has always provided a venue for an important combination of preservation and archival work, research, and community engagement,” said ����Ӱҵ President Vince Boudreau. “Bringing IUPLR to the Dominican Studies Institute both enhances its research capacity and underscores its existing reputation and resources as a center for serious research. Connecting our expertise in the Dominican experience with that of other centers of Latino research around the country is an important next step for our work, and for the discipline itself.”

Among its core programs, IUPLR supports , a biennial national forum that brings together faculty, researchers, and graduate students to examine the impact of pressing national issues on Latino/a/x populations. This year’s conference, to be held in October at the University of Nevada, Reno, is dedicated to Gilberto Cárdenas, the co-founder and former executive director of IUPLR. The conference will concentrate on Cárdenas’s areas of scholarly and civic interest, such as Latino art, immigration, and activism as they pertain to Latino/as’ contributions to American culture.

IUPLR also supports , a national gathering for artists, educators, scholars, critics, and art professionals who work outside the mainstream Latin American art world.