“I was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. My mother brought me to the United States at the age of six and I was granted DACA status to legally pursue my American Dream as an adolescent.”
Luis Granados Torres is a graduate student receiving his M.A. in English literature. He is representing the Department of English and is a graduate Dean’s Medalist Honorable Mention.
“Luis is enterprising, remarkably bright and full of promise. He also works hard to actualize this promise, and his willingness to grow, revise and expand speaks to his ethic and academic character. He is an excellent burgeoning scholar,” said Dr. J. Ashley Foster, associate professor in 20th and 21st-century British literature.
Growing up, Torres gained a grasp on English translating legal documents from English to Spanish. He received his B.A. in English from Fresno State in 2020. His master’s thesis is titled “Family and Opportunities: Examining how Undocumented Immigrants Redefine the American Dream in Contemporary Memoirs and Autobiographies.”
At Fresno State, Torres has had many accomplishments which, he says, have been facilitated in part by the English department.
“Recently, I have dedicated most of my time to research projects and less to part-time jobs thanks to the Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program, which I was a recipient of this school year, along with awards from the English department.”
Torres presented at the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association conference in October 2023, the Northern California Writing Centers Association conference in April 2023 and he will present again at the Latina/o/x Studies Association conference in April 2024. His goal in presenting was to address racism in academic institutions and the need to better assist bilingual students.
Torres has a book review forthcoming for “Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity,” which he completed under the guidance of Dr. William Arce, who also chaired his M.A. thesis.
Under his guidance, he has assisted in the research and writing of grants and fellowships—and was recently co-recipient of California Humanities – Humanities for All: Quick Grant for the project “The Hispanic Student Veterans Initiative.”
“I am the first of my five siblings to attend a four-year university and the first in my bloodline to have been admitted into a doctorate program,” Torres said. “I will enroll in the English Ph.D. program at the University of Southern California in Fall 2024.”
“Luis is a leader and in possession of the accompanying leadership qualities: focus, discipline, integrity and intelligence. This year he applied to Ph.D. programs and has two offers on the table, one from UCLA and another from USC. This guy’s a go-getter,” said Dr. Arce, associate professor of English.
“The doctoral degree is a step towards my life-long commitment to research and teaching,” said Torres. “As an aspiring professor, I want to make a positive impact on the future generation. I also want to mentor the undocumented and first-generation student population.”
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 