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Latinos comprise the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, and this interdisciplinary anthology gathers the scholarship of both early career and senior Latina/o scholars whose work explores the varied and unique latinidades, or Latino cultural identities, of this group.

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Introduction - María E. Fránquiz PART I: HISTORICAL ROOTS AND CONTEMPORARY REALITIES Changing the National Ethos, or Just Being American? Latin@ Political Participation - Sylvia Manzano and Arturo Vega State-Federal Relations Concerning Latin@ Civil Rights in the United States - Norma V. Cantú Latin@s in the US Military - Jorge Mariscal The Swirl Migration of Mexican-Origin Students: A Cross Border Analysis Using the Mexican and US Census - Stella Flores and German Trevi¤o PART II: POPULAR AND tRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS Making, Buying, Selling, and Using the Umbrella: Recognizing the Nuances of Latin@ Popular Culture - Patricia Marina Trujillo Traveling on the Biliteracy Highway: Educators Paving a Road toward Conocimiento - María E. Franquiz Traditional Cultural Expressions: An Analysis of the Secular and Religious Folkways of Latin@s in the United States - Norma E. Cantú Language and Identity of Immigrant Central American Pentecostal Youth in Southern California - Lucila D. Ek PART III: PERFORMANCE ARTS AND LITERATURE Staging the Self, Staging Empowerment: An Overview of Latina Theater and Performance - Rita Urquijo Ruiz Literary Currency: Coined Contributions of Latin@s in the United States - Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs Politics of Aesthetics: Mariachi Music in the United States - Russell C. Rodríguez From Boricua Dancers to Salsa Soldiers: The Cultural Politics of Globalized Salsa Dancing in Chicago - Frances Aparicio

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"This interdisciplinary project reflects the contemporary, transnational experiences of many Latinas/os and would prove an important addition to our understanding of Latin culture and experience in the United States. The collection explores a number of interesting areas, some of which have only had only cursory attention by scholars in the past. This broad focus is clearly one of the collections strengths, since it allows one to create connections across different disciplines and to recognize, for instance, the ways in which the twentieth century legal challenges faced by Latinas/os inform our understanding of the ways in which Latinas/os are marginalized from positions of power in the U.S. military. The book will appeal to undergraduates and graduates as well as scholars in the field." - Kevin Concannon, Assistant Professor of English at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

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NORMA E. CANTé is Professor of English and U.S. Latina/o Literatures at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA.

MARIA E. FRµNQUIZ is Associate Professor of Bilingual-Bicultural Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA.

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