Latina/o studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Hispanic ancestry in the United States. Closely related to other ethnic studies disciplines such as African American studies, Asian American studies, and Native American studies, Latino studies critically examines the history, culture, politics, issues, and experiences of Hispanic people. Drawing from numerous disciplines such as sociology, history, literature, political science, religious studies and gender studies, Latino studies scholars consider a variety of perspectives and employ diverse analytical tools in their work.
In academia, Latino Studies stemmed from the development of Chicana/o Studies and Puerto Rican Studies programs in response to demands articulated by student movements in the late 1960s in the United States. These movements unfolded amid a nationwide climate of heightened social and political activism, incited by opposition to the Vietnam War, the American Feminist Movement, and the African American Civil Rights movement.
At some institutions of higher education in the United States, the 1970s and 1980s saw the consolidation of Latino Studies as an autonomous discipline while other institutions chose to maintain Chicano and Puerto Rican Studies programs—reflecting a diversity of institutional responses to the nascent academic discipline.