Mission & Vision Statement

Mission

Housed within the academic Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico, our Program's mission is to elevate, study, and ethically transmit traditional and integrated healing practices (curanderismo) through rigorous academic inquiry and deep community partnership. Recognizing New Mexico’s unique historical and cultural landscape, the program serves as a vital bridge between traditional practitioners (curanderos and curanderas), university students, medical professionals, and diverse communities, locally, nationally and internationally. By facilitating experiential learning, cross-border dialogue, and culturally responsive education around healing, we empower a new generation of scholars and practitioners to sustain our state’s rich cultural wellness traditions while advancing health equity and inclusive care across urban, rural, and borderland populations.

Vision

The Curanderismo: Traditional Medicine without Borders program is an intellectual and community-engaged academic program which strives for a thriving, interconnected future where the ancestral healing traditions of New Mexico, the U.S. Southwest, Mexico and Latin America are globally researched, recognized, preserved, celebrated and thoughtfully woven into the fabric of modern community health. We aspire to position the Curanderismo Program at The University of New Mexico as the premier national hub for traditional medicine scholarship, fostering a healthcare landscape that honors Indiegenous/Hispano/Mexican/Afro-latino traditional knowledge alongside contemporary clinical practices to ensure the holistic, culturally resonant well-being of all New Mexicans, and people throughout the country.

Core Values

  • Cultural Reciprocity & Respect: We honor the generational wisdom of traditional healers, ensuring that knowledge is shared equitably, ethically, and with profound respect for its ancestral and community origins.

  • Community-Centered Wellness: We remain deeply committed to the health and resilience of New Mexico’s diverse communities, advocating for holistic healthcare approaches that address the physical, spiritual, and social dimensions of well-being.

  • Academic & Pedagogical Rigor: We uphold the highest standards of humanities research and ethnic studies cultural education, integrating critical Chicana/o/x theoretical frameworks with experiential, community-based learning.

  • Inclusive Innovation: We advocate for the thoughtful integration of traditional curanderismo with modern allopathic medicine, researching and teaching culturally responsive models of care that serve as a blueprint for global health systems.

Educational Program Pillars

  •  Educational Exchange & Cross-Border Pedagogy Delivering immersive coursework and summer learning experiences that connect UNM students directly with esteemed traditional healers from Mexico, Latin America and local New Mexican communities, ensuring the living transmission of traditional medicine.

  • Culturally Responsive Training Collaborating with health sciences and utilizing tools like Medical Spanish to train future healthcare professionals in traditional health paradigms. This pillar aims to directly improve patient trust and health outcomes within New Mexico's Hispanic and Indigenous populations.

  • Community Engagement & Heritage Preservation Hosting public workshops, accessible health fairs, and continuous community dialogues that make traditional medicine accessible to the local public, preserving these practices as a living heritage for future generations of New Mexicans.

  • Global & Local Student Mentorship Providing comprehensive international advisement and cross-cultural study abroad initiatives, cultivating graduates who are fully equipped to serve as global ambassadors for inclusive, culturally informed health practices in their respective professional fields.