About “El Centro”
The South Carolina Centro Latino or “El Centro” bridges cultures statewide through linguistic awareness and accessibility. Our three pillars create institutional space for belonging, civility, wellness and equity: Latinx Interdisciplinary Studies and Civic Leadership and Mentoring, the Public Humanities and Translation and Community Interpreting. We invite you to explore the El Centro Scholar Commons for a growing archive of articles, presentations, publications and more.
Mission
El Centro brings visibility to Latinx Interdisciplinary Studies, thought leadership on authentic community outreach and inclusion by strengthening Hispanic and Latino recruitment, increasing mentoring, promoting civic leadership, engaging bilingual and Spanish-speaking community members in the multilingual public humanities and expanding translation and community interpreting studies and certifications for students and bilingual professionals to further equip the Hispanic and Latino workforce locally and globally.
Vision Statement
El Centro is nationally and internationally recognized for its collaborative, community-based, cultural and linguistic approach to increasing the visibility of Latinx Interdisciplinary Studies, the Public Humanities, Translation and Community Interpreting and talent in all spheres of higher education and civic life.
South Carolina Centro Latino Initiatives
- Organizing Latina/o Interdisciplinary Studies and Talks on Civic Leadership and Mentoring
- Hosting a “Latinas in Higher Ed Summit”
- Hosting research forums on local and global impacts of migration
- Expanding a Global Studies minor and certificate
- Increasing interdisciplinary and multilingual public humanities scholarship
- Sponsoring podcasts, interactive lectures and other public-facing work in other languages
- Expanding the Alicante Study Abroad Program
- Expanding a Service Learning in Translation and Interpreting Studies Minor
- Training state professionals for Translation and Interpreting in School Settings
- Offering Translation and Interpreting courses for school districts in South Carolina
- Developing Translation and Interpreting certificate courses for law enforcement
- Hosting an annual international Translation and Interpreting Conference
- Supporting Scholarship in Translation and Interpreting Studies.
- Building on the legacy of UnidosUS Líderes Avanzando through College Program
- Providing services to parents in English, Spanish and other languages
- Supporting a Latino/a Employee Resource Group
Fall 2025 Events
See El Centro Linktr.ee, Instagram or website for latest updates, added virtual events links, and other types of engagement such as recruitment on and off-campus.
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Monday, August 18
Community & Student Engagement Meet & Greet
Stop by El Centro’s table from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. in the Campus Life Center (CLC) Patio & Surrounding Areas.
Monday, August 27
Premier Fair
Stop by El Centro’s table from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in the Campus Life Center (CLC) Patio & Surrounding Areas.
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Wednesday, September 3
A Conversation with Artists with Third Terrain
Join artists for a discussion exploring the transformative role of the arts in fostering community care and resilience. This conversation brings together artists Federico Cuatlacuatl, Emilio Rojas, and Kiley Brandt to share insights on how their creative practices engage issues of migration, identity, and ancestral knowledge.
Moderated by Michael Webster (Wofford College) 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m., in Room 117 in the CASB.
This Hispanic Heritage Month event will count for El Centro Public Scholars Program. Refreshments will be served. Open to the public.
This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition “Third Terrain” at the Richardson Family Art Museum at Wofford College, Spartanburg, and the art gallery Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Greenville. We invite you to attend the accompanying exhibition events:
“Third Terrain – Act I” exhibition reception and panel discussion, 5:00 PM, September 11, 2025 at the Rosalind S. Richardson Center for the Arts at Wofford College.
“Third Terrain – Act II” exhibition reception, 6:00 – 9:00 PM, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Greenville, SC.
Thursday, September 4
On-Campus Job Fair
Stop by El Centro’s table from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Health Education Complex (HEC) Lobby/Avenue.
Wednesday, September 10
Engaging Communities in Conservation Through Culture and Stewardship
Join panelists for an important dialogue in celebration of Latino Conservancy Week. Michael Brown, Executive Director of Sustaining Way, Fernanda Rabago, Sustaining Way Operations Manager, and Dr. Marlon A. Smith, Center for Africana & African American Studies & Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m., in Room 117 in the CASB.
This Hispanic Heritage Month event will count for El Centro Public Scholars Program. Refreshments will be served. Open to the public.
Thursday, September 11
Link Up: Health and Wellness
Stop by El Centro’s table from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Campus Life Center (CLC) Back Patio.
Friday, September 19
Interactive Artist Talk (in English) with artist Luis Alvaro Sahagún Nuño
Meet artist and healer Luis A. Sahagún whose work will be exhibited at the Upstate Gallery in the Chapman Cultural Center. 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m., in Room 150 (BMW Classroom) at the George Dean Johnson College of Business and Economics (JCBE), 160 East St. John Street, Spartanburg, 29302. Co-sponsored with Prof. Brian Brady, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at JCBE. Volverse a Volar: A Lecture Limpia is an experimental interactive ritual and performance charged with the vibrant sounds and spirit of the mercado, the chatter of the merolico, the clatter of kitchen blenders, rattles, conch shells, buffalo drums, and the hum of telenovelas leaking through the walls, all looped and layered live.
This Hispanic Heritage Month event counts for El Centro Public Scholars Program. Refreshments served. Open to the public.
Tuesday, September 30
International Translators Day
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October 6-10, 2025
National Voter Education Week
Wednesday, October 8
Hispanics in the US
El Centro’s Director is a guest speaker in Dr. Angélica Lozano-Alonso’s Spanish class at Furman University.
Saturday, October 11
El Centro’s Director is a guest seminar speaker, alongside Dr. Frank Rodriguez, South Carolina 2025 Superintendent of the Year serving Beaufort County School District.
Tuesday, October 14
SCW Career Fair
Stop by El Centro’s table from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Campus Life Center (CLC) Ballroom.
Wednesday, October 15
SMC Women’s Symposium
El Centro’s Director is a guest speaker at Spartanburg Methodist College.
Wednesday, October 15
Hispanic Heritage Night Celebration
Stop by El Centro’s table from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Lone Oak Elementary School.
Wednesday, October 16
Link Up: Cultural Awareness and Appreciation
Stop by El Centro’s table from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the Campus Life Center (CLC) Back Patio.
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November 3-9
First Generation College Student Celebration
Events can fall anytime in November and be listed on the event calendar. Contact Buck C. Cooke ([email protected]), Associate Director of Student Involvement for Community and Student Engagement.
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Wednesday, December 3
Celebrating Graduating El Centro Public Scholars
Join us and Avanzando from 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. in the University Resource Center (URC). Fernando Soto, a bilingual journalist, entrepreneur, and mentor, will serve as our keynote speaker. Fernando is Head of Latino Marketing & Community Relations at George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers.
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Avanzando Through College 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 pm, LIB by RSVP
Sept. 25, Oct. 2, Oct. 23, Nov. 6, Nov. 20, and Dec. 3 at 2:00 p.m., URC
Leadership
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Araceli Hernández-Laroche, PhD
Director, South Carolina Centro Latino
864-503-5221 | [email protected] | @AraceliHLarocheDr. Araceli Hernández-Laroche is a professor of modern languages and the founding director of South Carolina Centro Latino (El Centro) at USC Upstate. The first tenured Mexican-American professor in USC Upstate history, as well as the first Hispanic to earn full professor, Hernández-Laroche serves on the boards of the Chapman Cultural Center, the Spartanburg Academic Movement, and the ACLU of SC. She also serves on IME Becas through the Mexican Consulate in the Carolinas, Alianza Spartanburg’s Leadership & Steering Committee, the LGBT Advisory Fund, Live Healthy Spartanburg Policy Committee, the Program Committee at the Mary Black Foundation, the Education Council at the United Way of the Piedmont, and the City of Spartanburg Comprehensive Plan Think Tank. Hernández-Laroche was named the 2020 Career Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women of South Carolina and the 2020 Inclusion Advocate of the Year by OneSpartanburg. She was selected to participate in the 2020-2021 cohort of the Emerging Leaders Program through the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Hernández-Laroche received a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in French and Francophone studies and Italian studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her Master of Arts and Ph.D. in French from the University of California.
She coedited a volume on World War I with Routledge UK in 2021. Her book chapters, articles, and reviews on existentialist French and North African writers and the multilingual public humanities have appeared in publications by Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Lexington Books, the French Literature Series with Brill Academic Publishers, The French Review, and the ASAP/Journal, a peer-reviewed journal published by John Hopkins University Press on the study of the arts of the present. She is coauthoring a book in Spanish with Mexican scholars on migration and has work forthcoming on Simone de Beauvoir, as well as essays on the public humanities in the journal of French Politics, Culture, and Society and the joint issue of the ADE and ADFL Bulletins, refereed journals published by the Modern Language Association (MLA). She serves as co-president of the MLA’s Association of Departments of Foreign Languages (ADFL) Executive Committee and the MLA’s Ad Hoc Committee Valuing the Public Humanities. She is a former president of the SC chapter of AATF.
A multilingual professor, she has directed study abroad in Cádiz, Spain, taught Spanish in prison, high school, and as an assistant professor in NJ. Her public scholarship on the growing Latino community in South Carolina is mostly in Spanish or English.
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Maria Francisco-Montesó
Assistant Director, South Carolina Centro Latino
864-503-5203 | [email protected]Maria Francisco-Montesó is a senior instructor in Spanish at USC Upstate. Montesó graduated from Universitat Jaume I, Spain, and earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in translation and interpreting studies in Spanish, Catalan, English, and German. She has more than 10 years of experience teaching Spanish and translation & interpreting courses. Montesó is a Ph.D. candidate. Her research interests center on educational interpreting and pedagogy in translation and interpreting studies. She incorporates in-class pedagogical innovative projects and technology-intensive teaching-learning methodologies as part of the Quality Enhancement Plan and Active Learning cohorts. Montesó creates a service-learning component in her translation and interpreting courses, through which her students provide translation and interpretation services in the South Carolina Upstate in order to support non-profit organizations’ outreach into the area’s Hispanic community. She also created a unique certificate course to train bilinguals in English and Spanish to become professional interpreters in educational settings.
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