Events

ISLAC Global Symposium

Mapping contemporary challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean

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Date, Time and Location

Thursday, April 11 - 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday, April 12  - 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Tampa Campus
TECO
4110 Apple Dr.
Tampa, FL 33620

Registration

Please Register to attend.

Director鈥檚 Welcome  

Beatriz Padilla

Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) studies have grown significantly since the 1960s, adapting to the forces of globalization, encompassing transnational migrations, international trade, and global partnerships. 

In commemoration of its upcoming 30th anniversary, the Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC) welcomes you to its first Global Symposium, highlighting USF鈥檚 achievements and featuring global experts discussing contemporary issues in LAC communities across the world. 
 
Thank you for joining us!      
  
厂颈苍肠别谤别濒测,鈥
  
Beatriz Padilla, PhD 
Director, Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC) 
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Speakers

Mar铆a Auxiliadora Gonz谩lez Malabet

Mar铆a Auxiliadora Gonz谩lez Malabet

Anastasia Berm煤dez Torres

Anastasia Berm煤dez Torres

Angelina Cotler

Angelina Cotler

Luciana Gandini

Luciana Gandini

Richard Kernaghan

Richard Kernaghan

Betilde Mu帽oz-Pogossian

Betilde Mu帽oz-Pogossian

Edlin Veras

Edlin Veras

Angela Vergara

Angela Vergara

SPEAKER BIOS

Mar铆a Auxiliadora Gonz谩lez Malabet 

UNINORTE, Colombia  
鈥淚mpact of the Political Incidence School for Migrant Women. A Case of Social Integration Between Venezuelan Migrants and Colombian Leaders in the Colombian Caribbean Coast.鈥濃&苍产蝉辫;
 
Mar铆a Gonz谩lez-Malabet has a PhD in Government from the 麻豆视频 (USF). Her major is in Comparative Politics and a minor in International Relations. She received different fellowships to finance her doctoral thesis from institutions, such as the Inter-American Foundation, the Sisters of the Academy, the University 麻豆视频, and the Universidad del Norte. Her doctoral dissertation is focused on the political agency of women for the progressive change of Latin American cities. She is director of Instituto de Desarrollo Pol铆tico e Institutional 鈥 IDEPI, and a full-time professor and researcher at the Universidad del Norte in the Department of Political Science and International Relations. Her research focus is on Development Policies, Gender, Latin American Feminisms, and Social Movements. She is currently a serving in the postdoc fellowship 鈥淥rchides鈥 from Colombia鈥檚 Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation researching the impact of the Colombian Peace Treaty (2016) in Women麓s political participation in PEDT zones.

Anastasia Berm煤dez Torres 

University of Seville, Spain 
鈥淭he Colombian diaspora in Europe and the Truth Commission: the role of exiled women in the political space鈥濃&苍产蝉辫;
 
Anastasia Bermudez is senior lecturer/researcher in the Department of Social Anthropology, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain). She has a PhD and MSc in Geography, an MA in Area Studies (Latin America), and a BA in Human Geography and Politics, all from the University of London (Queen Mary; Institute of Latin American Studies). Her main research interests include international migration and mobilities, violence and peace in Colombia, and gender and intersectionality.鈥

Angelina Cotler 

John Hopkins University 
鈥淭he main challenges programs in Latin American and Latinx studies face in the current political climate in the U.S.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
 
Angelina Cotler holds a PhD in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is currently the inaugural program director of the Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies program at Johns Hopkins University.

Previously, she was the senior associate director of the Center for Latin American at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and the University of Pittsburgh, before taking up the position of Director of Membership and Development at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). She was the co-chair of the Peru section in LASA and currently is the media manager. 

Luciana Gandini 

UNAM  
鈥淢igration policies and prolonged transit in the Americas: The contemporary mobility context鈥濃&苍产蝉辫;
 
Luciana Gandini is a research fellow at CLALS, non-resident fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, and a full-time tenured researcher at the Legal Research Institute at UNAM in Sociology law. She is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI, CONACYT), level II. She coordinates the University Seminar on Studies on Internal Displacement, Migration, Exile and Repatriation (SUDIMER) at UNAM, which鈥痯romotes research on migration and human mobilities at UNAM.鈥疭he is a co-author of鈥 Caravanas鈥 (UNAM, 2020), which was a co-recipient of the鈥.鈥 In 2018, she received the award "Reconocimiento Distinci贸n Universidad Nacional J贸venes Investigadores 2018" from UNAM. 

Her project,鈥鈥淓merging challenges on immigration policy: the case of Migrant Protection Protocols and other Latin American forced immigrants,鈥 aims to identify some of the main public policy challenges on both human mobility and international protection in the Latin American region, particularly in Mexico, in a context where the increase on the mobility of people in need of international protection contrasts with the tendency of governments to impose limits on the right of asylum.鈥 Additionally, in recent months she has focused her research on the impacts of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis on the inclusion and effective access and exercise of socio-economic rights of Venezuelan and Central American displaced populations in Latin America and how this situation generates an even more complex scenario and demands reshaping immigration policies through the enforcement of international protection principles.鈥&苍产蝉辫;

Luciana is interested in topics related to international migration, development and human rights, (in)voluntary migration and forced migration, Venezuelan exodus and Central American migrant caravans, impacts of COVID-19 on migrant and refugee population, return and skill migration, and qualitative and quantitative social research methods.

Richard Kernaghan

University of Florida  

Richard Kernaghan is an ethnographer of aesthetics and legal relations interested in rivers, settler colonialism, and political time. He teaches courses on legal anthropology and the craft of ethnographic representation at the University of Florida, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Affiliate Faculty in the UF Center for Latin American Studies.

Betilde Mu帽oz-Pogossian

Organization of American States  
鈥淩egional agenda for the inclusion of migrants and refugees in the Americas鈥濃 
鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Betilde Mu帽oz-Pogossian (Venezuelan-American) is director of the Department of Social Inclusion of the Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity at the Organization of American States (OAS), where she is responsible for directing the work of the OAS in matters of social inclusion and access to human rights with special consideration to populations in vulnerable situations.鈥疊etilde Mu帽oz-Pogossian has a Master's degree in International Relations from the 麻豆视频 and a PhD in Political Science from Florida International University. 
鈥&苍产蝉辫;
She has edited, published, and co-authored several articles and volumes on issues of Latin American reality. Some of her recent contributions include the articles, 鈥淭he Summit is a Great Chance for Better Cooperation on Migration鈥 (2022) and 鈥淥ne Year Later: Slow Progress on a Key Migration Initiative鈥 (2023), both published by Americas Quarterly, and the book chapter, 鈥淗ow to achieve more representation of indigenous and Afro-descendant people in Latin America and the Caribbean鈥 (UNAM 2022). 
鈥&苍产蝉辫;
She is also a founding member and coordinator of the Network of Latin American Female Political Scientists 鈥#NoSinMujeres,鈥 a project that seeks to promote, make visible, and empower the work of women dedicated to Latin American Political Science.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
鈥&苍产蝉辫;
She is a regular columnist for the Venezuelan daily, El Nacional, and for the Web portal Caracas Chronicles, as well as a guest columnist in various regional media. She is also a 2021 Fellow of the Draper Hills Fellowship on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at Stanford University, a member of the Advisory Board of the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University (GMU), and a Senior Associate (Non-Resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. 
鈥&苍产蝉辫;
In 2008, 2016, 2019, and again in 2020, she won the Outstanding Performance Award granted by the Secretary General of the OAS, in recognition of her extraordinary work and contribution to the American organization. Mu帽oz-Pogossian won the Status of Latinos' Alumna Award in 2023.

Edlin Veras

Swarthmore College 
鈥淐aribbean Apartheid: Race, Racism, and the Law in the Dominican Republic鈥濃&苍产蝉辫;
 
Dr. Edlin Veras is a visiting assistant professor of Sociology and Black Studies at Swarthmore College. His research and teaching interests include race, racism, immigration, and鈥痑ntiblackness鈥痠n the U.S. and Caribbean,鈥痺ith a specific focus on Haiti and the Dominican Republic. His research has been published in the 鈥淪ociology of Race and Ethnicity.鈥 He is a 2020 American Sociology Association Minority Fellow and is working on his book project tentatively鈥痶itled, 鈥淓xpired and Unfree: How Anti-Blackness Shapes Life after Work.鈥

Angela Vergara

University of Central Florida  
"Navigating Success: The Impact of Latin American Student Presence on Academic Achievement in a Hispanic-Serving Institution"鈥
 
Dr. Angela Vergara is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. Her areas of expertise include Latin American sociology, global and social inequalities, and reproductive health. Her research involves topics in Hispanic/Latinx race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, mental health outcomes, and interwoven identities. Her current research focuses on gender differences, immigration status, culture language and the effects on the educational achievement gap, social class, health inequalities, and mental health accessibility in the Hispanic/Latinx population. Her teaching interests include qualitative research methods, health inequalities, and global inequalities. 
 

AGENDA

April 11, 2024

Time Session
8:30 AM Registration and Check-In
9:00 AM

Opening Remarks  

Beatriz Padilla, ISLAC Director
Prasant Mohapatra
, Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs 
Betty Castor, Former USF President 
Magali Michael, Interim Dean College of Arts & Sciences 
Maura Barrios, Community Historian of Tampa Bay

9:45 AM

Institutes and Centers for the Study of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinos: Roles and Challenges 

Moderator: Alejandro M谩rquez, USF Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences/ISLAC 
Angelina Cotler, Johns Hopkins University
鈥淭he main challenges programs in Latin American and Latinx Studies face in the current political climate in the U.S.鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Angela Vergara, University of Central Florida
"Navigating Success: The Impact of Latin American Student Presence on Academic Achievement in a Hispanic-Serving Institution" 
Beatriz Padilla, USF Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences/ISLAC
鈥淐enters and Institutes: International Comparative Perspectives鈥&苍产蝉辫;

10:45 AM Break
11:00 AM

Migrations Across the Americas  

Moderator: Beatriz Padilla, USF Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences/ISLAC 
Luciana Gandini, Universidad Nacional Aut贸noma de M茅xico 鈥淢igration policies and prolonged transit in the Americas: the contemporary mobility context鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Betilde Mu帽oz Pogossian, Organization of American States 鈥淩egional agenda for the inclusion of migrants and refugees in the Americas鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Arlene Calvo, USF Health/College of Public Health
鈥淢igrants鈥 Route in Latin America and its Impact in Public Health鈥

12:00 PM Lunch Break
1:00 PM

International Experiences in Education

Moderator: Lauren Braunstein, USF College of Education  
Michelle Angelo-Rocha, USF College of Education
鈥淣avigating Educational and Migration Borders: Experiences of Emergent Multilingual Latinx and Caribbean Mothers in K-12 Public Schools鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Glenda Maria Vaillant Cruz, USF Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences/ISLAC
鈥淐onstructing a Place Within Spanish Universities: Unpacking the Ethnoracial Experiences of Latino, Latin American, Afro-Latino, and Afro-Latin American Students鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Lindy Davidson, USF Judy Genshaft Honors College
鈥淭o Make a Long Story Short: Faculty Study Abroad Experiences in Latin America鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Liliana Villavicencio, Omar Guerra, Wilfrido Moreno, USF College of Engineering
鈥淟everaging Latino Immigrant Youth for Future STEM Success in the USA鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Emely Matos Pichardo, USF Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
鈥淓xploring Integration: A Systematic Literature Review of Newcomer Programs Serving Latinx Adolescents Education Policies鈥 

2:00 PM

Latin Americans in the Diaspora

Moderator: Kersuze Simeon-Jones, USF School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies/ISLAC 
Edlin Veras, Swarthmore College
鈥淐aribbean Apartheid: Race, Racism, and the Law in the Dominican Republic鈥&苍产蝉辫;
T. Adam Golob, Gulf Coast State College
鈥淐entral American Criminal Justice: Nuances of Exploitation, Impunity, and Victimization鈥
Mar铆a Auxiliadora Gonz谩lez Malabet, UNINORTE, Colombia 鈥淚mpact of the Political Incidence School for Migrant Women: A Case of Social Integration between Venezuelan Migrants and Colombian Leaders in the Colombian Caribbean Coast鈥&苍产蝉辫;

3:00 PM Break
3:15 PM

Borders, Crime, and Mobilization

Moderator: Dr. Molly Hamm-Rodriguez, USF College of Education
Alejandro M谩rquez, USF Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences/ISLAC
鈥淒eter-care chain: how the state creates, and the immigrant rights movement addresses, the migrant care crisis on the US-Mexico border鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Anastasia Berm煤dez Torres, University of Seville, Spain
鈥淭he Colombian diaspora in Europe and the Truth Commission: the role of exiled women in the political space鈥
Richard Kernaghan, University of Florida
鈥淩ivers in nomos: sounding law from transit through Western Amazonian terrains鈥 

4:15 PM

Poster Presentations           

Matheus Ivanesciuc, USF Judy Genshaft Honors College
鈥淧oorly Functioning Institutions Undermine Development In Latin America: A Comparison Between Two Perspectives on the Same History鈥 
Fidel Galaura, USF Judy Genshaft Honors College
鈥淗IV stigma within the Dominican Republic鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Julianna Heitman, USF Judy Genshaft Honors College
鈥淕ame of Bones: Orthopedic Injuries and Outcomes in the Dominican Republic鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Courtney Bauer, USF Judy Genshaft Honors College
鈥淗ealth and Hygiene in the Dominican Republic: Unveiling Structural Violence鈥 
Ana Medeiros, USF Judy Genshaft Honors College
鈥淒evelopment and Economy in Latin America: A comparison of Kingson and Svampa鈥檚 books鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Samantha N. Carrera, USF Economics
鈥淭he Mobilization of Indigenous Communities in the Wake of Twenty-First Century Socialism in Ecuador鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Geeti Anwar, USF Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 鈥淟atinx Youth in Education: Transitions and Trajectories Beyond High School鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Julissa Maria Ramirez Perez, USF School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Master of Arts in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
鈥淭he Law that Targeted a Group: Immigration Law in Costa Rica and its impact on Nicaraguan immigrants鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Anabela Cibele Villach Vaquer, USF School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Master of Arts in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
鈥淧aradiplomacy in Argentina and Brazil: A perspective from their federal governments鈥&苍产蝉辫;

April 12, 2024

Time Session
8:30 AM Registration and Check-In
9:00 AM

Hybrid/Interactive Panel: Exploring the Cultural Contributions of Virtual Global Exchange: Students from the 麻豆视频 and the Universidad Marista de M茅rida de M茅xico (UMM) 

Margarita Altuna, Rachel Hipkins, Tyler Green, Milysha Castaneda, USF World Languages 
Victoria Albertos Gonz谩lez, Martha Villal贸n, Alessandra Rivero Baeza and Eduardo Xool, UMM Departamento de Idiomas 

10:00 AM

Social and Civic Transformation 鈥淗ere鈥 and 鈥淭here鈥 - Teaching About and Engaging with Latin America and the Caribbean

Dr. Molly Hamm-Rodriguez, USF College of Education 鈥淟anguage and Social Justice: Youth Participatory Action Research in the Dominican Republic鈥 
Dr. Patriann Smith, USF College of Education
鈥淩eading and Writing Transnational Worlds: The Liberatory Imaginaries of Caribbean Youth鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Dr. Clarence Walker, Jr., USF College of Education
鈥16 Shades of Blackness: Afro-Mexicans, Justice, and Citizenship
Dr. B谩rbara Cruz and Dr. Deanna Michael, USF College of Education
鈥淥ral Histories in the Secondary Classroom: Teaching about Latin America and the Caribbean鈥 

11:00 AM Break
11:15 AM

Democracies and Regimes in Latin America and the Caribbean

Moderator: Angelina Cotler, Johns Hopkins University 
Luis Felipe Mantilla, USF School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies (SIGS)
鈥淢obilization and Repression in a Weak Democracy: The Post-December 7th Protest Cycle in Peru鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Harry Vanden, USF SIGS
鈥淚n Peru, the urban elite trembles as challenged by the mobilized masses鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Aaron Augsburger, USF SIGS
鈥淧lurinationalism and the temporalities of revolution in Bolivia鈥

12:15 PM Lunch Break
1:00 PM

Migration and Health

Moderator: Mahmooda Khaliq Pasha, USF College of Public Health (USF COPH)
Olga Aranzabal, USF COPH
鈥淣avigating the Unseen Path: Understanding the Health Challenges of Women and Children Immigrants Crossing the Darien Gap鈥
Santiago Hernandez Bojorge, USF COPH
鈥淥utcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Panama: impact of country of origin and clinical data鈥
Tailyn Osorio, USF College of Arts and Sciences/Salud Latina
鈥淓xploring the mental health status of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic鈥
Rolando Trejos, USF COPH
鈥淟evantando la Voz for Climate Justice, Latino Health, and Latino Cancer: Advocating for Change Through the Activist Lab鈥

2:00 PM

History and Culture  

Moderator: Adriana Novoa, USF Department of History/ISLAC
Zachary Kuntz, USF Department of History
鈥淏ananas, Revolutions, and Riots: Ecuador during the Cold War, 1959-1960鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Benjamin Puterbaugh, USF Department of World Languages 鈥 Linguistics
鈥淓merging narratives about the Haitian Other in Dominican social media鈥 
Donnie Ibn Malik Ali McClendon, USF Department of English 鈥淭heft, Trial, and Treason: The Curious Case of Santiago Duarte and the St. Augustine Uprising of 1795鈥&苍产蝉辫;

2:50 PM Break
3:00 PM

Culture and Literature 

Moderator: Roberto Jim茅nez, USF Department of World Languages/ISLAC
Evguenia Davenport, USF Department of English
鈥淚ntellectual and Power: Anti-Establishment Discourse in Jacobo Timerman鈥檚 Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Victoria Cuomo, USF Department of English
鈥淭ransformation of the Myth: La Llorona and Redefining Cultural Norms鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Nicholas Colecio, USF Department of English
鈥淎sexuality in Ana Cristina Rossi鈥檚 Science Fiction鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Alyssa Sotelo, USF Department of English
鈥淟atine Feminist Potential in Pat Mora鈥檚 Poetry鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Katrina Sandefer, USF Department of English
鈥淗orror as a Disruptor in Modern Latin American Literature鈥&苍产蝉辫;
Morgan Hunter, USF Department of English
鈥淢aybe she鈥檇 gone mad. Bodies and Madness in Moreno-Garcia鈥檚 Mexican Gothic鈥&苍产蝉辫;

4:00 PM Final Closing Remarks
 

Reception

Join us for a reception in the Rotunda (next to TECO)

Special thanks to our community partners

Latine Graduate Student Organization logo HPWA logo Salud Latina logo TSC Seal Black Swan Productions logo

PARKING

Guest parking is available. Please look for signs to indicate ISLAC GLOBAL SYMPOSIUM.    
 
More information about guest parking and handicap parking options can be found at Parking Services.

DIRECTIONS


 
For reasonable accommodations or questions, please contact CAS RSVP.