UW Alum, Dr. Eduardo Santana, Appointed Emeritus Professor, University of Guadalajara

LACIS congratulates our colleague, Eduardo Santana, for his prestigious appointment as Emeritus Professor at the University of Guadalajara.  See the note below and additional materials for more information about his long collaboration with LACIS.  We are very proud and happy for this well-deserved recognition!

 

 

UW-Madison and the University of Guadalajara: A Half Century of Collaboration in Socioenvironmental Sciences

Speech by Dr. Santana Castellon

Eduardo Santana Castellon Booklet

Remembering Tinker Visiting Professor, Dr. Carlos Urzúa

Dr. Carlos Urzúa

It is with deep sadness that we share news of the passing of esteemed Professor Carlos Urzúa, who spent time in our community in 2021 as a Tinker Visiting Professor. Professor Urzúa completed his PhD in Economics at UW-Madison in 1986 and then went on to an illustrious career in academia and public service, including as Mexico’s Secretary of Finance and Professor of Economics at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. While at Tec de Monterrey, he also founded a public policy graduate program that he directed for over a decade. Professor Urzúa visited Madison’s campus many times over the years to catch up with old friends, give lectures, collaborate with colleagues, and teach our students. Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies mourns this loss to our community. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends, and to anyone who was touched by his important research and warm presence.

14 UW–Madison students win Fulbright awards

FLAS Recipient, Rosalie Powell’s, UW–Madison Adventure – WISc, NASA, and Beyond!

Article published in El Pais by UW alum, Marcos Colon: “Criminal mining, militarization and Indigenous challenges in the Ecuadorian crisis”

The government is faced with the task of comprehensively addressing these problems in the face of the voices and concerns of Indigenous communities and other affected sectors… (more…)

LACIS Honorary Fellow, Dr. Federico Subervi, Receives Continuation Award for Research on Risk Communication in Puerto Rico

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Federico Subervi, an Honorary Fellow at the Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program (LACIS), has been awarded a $10,000 Continuation Award for his collaborative research on risk communication in Puerto Rico. The grant, provided by the esteemed Natural Hazards Center, reflects the significance and impact of Dr. Subervi’s work in the field.

Dr. Subervi’s research not only contributes to the academic understanding of risk communication but also holds significant implications for policymakers, emergency responders, and communities at large. By bridging the gap between theory and practical application, his work has the potential to shape more effective communication strategies that can save lives and minimize the impact of natural disasters.

Learn more about the award.

Fall-in-Review from LACIS’ Faculty Director, Dr. Sara McKinnon

Dear LACIS Community,

It has been just over two months since I began as Faculty Director and each day, I am getting a clearer sense of the diverse research and teaching activities of our LACIS faculty and students, as well as the impressive events and outreach that LACIS generates for communities in Wisconsin and beyond.

Dr. Michelle Wibbelsman

Thus far this fall we’ve hosted five Tuesday lunchtime lectures with anywhere between 25-55 people in attendance in person or virtually. The talks have been on important themes including remembering the 1973 Chilean Coup, health communication in Puerto Rico, Indigenous environmental struggles in Latin America, and Corruption discourse in Guatemalan political campaigns. Our lecture this Tuesday was given by one of our visiting Tinker Professors, Dr. Jesus Arroyave Cabrera. Professor Arroyave’s talk was titled “Are the Colombian Media Contributing to War or Peace? The Role of the News Media in Covering the Colombian Conflict.” If you missed this or any of the other talks, make sure to check out our YouTube channel where we post videos of all past lectures.

Antonia Urrejola, Former Foreign Minister of Chile

In addition to these regular lectures, we offer special events like the ongoing art exhibition, “Dancing with Devils: Latin American Masks Traditions,” which we encourage you to see at the Hillel Center if you haven’t already.  LACIS co-sponsored the honorable Antonia Urrejola’s visit on campus a few weeks ago, who gave the J. Jobe and Marguerite Soffa Lecture, “Accountability for Crimes against Humanity: From Pinochet to the Present.” We also helped organize so that 20 Latinx students and parents from Komrey Middle School in Middleton got a chance to attend the concert of Mariachi Herencia de México at the Overture Center and spend time with the musicians before the concert making connections and learning about the importance of Mariachi in Mexican Culture. For November, we will be offering a professional development session for our graduate students about tips for preparing to apply for PhD programs, which is something the students expressed interest in learning about. If any faculty have interest in chatting with our graduate students about this and other things, please let me know.

Mariachi Herencia de Mexico

 

Also in November, we will be co-hosting a two-day workshop for K-14 educators at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison entitled “Refugees, Dehumanization, and Rehumanization: A Practical, Pedagogical Workshop.” This workshop is a follow up to a Fall 2000, month-long program for educators which covered “The Growing Crisis of Refugees and Statelessness.”

“Loteria” by Karla Arenas Valenti

Then, in December, we are looking forward to hosting Midwest author, Karla Arenas Valenti, who will be speaking about her book “Lotería” during a one-day “International Children’s Literature Celebration: Folk & Fairy Tales” for educators, as well as visiting a local middle school for a classroom presentation.

Keep an eye out for our weekly Noticias emails and follow us on Instagram or Facebook for more on the exciting events we have to come. Also, if you know someone on campus who you think would benefit from the LACIS community, share our information so they can join as well. And if you know someone who would benefit from being an affiliated faculty member, send me their email so I can connect with them.

All best,

Sara

Welcome from LACIS’ New Faculty Director, Dr. Sara McKinnon

Dr. Sara McKinnon

Greetings all,  

I am pleased to offer my first back-to-school fall welcome as the new Faculty Director of LACIS. For those of you I’ve yet to meet, I am Sara McKinnon, Professor of Rhetoric, Politics & Culture in the Department of Communication Arts. My research examines foreign policy rhetoric in an era of globalization, considering as case studies collaborations between the United States, Mexico, and Central American countries since the 1980s to address regional issues such as drug trafficking, corruption, and migration. I am also currently working on a collaborative project to expand the information about US immigration and refugee programs and legal counsel available to migrants throughout Latin America as they consider safe options for movement and resettlement.  

It is a thrill to be joining the fantastic team at LACIS, working closely with Alberto Vargas, Sarah Ripp, and Maria Kraus to fulfill the program mission. I want to thank former faculty director, Gay Seidman for her enthusiasm, commitment, and service to the LACIS community. 

We have many exciting things planned for this year and I intend to write to you regularly to keep you aware of what’s happening at LACIS and ways you might get involved. First, we have two Tinker Visiting Professors this fall, who I encourage you to join me in welcoming to the UW-Madison. Javier Couso, Professor of Constitutional Law at Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile will be teaching Law 940: Populism and Constitutional Democracy. Jesús Arroyave, Professor in the School of Communication at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia will be teaching Journalism 822: Global Communication. Both scholars will be presenting this semester during our Tuesday Lunchtime Lectures, so keep an eye out for information about their talks.  

I am also pleased to welcome our four incoming MA students who will be joining our other MA and MA/JD students. I am very excited to get to know each of you and see how your projects and interests develop in study with us.  

I hope to see many of you in person or virtually at our Tuesday Lunchtime Lectures and other LACIS sponsored events. I also look forward to having a chance to get to know those of you who I’ve not met or worked with. I will be in the LACIS main office on most Tuesdays and Thursdays this semester, so feel free to stop in to introduce yourself, say hello, or let me treat you to a cup of coffee or tea.  

Kindly,  

Sara 

CONGRATULATIONS to LACIS’ Spring and Summer 2023 Graduates!

Please join us in congratulating the following students who are completing their LACIS Bachelor’s or Master’s programs in May or August of 2023! We wish them all the best in their future endeavours!

BA/BS Students:

  • DARMSTADTER, CLAIRE
  • DUBOIS, SYDNEY
  • FIGUEROA, EMMANUEL
  • GEROW WOOD, SAMUEL
  • GOGERTY, LUKE
  • KESLER, KARLEE
  • MJAANES, GABRIELA
  • PINEDA, OLIVIA
  • SALAZAR, JOCELYN
  • SANCHEZ-HERNANDEZ, LESLIE
  • SKOGLUNK, ALYSSA
  • VEJAR ALVAREZ, ARELI
  • WALSH, CATHERINE

MA Students:

  • BERMUDEZ PEREZ, ADRIAN
  • DEL PILAR GUZMAN GIURA, ANDREA
  • GERGEN, GRANT
  • GONZALEZ-QUIZHPE, LUIS
  • MARTINEZ MOTTA, GABRIELA
  • OXFORD, CLAIRE

LACIS Faculty Affiliate, Diego Ramon, Receives Distinguished Teaching Award for Inclusive Excellence!