Dr. Arlene Torres is an Associate Professor in the Department of Africana, Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College. She is a cultural anthropologist with expertise in Caribbean, Latina/Latino, and Latin American Studies.
As a public intellectual, Dr. Torres has served as a member of the Advisory Board and consultant to a national project on RACE supported by the American Anthropological Association, National Science Foundation and Ford Foundation. She is Past-President of the Puerto Rican Studies Association and Past-President of the Association of Latina and Latino Anthropologists, a division of the American Anthropological Association.
Torres’ publications include two edited volumes with Norman E. Whitten, Jr. titled, Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean. “Collecting Puerto Ricans” in Kevin Yelvington (ed.) Afro-Atlantic Dialogues: Anthropology in the Diaspora also reflects Torres’ scholarship and intellectual concerns. Her recent work focuses on the racialization of ethnic groups in varied cultural and institutional settings.
Professor Torres works on several university, college-wide, and community organizations to support the educational advancement of underrepresented communities in higher education. As an administrative and faculty mentor, she co-directed the CUNY-Harvard Leadership Development Program, the Mellon Faculty Diversity Career Enhancement Grant and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Hunter College. She served as the University Dean for Recruitment and Diversity and the Director of the Chancellor’s Latino Faculty Initiative in Academic Affairs in the Central Administration at CUNY. She also previously served as Chair of Latina and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois before joining the faculty at Hunter College, CUNY.
Yara Parra is a senior majoring in operations management. Originally from Colombia, Yara has spent the past 6 years learning English, working, completing an associate’s degree in business management at Hostos Community College, and here pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Baruch. She is excited to be graduating this semester and becoming the first in her family to receive a college degree. Yara believes it is important to face challenges, like navigating new cultures, applying for scholarships, and advocating for oneself, with resilience, creativity, and a strong work ethic.