A large portion of our active board focuses on specific ongoing projects (or activities) created by our LxG community over time to fulfill ongoing and emerging needs and desires as we co-create our own space within geography. Thus far, we have four focus/activities.(Communications, Pedagogy, Awards, Mentoring) and an option for a new one. While we all collaborate across projects, each project/activity has an activity director as leader and point of contact. We also welcome community members to be actively involved in his/hers/their activity of interest. Next, we describe each of the focus/activities:
Communications (Yadira Silva Rios)
The LxG Communications Committee currently supervises the LxG social media accounts, website, and listserv to keep our community up to date with Latinx Geographies activities related to and beyond the annual AAG meeting. As part of this responsibility, the Communications Activity Director works annually to (1) create social media graphics/content (2) manage social media accounts, including Instagram, Twitter, etc., and, (3) update the website annually or as needed. The majority of the social media and website updates happen around AAG to share flyers with information on the paper award, mutual aid grant, sponsored sessions, and AAG LxG socials. Future growth for LxG Communications is likely to include finding alternate social media platforms (eg. Blue Sky), creating a listserve, and finding creative ways to utilize social media/communications tools.
Pedagogy (Flavia Maria Lake & Isaac Rivera)
The LxG Pedagogy Committee currently leads a group of LxG members in activities related to teaching Latinx Geographies. As of Spring 2025, for instance, the LxG Pedagogy Group is finalizing a peer-reviewed article on teaching Latinx Geographies. Previously, the group has organized virtual working-groups to support Latinx Geographers in developing their pedagogical approaches and/or in course development. Future growth for LxG Pedagogy is likely to include (1) generating a list of syllabi for courses on Latinx Geographies and/or Racial Geographies that can be posted to our website, and (2) organizing virtual and in-person “teach-ins” where Latinx Geographers can share and collaborate on teaching assignments and pedagogical approaches. To learn more about the LxG Pedagogy Commitee’s previous work, please visit our “Refusing the imaginaries of violence through pedagogical possibilities” meeting notes from the 2023 AAG Meeting.
Awards (Alana de Hinojosa, Yadira Silva Rios, Melva Treviño Peña, & Laura Torres Vargas)
The LxG Awards Committee currently supervises the LxG Best Graduate Student Paper Award, which is awarded annually to a graduate student paper within the field of Latinx Geographies. The award began in 2019 and is now in its sixth year. As part of this responsibility, the Awards Activity Director works annually with a review board to: (1) refine the evaluation rubric for this paper award, (2) assess paper submissions, and (3) identify each year’s recipient. The Awards Activity director also mentors/supervises the mentorship of awardees as they polish their papers in preparation to submit to a peer-reviewed journal. Future growth for this Activity Director is likely to include developing additional LxG awards in: service, teaching, activism, as well as junior/senior LxG research awards that will recognize scholars for their contributions to the field of Latinx Geographies.
Mentoring (Flavia Maria Lake, Jimena Perez, Alana de Hinojosa, & Melva Treviño Torres)
The LxG Mentoring Committee currently leads a group of LxG members in activities focused on exploring and practicing meaningful mentorship with and for emerging/junior Latinx Geographers. In the past, this group has held virtual discussions to brainstorm, share, and collaborate on meaningful experiences of mentorship. This group has also held virtual meet-ups where members offer mentorship to one another through virtual writing sessions and the sharing of works-in-progress. The goal of this group is to develop and articulate what meaningful mentorship has and can look like among Latinx Geographers. Future growth for LxG Mentorship is likely to include: (1) a more formalized program of assigning senior LxG faculty to mentor junior LxG faculty/graduate students, and (2) publishing a multi-authored peer-reviewed paper on LxG mentorship approaches and how to further develop our emerging field through mentorship.
Graduate Student Initiatives (Jimena Perez & Laura Torres Vargas)
Given ongoing challenges and needs, in 2025 we launched a new Activity Director position with a new proposed focus: Graduate Student Initiatives. This director would take leadership in co-organizing events, initiatives, and proposed activities targeted to graduate students and their needs.
