The Tertulia Resolana High School-College-Community-Collaborative is an interdisciplinary introduction course for high school students on Latina, Latino, and Latin American Studies, facilitated by City University of New York (CUNY) students.  Classes are an hour to an hour to an hour and a half, once per week, each semester.  Academic credit may be available for both the high school and college participants.  High school students select an area of interest to research and conduct a guided report related to the curriculum, and will have opportunities to present their findings at student conferences while also connecting their learning to the strengths of their communities.

The structure of the program has been geared to prepare high school students for the academic demands of the university level through direct intellectual interaction with university students.  Throughout the chronology of the course, participants will consider connections between and among human rights, history, current events, popular culture, art, literature, music and dance, religion, politics, economics, ethnicity, gender, media, and the environment, reflecting on how these topics and issues interconnect with Latin America and the Latina/o experience in the United States.  Taken further, parallels and comparisons are drawn with other Diasporas within the U.S. and around the world in our current and historical economic, environmental, and geopolitical climates.

Coupled with the need for more attention to the academic progress of high school students is the demand for greater collaborative opportunities between secondary education students and college students.  The peer-study of Latina, Latino, and Latin American Studies bridges this gap.  The mission of the Tertulia Resolana is to increase academic achievement and build community among high school and college students through student-led study, research, writing, presentations, and arenas for Latina, Latino, and Latin American histories and cultures.