About “El Centro”
South Carolina Centro Latino—“El Centro”—bridges cultures across our state. Guided by three pillars—Latino interdisciplinary public scholarship, civic leadership & mentoring, and the public humanities—we create institutional space for community building, wellness, and opportunity. Our multilingual public humanities series features voices from public history, oral and cultural traditions, the arts, languages and literature, poetry, philosophy, translation and interpreting, music, and community theater. We connect students in all majors with emerging scholars, artists, and civic and industry leaders through public-facing events through the El Centro Public Scholars Program.
We invite you to explore the El Centro Scholar Commons, a growing archive of co-authored publications and co-authored newsletters with students, and please follow us on social media for weekly updates.
Mission
El Centro brings visibility to Latino interdisciplinary public scholarship and authentic community outreach—growing recruitment, mentoring, and civic leadership—and, through the public humanities, prepares our communities for success in the interconnected and multilingual local and global workforce.
Vision Statement
El Centro is nationally and internationally recognized for its collaborative, community-rooted, cultural, and linguistic approach that elevates Latino interdisciplinary public scholarship, strengthens civic leadership and mentoring, and advances the multilingual public humanities across higher education and civic life.
South Carolina Centro Latino Initiatives
- Connect students with civic leaders, artists, scholars, and mentors through El Centro’s Speaker Series.
- Offer the El Centro Public Scholars Program to students of all majors.
- Celebrate graduates each semester with La Fiesta for El Centro Public Scholars.
- Teach four interdisciplinary courses designed to deepen community and industry connections.
- Provide paid marketing internships and volunteer roles at recruitment events and career fairs for students across majors.
- Award competitive study abroad micro-grants to El Centro Public Scholars.
- Fund annual El Centro Public Scholarships supported by the Swift Family Endowment.
- Build on the legacy of UnidosUS Líderes Avanzando Through College.
- Advance interdisciplinary, multilingual public humanities scholarship.
- Co-host interdisciplinary conferences on the local and global impacts of migration.
- Support public-facing work—podcasts, interactive lectures, and projects in English and other languages.
- Engage families in English, Spanish, and additional languages at admissions recruitment events and community resource fairs.
- Co-host the 37th Annual Carolina Association of Translators & Interpreters Conference.
- Co-host with the Latino Faculty Caucus at USC Columbia the “Advancing the Higher Education Pathway in the Southeast for Hispanic and Latino” Summit.
- Collaborate with nonprofits, schools, and higher-education partners—locally, nationally, and transnationally—across sectors including business and public health.
Support South Carolina Centro Latino:
Spring 2026 Events
All events count for the El Centro Public Scholars Program.
Free, open to the public. No RSVP needed.
Follow us and indicate you are coming: https://www.facebook.com/SouthCarolinaCentroLatino/events.
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southcarolinacentrolatino/.
Campus Maps: https://uscupstate.edu/about/campus-maps/.
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Tuesday, February 10
St. Domingue and French Racial Politics of the Late Eighteenth Century
French Historian, Dr. Dwain Pruitt, Chief Equity Officer and Vice President for Community Initiatives, Wofford College,” Moderated by Dr. Colleen O’Brien, 2:00–3:15 p.m., Health Education Complex (HEC) Smith Boardroom (2086), in celebration of Black History Month, and co-hosted with the Center for Africana and African American Studies.
Wednesday, February 18
LinkedIn for Careers & Public Scholarship
2:00–3:15 p.m., TLC 289 A/B. Speakers: Tim Driscoll, Dr. Polinho Katina, Bridget Kirkland, Dr. Renu Pariyadath, Dr. Lillian Reeves, and Dr. Josh Ruppel.
Monday, February 23
Stop by El Centro’s Table @ the Community and Student Engagement Winter Social
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Campus Life Center (CLC) 310.
Wednesday, February 25
Boricua Storytelling with Afro-Puerto Rican Public Historian Anthony Modesto Milián
2:00–3:15 p.m., Campus Life Center (CLC) 309, in celebration of Black History Month, and co-hosted with the Center for Africana and African American Studies.
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Thursday, March 12
Retranslation Panel. BIPOC Adoptee Artists in Conversation: Bonnie Jones, Rosalba Breazeale, and Benjamin Lundberg Torres-Sánchez
5:00pm, virtual link, co-hosted with Kiley Brandt, Digital Foundations Assistant Professor at Clemson University. Visit the art exhibit at the Asteroid Tiger Strike Art Gallery in Greenville.
Wednesday, March 25
Ms. Perry Will Speak Screening and Roundtable Discussion
Documentary Speakers on the 100 Years of Business & Professional Women of SC: Louise Fagan, Tracy Regan, LeKesa Whitner, and SC Humanities Executive Director Jennifer “Bingo” Gunter.
2:00–3:30 p.m., Campus Life Center (CLC) 309. In celebration of International Women’s Month, and co-hosted with the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.Saturday, March 28
Join El Centro’s Avanzando Team at the Out of Darkness USC Upstate Campus Walk—Save Lives. Bring Hope
9:00 a.m., Hodge Center, 365 Hodge Drive.
Tuesday, March 31
SC Higher Education Institutions: Student Engagement & Advocacy
10:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m., Columbia. Sponsors: El Centro, Institute for Childhood Success, and University of South Carolina Office of Community Engagement.
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Wednesday, April 22
Celebrating Graduating El Centro Public Scholars and 7th Cohort of Avanzando students, Keynote Speaker: Dr. Yamil Ernesto Ruiz
2:00–3:15 p.m., Olin B. Sansbury Campus Life Center (CLC) 310. 180 Gramling Drive, Spartanburg, SC 29303. Sponsored by Truliant Federal Credit Union and in collaboration with Student Success.
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Avanzando 5:30–7:30 p.m. (RSVP)
Jan 22, Feb 5, Feb 19, Mar 5, Mar 21, Apr 2, and Apr 22 — 2:00 p.m., Campus Life Center (CLC) 310.
Leadership
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Araceli Hernández-Laroche, PhD
Director, South Carolina Centro Latino
864-503-5221 | [email protected] | LinkedinAraceli Hernández-Laroche (PhD, UC Berkeley) is Professor of Modern Languages at USC Upstate and the founding director of South Carolina Centro Latino (El Centro), whose pillars are Latinx Interdisciplinary Studies, Civic Leadership, and the multilingual Public Humanities. A speaker of four languages, she has published widely, including work with Cambridge University Press and on the co-edited PMLA Special Topics issue, “The Theories and Methodologies of Public Humanities.” She has served as co-president of the Association of Departments of Languages Executive Committee and on the Modern Language Association Ad Hoc Committee on Valuing the Public Humanities. Her recognitions include the 2023 Akers Prize from South Carolina Humanities for using culture and history to bring people together, as well as South Carolina Career Woman of the Year (2020), Woman of Influence (2024), Advocate of the Year (2024), and inclusion among the Top 12 Most Influential Women in the Southeast. A graduate of leadership programs through AASCU and the Spartanburg County Foundation’s Grassroots Leadership Development Institute, she serves on boards including the Spartanburg Academic Movement, the ACLU of South Carolina, South Carolina Humanities, the LGBT Fund of Spartanburg Grants Advisory Committee, and IME Becas through the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh.
Social Media
If you would like to stay up-to-date on all things related to South Carolina El Centro, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.