Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On April 17th, 2026 CENTRO celebrated Dr. Arlene Torres, retiring associate professor in Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies (AFPRL) at Hunter College. Dr. Torres has had a rich career and leaves behind a lasting legacy.
Before her time in the AFPRL department at Hunter College, she served as University Dean of Recruitment and Diversity and the Director of the Chancellor’s Latino Faculty Initiative in Academic Affairs in the CUNY Central Administration. Dr. Torres is a cultural anthropologist with expertise in Caribbean, Latina/Latino and Latin American Studies. Early on her scholarly work on the Americas and the Caribbean archipelago prompted her to study the impact of social inequality structurally and relationally over the long durée of history. Her groundbreaking edited volume, Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean (with Norman E. Whitten, Jr.), is widely regarded in Latin American and Latinx Studies. Dr. Torres has mentored dozens of undergraduate and graduate students, in addition to junior and midcareer faculty, throughout the country.
Founded in 1973 by a coalition of students, faculty, and activists, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO) is the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Learn more at centropr.hunter.cuny.edu
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Support our work by donating today at community.hunter.cuny.edu/supportcentro
On April 17th, 2026 CENTRO celebrated Dr. Arlene Torres, retiring associate professor in Africana, Puerto Rican and Latino Studies (AFPRL) at Hunter College. Dr. Torres has had a rich career and leaves behind a lasting legacy.
Before her time in the AFPRL department at Hunter College, she served as University Dean of Recruitment and Diversity and the Director of the Chancellor’s Latino Faculty Initiative in Academic Affairs in the CUNY Central Administration. Dr. Torres is a cultural anthropologist with expertise in Caribbean, Latina/Latino and Latin American Studies. Early on her scholarly work on the Americas and the Caribbean archipelago prompted her to study the impact of social inequality structurally and relationally over the long durée of history. Her groundbreaking edited volume, Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean (with Norman E. Whitten, Jr.), is widely regarded in Latin American and Latinx Studies. Dr. Torres has mentored dozens of undergraduate and graduate students, in addition to junior and midcareer faculty, throughout the country.
Founded in 1973 by a coalition of students, faculty, and activists, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CENTRO) is the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Learn more at centropr.hunter.cuny.edu
Follow us on social media!
Instagram: instagram.com/centropr
Facebook: facebook.com/centropr
Threads: threads.net/@centropr
TikTok: tiktok.com/@centropr
Support our work by donating today at community.hunter.cuny.edu/supportcentro
