Established in 1985 as the Center for Hispanic Research (during the nationally celebrated "Decade of the Hispanic"), this center was created to foment collaborations between the university and Chicago's diverse Latino communities. Relocated three years later to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, a new faculty director renamed it the Center for Latino Research, and launched the original Latino Studies journal in 1990. In 1998, a third faculty director established Diálogo, a full-color journal on Latin American and U.S. Latino issues and creative work, published annually, and launched an extensive Oral Histories project to conduct interviews with prominent Latina/o community leaders.
At the same time, an annual celebratory banquet for Latina/o graduating students was organized, recently commemorating 20 years of continuous existence. In 2003, the CLR inaugurated its Faculty Fellows Program providing short-term periods for DePaul faculty to conduct new research on U.S. Latino, Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean issues and populations. CLR Fellows have pursued a broad range of projects in the fields of sociology, anthropology, history, art, film and media, literature, and education.
During the Center's 25th anniversary celebrations, plans were made for journal expansion to refereed and biannual presentation, and to increase visibility and reach. Geared to special themes in cutting-edge scholarship and research briefs, the journal added interviews and book/film reviews, and continued a short section of creative work. New scholarship has enriched the pages of Diálogo since volume 15, and in 2016 the journal became accessible through the Project Muse database. Older issues are available now in open access through DePaul Library's Via Sapientiae platform.
Just ahead of festivities for the Center's 30th anniversary, the journal was selected for the 2015 Phoenix Award for editorial transformation, awarded by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ) in December each year. The CLR continues to thrive, developing new community-oriented collaborations, expanding its programming and conducting research projects of hemispheric value.
- (1985-1988) Inaugurating Director, Center for Hispanic Research, business professor Armando Triana
- (1988-1992) Second Director, sociologist Felix Padilla
- Name change to Center for Latino Research (CLR)
- (1988-1999) The CLR is a founding partner in the Midwest Consortium for Latino Research
- (1992-2009) Third Director, historian Felix Masud-Piloto
- (1992-1997) Informacion Latina (community newsletter/magazine) published
- (1994) By student initiative, the DePaul Cultural Center is launched
- Oral Histories project, Chicago Young Lords, begun
- Prominent speakers include recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, and labor rights activists Dolores Huerta and César Chávez
- Ford Foundation Latino Leadership Opportunity Program grants ($188,000 over six years)
- (1994-1999) Latino Studies Visiting Scholars/Professors series in collaboration with Egan Urban Center
- Collaboration forged with Latin American Studes Program (LST), Juana Goergen/Rose Spalding, co-directors
- (1997) The journal Diálogo is launched
- (1997) By student initiative, the annual Latino Graduation Banquet is launched
- (1997-1998) Oral Histories project, Latino Homelessness with Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
- Community partnerships forged with Pilsen Alliance, Casa Michoacán, Universidad Popular
- Oral Histories project, Mexican-Chicago, begun with Casa Aztlán, by history professor Juan Mora-Torres
- (2000) LST launches Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Writer-in-Residence position
- (2003) CLR Faculty Fellows program instituted
- Move to new office suite, shared by CLR and LST
- Oral Histories project, Chicago Young Lords, completed, archived at DePaul Libraries
- Partnership with DePaul Steans Center for annual César Chávez Service Day
- Major conference, Struggles for Social Justice & Equality in U.S. and Latin America
- Co-sponsor, theatrical play, El Bloque: A Yound Lords Story, by Jacqueline Lazú
- Co-sponsor, musical play, Gracias Rafael, tribute to major Puerto Rican composer
- Oral Histories project, Immigration March of 2006 and 2008
- Fundraiser, Casa Juan Diego in Pilsen
- (2004/2005) Fundraisers for Contratiempo community newspaper
- (2008) Poetry Festival launched in partnership with Contratiempo
- (2009-2010) Fourth Director (Interim), Latin American and Latino Studies professor Lourdes Torres
- Oral Histories project, Mirta Ramírez Papers, completed, archived at DePaul Libraries
- (2009) Latino Breakfast, September 15th, launched in co-sponsorship with DePaul InterCultural Center
- Poet and Activist, Luz Maria Umpierre's personal papers donated, archived at DePaul Libraries
- (2010-2019) Fifth Director, Latin American and Latino Studies professor Elizabeth C. Martinez
- (2011) Annual Forum, Current Issues in Latino USA, launched
- (2011) The CLR becomes a member of the research consortium, Inter-University Programs in Latino Research (IUPLR)
- (2012) Scholarly expansion of Diálogo and recruitment of national editorial board
- (2013) Diálogo is redesigned and is now published by the University of Texas Press
- (2013) Diálogo becomes member of Council for Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ)
- (2015) Diálogo is recipient of the Council for Editors of Learned Journals' Phoenix Award for most improved journal
- (2015) CLR celebrates three decades of existence
- (2016) Diálogo hosted by database Project Muse
- (2019 - present) Sixth Director, Associate Professor of English, Bill Johnson González
- (2019) The CLR begins to host an annual Tertulia in Winter, a dinner that convenes faculty to honor that year's CLR Faculty Fellows and announce the opening of the year's fellowship competition
- (2020) The CLR launches a quarterly newsletter, El Centro; the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies partners in 2022
- (2022) Inaugural CLR Public Intelectual Award is given to José Angel N., author of Illegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant
- (2021) CLR organizes the 25th Latinx Graduation Ceremony
- (2021) The Social Transformation Research Collaborative (STRC) is launched, a three-year project funded by a $1.9 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, codirected by the CLR and the Center for Black Diaspora; creation of the annual STRC Summer Institute, Post-Doctoral Fellowships, and an annual Symposium, as well as annual Faculty, Graduate, and Undergraduate Fellowship programs
- (2022) CLR and LALS establish an External Advisory Board, comprised mostly but not exclusively of DePaul alumnae/i; inaugural meeting in June
- (2022) Diálogo celebrates its 25th Anniversary
- (2023) CLR Faculty Fellowship celebrates its 20th anniversary
- (2023) CLR co-hosts a banquet, ¡Todo el poder pa' la gente!, honoring 55 years of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park; Cha Cha Jiménez receives the 2023 CLR Public Intellectual Award
- (2023) The CLR Assistant Director position is reinstated; Marcela L. Reales Visbal becomes Assistant Director
- (2023) Assistant Director Marcela L. Reales Visbal wins Charles Suchar Award to establish an oral history project for DePaul Latinx Students
- (2024) Latinx Book Club established