Abstract
This article addresses an innovative approach to connecting an urban university with the surrounding neighborhoods comprised of Latino immigrants, who represent potential new students or current students’ family members. The National Latino Research Center (NLRC) uses popular education, culturally informed, and linguistically relevant strategies to engage diverse Latino communities in the northern region of San Diego County in California. Methods of engaging the Latino community include cultivating long-term relationships, responding to time-sensitive community crises, facilitating inter-generational connections, presenting material in a culturally informed and relevant way, providing hands-on experiences with civic engagement, and growing partnerships within the university and among non-profits. Preliminary findings described a two-year study on civic engagement testing the effectiveness of a Spanish-language curriculum based on popular education offered (free) to members of urban and rural low-resourced Latino communities. The Center statistically correlated Latino community members’ experiential learning, participating in social media, and voting with gains in civic engagement knowledge.
Highlights
Many urban universities have existing Latino or emerging Latino communities
The National Latino Research Center (NLRC) is an academic center chartered at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM)
Social media participation is a newer form of civic engagement (Smith, 2013), so our findings are likely to make a strong contribution to the field
Summary
Many urban universities have existing Latino or emerging Latino communities. Finding meaningful ways to connect with the Latino community becomes a vital goal to the growth and relevance of the university. How do universities engage the local Latino community in meaningful and sustained ways? The National Latino Research Center (NLRC) is an academic center chartered at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM). With nearly 14,000 enrolled students, it is the only public four-year comprehensive university serving North San Diego and Southwest Riverside counties. The NLRC has long-term advocacy and educational experience with the Latino community in San Diego County, youth and issues surrounding culture, education, health, and civic leadership
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