Latinos and Media Project

BIO

Lucila Vargas was awarded both a Ph.D. and an MA from The University of Texas at Austin. She has taught at Bowling Green State University and the USA Branch Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in San Antonio, Texas (1980-1986). Currently Dr. Vargas is a tenured Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her book Social Uses and Radio Practices (Boulder, CO: Westview Press 1995) focuses on the role of media in the reproduction of social distinctions. Other research interests include Latin American media, women and the media, reception analysis and Latinos and mass communication.

During the 2006 Spring she will be Latina/o Media Studies (JOMC 191) is an introductory course to three major areas of Latina/o media studies. First, it analyzes the media portrayal of Latina/os in the U.S. mainstream media. Then, it examines the media catering to U.S. Latina/os, including both transnational media (e.g., Mexican telenovelas) and local "ethnic" media in the continental United States (e.g., New York's newspaper /El Diario-La Prensa/). Finally, the course reviews the media consumption patterns of U.S. Latina/os, and it explores the way in which these audiences use the multiple media offerings available to them.