Hispanic Culture Adds Spice to Hoosier Life

July 5, 2006

The project seeks to discover how Hoosiers are exposed to Latino culture.  I traveled to  Indianapolis, Bloomington, Lafayette, and Crawfordsville in order to see if city type changes anything; it does. 

I have discovered that Hoosiers are exposed to Latino culture through organizations, clubs, and businesses that are Latino-affiliated.  Without these, non-Latinos would not have much opportunity to experience Latinos and their culture. For example, Latino clubs at Purdue and IU offer language, cooking, and dance classes to students and the community.

Interacting with different culture(s) allows one to gain new perspectives on life. For example, a rooster says kee-dee-kee-dee-kee in Spanish.  It is useful to know that people around the world view everyday things differently than we do.  Indiana also benefits from different cultures because of the introduction of new and fun dance, music, celebrations, ways of doing business, and much more.

Ulrey '08 is a Spanish major from Lafayette, Ind.

Related Links:

Mayor's Commision on Latino Affairs
http://www.indygov.org/eGov/Mayor/Diversity/Latino/home.htm


Hispanic Business Council
http://www.indychamber.com/hispanicbusinesscouncil.asp

La Plaza
http://www.laplaza-indy.org/

Purdue Latino Cultural Center
http://www.purdue.edu/lcc/

Community and Family Resource Center
http://www.cfrc.org/