As acting director of the Julian Samora Research Institute (JSRI), I am pleased to report that in partnership with University Outreach and Engagement, JSRI has initiated a national search for the next director. This significant step, which began in late June and is expected to conclude in fall 2024, will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of JSRI and its initiatives.

JSRI researchers and staff continue to work on research projects and outreach activities supporting Latino communities in Michigan and the Midwest. For example, Latino populations have increased substantially in the United States, Midwest, and Michigan. Dr. Jean Kayitsinga’s research uses U.S. census data to highlight Latino population profiles in Michigan, how Latinos’ socioeconomic resources compare to those of other racial and ethnic groups, and the effects of social context and social cohesion on Latino child and adult obesity.

As part of JSRI’s outreach efforts to Latino farmers, Drs. Marcelo Siles and Jean Kayitsinga received a grant from USDA-NIFI entitled Latino Farmers Adoption of Appropriate Technology (LAFAT). In partnership with Lake Michigan College in South Haven, Michigan, LAFAT has three main components: education, research, and outreach. The education component includes workshops identified by Latino farmers as critical to their daily operations, including using Microsoft Excel for recordkeeping and financial statements, accessing credit, and building social capital. The research component focuses on identifying the role of social capital in the adoption of new agricultural technology by Latino farmers. Finally, the outreach component involves visits to farms currently using advanced production technology and demonstrations of new agricultural machinery, equipment, and tools. One example is the use of hoop houses, which can help farmers mitigate climate change via a weather-controlled environment and grow other agricultural products that are in high demand and yield good prices in the market.

Another JSRI research project focuses on Texas-Mexican music, or música tejana, in the Midwest, as an outcome of labor migration. Given the importance of farm labor in the history of música tejana in Michigan, Dr. Richard Cruz Dávila conducted a conversation during the National Farmworker Awareness Week on March 26 with Rudy Peña, a musician, producer, and promoter of this type of music. Mr. Peña’s family came as part of the Tejano/migrant labor stream until settling in Michigan.

At the end of June, Dr. Dávila workshopped a chapter from his forthcoming book, The Tejano Midwest: Labor Migration and the Creation of Texas-Mexican Musical Community, at the American Musicological Society-Popular Music Studies Working Group Junior Faculty Symposium at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

As we look forward to welcoming the new JSRI director, we are excited about continuing these research projects and activities, expanding into additional areas that support Latino communities in Michigan, and building stronger partnerships with Latino scholars at Michigan State University and beyond.