Dr. Araceli Hernández-Laroche will serve as our speaker for the Hispanic Heritage Month Convocation honoring the national theme of “UNIDOS, SOMOS MÁS.” “TOGETHER, WE ARE MORE.”
Biography:
Araceli Hernández-Laroche, Ph.D.
Director of South Carolina Centro Latino & Professor of Modern Languages
Dr. Araceli Hernández-Laroche earned her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and speaks four languages. She is the Founding Director of the South Carolina Centro Latino (El Centro), the first university-based center dedicated to Hispanic and Latino cultures in South Carolina, and Professor of Modern Languages at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Through teaching, the public humanities, and community-engaged scholarship, she collaborates with nonprofit organizations, schools, cultural institutions, and civic leaders to develop interdisciplinary initiatives that expand educational access, strengthen community partnerships, and prepare students for civic leadership across South Carolina and beyond. In recognition of her work bringing people together through history and culture, she received the 2023 Akers Prize from South Carolina Humanities. Dr. Hernández-Laroche also serves on numerous local, statewide, national, and transnational boards and committees.