The second of three finalists for the position of ISU Latino/a Studies director said that she hopes the program can focus on preparing students to take on the future and improve their communities.

Michelle Habell-Pallan, assistant professor of American ethnic studies at the University of Washington, spoke during an open forum Thursday afternoon entitled “The Future of Latino Studies: New Locations, New Rhythms.”

Habell-Pallan has studied Latino influence on American pop culture.

She likens her teaching approach in Latino/a Studies to music and illustrated her approach with a clip of Carlos Santana’s “Oye Como Va,” in which the song’s many different musical lines form a cohesive, interlocking whole.

To illustrate the approach, Habell-Pallan said that, for example, a class in American policy issues could intersect and interlock with a theater class by way of connecting a story of undocumented workers getting to America.

“Policy issues affect everyone in day-to-day lives; it’s a human issue,” Habell-Pallan said.

“Latino Studies has to maintain that university knowledge must be used for the benefit of communities.”

Habell-Pallan believes that Iowa State is at the center of the key demographic of Latino/a Studies: Latinos themselves, since the influx of Latinos into the state has created a noticeable demographic shift.

“I think Latino Studies at Iowa State University should create a pipeline in the high school and middle school levels that shapes future entrance at ISU,” Habell-Pallan said.

Habell-Pallan finished her lecture by playing an example of two musical art forms that have melded into a distinctly American sound made up of American rap styles and Mexican regional Bando music.

“If this music is an allegory for the state of the nation, then this is what the state of the nation sounds like,” Habell-Pallan said.