Luis Marentes

Luis A. Marentes is an associate professor of Latin American and US Latin@ Literature and Culture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Luis A. Marentes is an associate professor of Latin American and US Latin@ Literature and Culture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has also been a visiting professor at MIT and Tehran University's Faculty of World Studies. His academic work has focused on Mexican and Latin@ culture in the first half of the 20th century. What began as research on the state-sponsored nationalist culture of the Mexican Revolution — focusing on the life and work of the first post revolutionary Minister of Education, José Vasconcelos — has turned into a greater interest into other forces that interacted in the development of the cultures of modern Mexico: processes of globalization, migration, and the growth of mass communications. He is currently exploring ways in which to communicate and learn through the new social media. He is a contributor to Latino Rebels and Huffington Post’s Latino Voices, and a leader in the Global Nation Exchange Facebook group.


Man in wrestling ring being tackled with referee in background

An American tradition took shape in Mexico — and then returned to the US

Culture

A photographer documents the performance of an iconic sport that is creating new traditions in Chicago and talks about it with his brother-in-law.