Post-conflict Transitions to Democracy

ISLAC Newsletter Fall 2014 Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean

ISLAC

Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean University of South Florida

College of Arts and Sciences 4202 East Fowler Avenue, CPR 107

Tampa, FL (813) 974– 3772 - ISLAC-USF@usf.edu

ISLAC The institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean is a center of excellence at the University of South Florida. The Institute embraces teaching, research and community outreach and service.

Research

ISLAC supports a broad range of disciplinary-based and interdisciplinary research in and about Latin America, the Caribbean and Latino issues in the U.S. Our affiliated faculty include scholars in political science, history, anthropology, world languages, the arts, public health and numerous other fields.

Student Success

Located in the College of Arts and Sciences, ISLAC is an academic unit offering un-dergraduate and graduate degree programs

Community Engagement

In addition to public programming geared towards the larger Tampa Bay communi-ty, ISLAC provides opportunities for Latin Americanist scholars at USF and beyond to disseminate their research and artistic production within the university community.

Social Movements

Revolutionary Movements

Universidad del Norte

Barranquilla-Colombia

September 3-5, 2014

International Sum-mit 1

Director’s Message 2

Past Events 2-4

Human Trafficking Conference 5

On-site Faculty and Staff News 6-7

Affiliated Faculty Highlights 8-9

Study Abroad Pro-grams 10-11

Students and Alum-ni Spotlight 12-13

Upcoming Events 14

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August 14, 2014

ISLAC MA New Student

Orientation

University of South Florida

Tampa Campus, CPR 478

11:00 a.m.

September 3-5, 2014

“First International Summit: Social and Revo-lutionary Movements in Latin America and

the Caribbean”

Universidad del Norte,

Barranquilla, Colombia.

October 1-3, 2014

International Conference on Human Trafficking

University of South Florida

Tampa Campus,

Various Locations

For more information on our upcoming events, please visit ISLAC webpage http://islac.usf.edu/

ISLAC

had a rewarding 2013-2014 aca-

demic year, full of exciting activ-

ities and events!

During Fall 2013 ISLAC hosted a panel discus-sion on security issues in the Americas. “The Changing Dynamics of Leadership and Securi-ty in the Americas” panelists included, Dr. Harry Vanden, USF Professor of Government and International Affairs and ISLAC; Luís Ramirez, political-military affairs analyst in strategy at the U.S. Southern Command; and Dr. Hector Galeano, ISLAC Fall 2013 Visiting Fellow.

From left to right: Dr. Harry Vanden (USF), Dr. Hector Galeano (Universidad del Norte, Co-lombia), Dr. Rachel May (USF), Mr. Eduardo Luis Ramirez and Mrs. Lourdes Sjoberg (U.S. Southern Command).

R eaching out to our local Community!

ISLAC also participated in the Hillsborough Heritage Harvest Festival, 2013. The Festival was a multi-cultural celebration and food donation drive featuring live en-tertainment, demonstrations and local chefs preparing fresh dishes using locally produced or harvested ingre-dients.

“ Cruel and Caring Intimacies: Exploitation and Informal Adop-tion in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil”

A talk by Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and ISLAC, as part of the ISLAC Afrodescendant Working Group Talk Se-ries on March 17, 2014. Her talk, explored wide-spread informal practices of adoption of low income infants in Salvador by middle and upper class families. These relations tied to social status, gender and race relations are also tinged by emotional ties, paving the way for emotional and psychological abuse.

T he US Southern Command

visited ISLAC!

On March 3, 2014, the US Southern Command visited USF and ISLAC. The meeting aimed at exploring collaboration avenues in different areas of expertise. A Memorandum on Understanding has been signed, and we are looking forward to our first joint initiative this upcoming Fall 2014.

The U.S. Southern Command and ISLAC in con-junction with other interested units at USF and in the community are organizing an Interna-tional Conference on Human Trafficking.

For more information see page 5.

“ Panama Since the Turnover of the Canal: Successes and Failures” A talk by Dr. Michael Conniff , Bacardi Visiting Scholar, Center for Latin American Studies, Uni-

versity of Florida, Spring 2014.

From right to left: Andrew Conniff , Dr. Ricardo Izurieta, Panel Attendee,

Dr. Michael Conniff, Dr. Rachel May, Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, and

Dr. Harry Vanden.

T his has been a particularly exciting time for ISLAC. During the Spring term of 2014, we hosted several community events where we were able to discuss everything from early Spanish Florida to immigration reform. We have said goodbye to some of our best MA students who have finished their degrees and gone on to start new chapters in their journeys. And we look forward to welcom-

ing a new cohort of excellent students in the Fall. We have begun a new process of collaboration with Africana Studies and Government and International Affairs, which will allow us to expand our curriculum, especially at the undergraduate level. USF sent over 70 students to Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia this year, and even more to Central America and the Caribbean.

In September, we are co-hosting an international conference on social movements and revolutionary armed movements in the Caribbean Basin with the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla. We are particularly excited about this event since it is our first collaboration with the Council of Latin American Social Sciences (CLACSO). We are also very pleased to be co-sponsoring a conference to promote international partnerships and collaborative strategies to combat and mitigate hu-man trafficking with the United States Southern Command in early October. The highlight of this innovative conference will be a keynote address by General John F. Kelly.

I am so proud of our excellent staff, students and faculty who have made ISLAC a vibrant center of research, study and community outreach for Latin American and Caribbean studies.

Rachel A. May

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C ommunity Forum on Immigration Reform As Congress debated the future of millions of un-documented immigrants, ISLAC offered a space

to debate and exchange ideas, and disseminate research-based outcomes. Guest speakers that were part of the Fo-rum that was held on April 2, 2014, included:

Introduction by Dr. Roger Brindley Vice Provost and USF System Associate Vice President for USF World

Dr. Charles Brockett Professor Emeritus of Political Science, The University of the South “Implications of Public Opinion for Immigration Reform”

Dr. Phillip Williams Director for the Center for Latin American Studies, Uni-versity of Florida “Immigration Reform: How Did We Get Here, Where Are We Going?”

Dr. Angela Stuesse Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of South Florida Panel Moderator

Q & A Session by Dr. Rachel May, ISLAC Director

S pain in la Florida: New Views of an Old Frontier

On April 7, 2013, ISLAC organized a lively panel dis-cussion on the early history of Florida and the im-pact of early Spanish settlers.

Dr. Michael J. Francis, Hough Family Chair of Flori-da Studies at the University of South Florida St. Pe-

tersburg.

Dr. Dr. David Arbesú, Assistant Professor World Languages Department at the University of South

Florida Tampa.

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P romoting International Partnerships and Collaborative Strategies to Combat and Mitigate Human Trafficking.

The USF Institute for the Study of Latin America & the Caribbean, will host an international meeting on October 1-3, 2014. The opening keynote address will be held in the Patel Center for Global Solutions Au-ditorium, Wednesday afternoon October 1st. Gen. John F. Kelly, Commanding General Southern Com-mand will be the keynote speaker. The Marshall Center will be the meeting site for the remainder of the special sessions. The purpose of this meeting is to facilitate a discussion between various constituencies who work on anti-trafficking efforts. The constituencies will include: academia, NGO's, community-based organizations, international development agencies and foundations, law enforcement, public officials, representatives from city, county, state or federal agencies, and members of the military. This meeting is part of ISLAC’s international trafficking collaboration with U.S. Southern Command head-quartered in Doral, Florida.

Program Partners:

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R achel May, ISLAC Director, has been very busy

working on different publications and conference

presentations. Her latest publications are:

"Human Rights in Latin America." In Oxford Bibliographies in Latin American Studies. Ed. Ben Vinson. New York: Ox-ford University Press, 2013.

"Truth" and Truth Commissions in Latin America," Cien-cias Sociales Investigación y Desarollo No. 22 (jul-dic. 2013).

“Overview:

Commemorating Juan Ponce de León's landfall on the Atlantic coast of Florida, this ambitious volume explores five cen-turies of Hispanic presence in the New World peninsula, reflecting on the breadth and depth of encounters between the different lands and cultures...

...Melding history, literature, anthropology, music, culture, and sociology, La Florida is a unique presentation of the His-panic roots that run deep in Florida's past and present and will assuredly shape its future…” http://upf.com/book.asp?id=MORMI003

Also, the edited manuscript of “La Florida: Five Hundred Years of Hispanic Presence,” will be out this coming Fall 2014. This book is the result of our ISLAC 2013 International Conference.

H arry Vanden, Professor of Government and International Affairs and ISLAC, co-edited a book on his latest re-search about ungoverned spaces.

Gary Prevost, Luis Fernando Ayerbe, Carlos Oliva, and Harry E. Vanden, eds., U.S. National Security Concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean: the Concept of Ungoverned Spaces and Sovereignty, 2013, Palgrave Macmillan.

Dr. Vanden and co-editors, Richard Stahler-Sholk, Harry E. Vanden, and Marc Becker, presented their upcoming

book at LASA 2014, “Rethinking Latin American Social Movements Radical Action from Below” (see below picture)

Dr. Vanden Organized and Chaired, "Exclusion of Afro-Latins from the Public Sphere and Popular Dis-course, Tercera Conferencia Etnicidad, Raza y Pueb-los Indígenas en América Latina y el Caribe – LASA, 23-25 October, 2013, Oaxaca, Mexico.

He also presented at the XL Aniversario de la Es-cuela de Ciencia Política Y Tricentenario de la Uni-versidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala, 8-11 de Octubre de 2013, and at the Seminario In-ternacional: Extraterritoralidades, Entrecruza-miento de Soberania e Conflicto na América Latina. Memorial da America Latina e Instituto de Estudios Econômicos e Internacionales da UNESP, Sáo Pau-lo, Brazil. August 14-16, 2013.

B ernd Reiter, Associate Professor of Government and International Affairs and ISLAC, was on sabbatical dur-ing the academic year 2013-2014. He spent this time as visiting professor at the University of Kassel and the International Center of Decent Work; and at Universidad del Norte, in Barranquilla, Colombia.

During this time, he conducted research on direct democracy experiments in Spain, Germany, and Colombia, among Black and Indigenous communities. He presented this work at conferences in Germany, the UK, Colombia, and Portugal.

His co-edited book, with Ulrich Oslender, “Bridging Scholarship and Activism” is in press and will be for sale in the spring of 2015.

In Kassel, Germany, at the International Center for Decent work, Dr. Reiter presented a paper written with USF graduate student Brandon Huson, called "Small and Closed vs. Large and Open: Some Lessons from Comparing Cuban to Colombian Agricultural Devel-opment.”

At the CLACSO conference, in September of 2014, in Barranquilla, Colombia, Dr. Reiter will present a paper, with Paula Lezama (ISLAC), called "Political Autonomy and Development.”

He has also been working on the creation of the Frantz Fanon Summer Training Institute for Afro-descendant Community Leaders. The ISLAC Afro-descendant Working Group, he founded now has 30 active members and is growing strong. http://islac.usf.edu/ad-workgroup/

Starting in the fall of 2014, Dr. Reiter will serve as graduate director for GIA, as well as an assistant to USF World.

E lizabeth Hordge-Freeman, Assistant Professor of Sociology and ISLAC, recently returned from directing anoth-er successful year of the USF in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil program.

Her first book, “Home is Where the Hurt: Racial Socialization, Stigma and Well-being in Afro-Brazilian Families,” has been completed and accepted for publication by University of Texas Press. Earlier this year, she began presenting preliminary research from her second book project, "Cruel and Caring Intimacies: Informal Adoptions as Neo-Slavery in Brazil," which is based on interviews and ethnographic data in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. In addition to forthcoming pub-lications, in August 2014, she will present her research on race in Bahia, Brazil at the Brazilian Studies Association confer-ence.

She was also invited to present her newest re-search at Duke University in September 2014. Dr. Hordge-Freeman serves as Co-PI on a devel-oping NSF research grant proposal about race and racialization processes in higher education, along with Dr. Elizabeth Aranda (PI) and gradu-ate student researchers: Pangri Mehta and Jasmón Bailey.

In addition to research-related projects, under her leadership, students from the USF in Brazil will be organizing a Brazil Week in order to fundraise for the Instituto Steve Biko in Brazil. The events are scheduled to take place the week of Black Consciousness Day in Brazil (November 20th). For her work promoting di-versity through research, teaching, and service, Dr. Hordge-Freeman was awarded the 2014 USF Faculty Award for Diversity at the Diversity Summit this past spring.

A fricana Studies Cheryl Rodriguez’s (Associate Professor and Department

Chair) latest publication is: Transatlantic Feminisms: Women and Gender Studies in Africa and the Diaspora (Lexington, 2014). She also presented: ‘Discrimination in Housing, Health, and Employment,’ for the Poverty and Inequality Forum, USF, September 26, 2013, and ‘Black Feminist Anthropology and the Intersection of Gen-der, Race, Poverty and Place,’ at the 112th annual meeting of American Anthropolog-ical Association, Chicago, Illinois. Novem-ber 23, 2013.

A nthropology

Heide Castañeda (Associate Professor and Graduate Director) presented at the

American Anthropological Association Annu-al Meeting, Washington DC. 2014, a talk enti-tled: “Access to Care after Health Care Reform: Stratification of Juridical Categories and the Experiences of 'Non-Qualifying' Immigrants." Her latest research paper also dealing with this topic was entitled, ‘Health Care Access for Latino Mixed-Status Families: Barriers, Strategies, and Implications for Reform.” with Milena Andrea.

Angela Stuesse’s (Assistant Professor) recent publications, with Mathew Coleman, include:

“Automobility, Immobility, Altermobility: Sur-viving and Resisting the Intensification of Im-migrant Policing.” City & Society 26(1):51-72.

"Policing Borders, Policing Bodies: The Terri-torial and Biopolitical Roots of U.S. Immigra-tion Control." In Making the Border in Every-day Life. R. Jones and C. Johnson, eds. Farn-ham: Ashgate.

Robert Tykot (Professor and Undergradu-ate Director) received the 2013 USF Out-standing Faculty Award, and he was elect-ed as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

His latest co-authored publications is: “Stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) from NW Argentina. Paleodietary implications.” Open Journal of Archaeometry 2(5254): 6-10.

Christian Wells (Professor) received two grants.

(E. S. Koenig, Co-PI 2014). Community Heritage Conservation Program, InHerit; “Garifuna Community-based Heritage Conservation in Seine Bight, Belize.”

(J. R. Mihelcic, PI 2013). Partnerships for International Research and Education, National Science Foundation; “Context Sensitive Implementation of Synergistic Water-Energy Systems.”

C hild and Family Studies Teresa Nesman (Assistant Pro-fessor) is currently working on

as a PI for two grants.

Principal Investigator (2013-2015). HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Pre-school Youngsters) Education Advance-ment Project. Evaluation of a project fund-ed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to re-vise preschool curricula to correspond with Common Core Standards, and to fa-cilitate professional development of paraprofessional home visitors through the Leading to Educational Advancement Pathway (LEAP) program.

Principal Investigator (2012-2017). Flori-da Project LAUNCH Evaluation. A five year project to promote young child wellness, the Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health (LAUNCH) implements and evaluates five evidence-based pre-vention and promotion strategies that focus on children birth-8 years.

C ollege of Education Barbara Cruz (Professor) was co-editor of: Difficult Dialogues and Daring Discourse in Teacher Edu-

cation: Classroom Exercises, Strategies, and Case Studies for Discussing Diversity Issues in Colleges of Education (New York: Teachers College Press, 2014). She also presented her collaborative research at the National Coun-cil for the Social Studies, St. Louis, MO, Nov. 2013.

Carlos Zalaquett (Professor) was the key note speaker at the Regional International Congress of the Inter-American Psychology Society, “For a Psychology Compromise with Social Relevance. Universidad Centro Ameri-cana "Jose Simeon Cañas" (UCA). San Salva-dor, El Salvador, July 21-24.

His most recent publication is entitled: “Cyberbullying in College: Frequency, Char-acteristics, and Practical Implications.” SAGE Open Journal (http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/4/1/2158244014526721). With Chatters, S. J. (2014).

M arine Science Frank Muller-Karger (Professor) received the 2013 Group Achievement Honor Award, NASA Ames Research Center ; and the 2013 Secondary Business Partner of the Year, Hillsborough County Public Schools.

His latest co-authored publications are:

“Changing Ocean Chemistry: A time-series view of ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 and ocean acidification.” Oceanography (2014 in press). “A comparison of sampling methods for larvae of medium and large epipelagic fish species during spring SEAMAP ichthyoplankton surveys in the Gulf of Mexico” Limnology and Oceanography: Methods. (2014 in press).

P ublic Health Ricardo Izurieta (MD, DrPH., Professor) pre-sented a talk entitled: Pandemics and Epi-demics in Latin America: The Successes, Fail-

ures and Challenges of their Control, at the 2013 Flori-da International Summit. Development, Diplomacy and Defense: Opportunities in Latin America & the Caribbe-an, on February 28, 2013.

His latest co-authored article is, “Assessment of Risk Factors of Helicobacter Pylori Infection and Peptic Ul-cer Disease,” in the Journal of Global Infectious Dis-eases (2013 Jun; 5(2):60-67).

D epartment of Social Work Iraida Carrion (Associate Professor) was awarded the: Out-standing Poster in Research at the Social Work Hospice & Palli-ative Care Network, San Diego, California, March 2014, for her

poster entitled, “Healthcare Providers' Roles and Responsibilities for Initi-ating End-of-Life Care Communication,” with Nedjat-Haiem, F.R., & Ell, K.

Dr. Carrion was also selected as the 2013- 2015 USF Academy for Teach-ing and Learning Excellence, Faculty Fellow.

Her latest publications include: “Assessing Challenges in End-of-Life Con-versations With Patients Utilizing a Public Safety-Net Health Care System,” American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 2014.

Guitele Rahill (Assistant Professor) has had a busy and rewarding a academic year. She received the grant, ‘SHARE Haiti: Syndemics HIV/AIDS Research and Education. Global Partnerships for So-cial Science AIDS Research (R 24).’ National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). With Celia M. Lescano, PhD. The grant period is July 2013 - June 2018.

She also received the McKnight Junior Faculty Development Award 2014. Most Valuable Mentor Award, Florida Education Fund. The McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program, 2013. The Diversity Award- Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, University of South Florida, 2013; and the Junior Faculty Award- The Summer Institute in Public Health: The Brown Initiative in HIV and AIDS Clini-cal Research for Disadvantaged Communities, National Institute of Mental Health, Brown Universi-ty, Providence, RI, 2013.

D epartment Of Surgery Carlos Calegari (MD, DrPH Research Professor)

presented a talk entitled: “Building Global Competitiveness in Health Care through Health Professional Education, PROMED, Costa Rica,” at the International Business Summit on Medical Travel, Miami Beach, May 6-8, 2014. He also presented at ISTEC XX Assembly, Puebla, Mexico, March 26th – 28th, 2014.

C ollege of Fine Arts Patrick Finelli (Professor, Depart-ment of Theater and Dance) has been working with the Harquail

Theatre and the Cayman National Cultural Foundation since 2006. The excellent results of this collaboration, have included the se-lection of two USF students to direct and design a production of Ti--Jean and His Brothers in Grand Cayman for the youth the-atre program during Sumer 2014; and USF Professor Fanni Green performing in the Patrick Brown play December at the Harquail Theatre in Grand Cayman during the 2012 season.

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Phil Smith (ESOL Program Coordinator) recently co-authored: Teaching Langua-ge Arts to English Language Learners, (New York, Routledge, 2013).

D epartment of Hu-manities and Cul-tural Studies

Daniel Belgrad (Professor) presented his research at LASA 2014. His paper was enti-tled, "Emo Kids and Contemporary Graph-ic Arts in Cuba."

(This play is required reading in the Carib-bean Theatre course, THE4434.). The agreement has been renewed and it is expected that more than 30 joint events will take place in the near future.

S tudent Testimony! Study Abroad in Argentina this summer has been an amazing and beautiful experience. I have had the opportunity to see and do so many things while here in Buenos Aires and even so, there is

so much left to experience. These five weeks in Argentina have provided me the opportunity to work with the Human Rights Organization, Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Founding Line, as well as to talk to another human rights organization, CELS, and watch part of the ongoing trials of the military for their involvement in human rights crimes committed during the dictatorship.

USF in Brazil, 2014, a

Comprehensive Experience for All!

For the second year, Dr. Hordge-Freeman led a group of 9 USF students to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil as part of the new program she launched last year - USF in Salvador, Brazil Program.

Dr. Hordge-Freeman received a USF service-learning grant which allowed her to plan a number of additional excursions, as well as develop formal language partnerships between Brazilian students from Instituto Steve Biko and USF students. Many of the USF students were able to attend at least

one game related to the World Cup all while tak-ing Portuguese language and Brazilian Culture classes with Dr. Hordge-Freeman.

O ther course-related excursions included:

A trip to the city of Cachoeira, Praia do Forte, and a five-day stay

on the Island of Itaparica. In addition to these trips, the students learned how to play capoeira, attended an Afro-Brazilian religious ceremony, visited several museums and learned about racial and social inequality in the country. A highlight of the visit was a personalized visit with Council-man Silvio Humberto. The program was a suc-cess! If you are interested in studying in Brazil next year, please contact Dr. Hordge-Freeman at hordgefreema@usf.edu.

Michelle Benghtt, a New Jersey native majoring in international and women’s and gender studies, was particularly impressed with

the Baile Folclórico da Bahia dance company. “It was a sight to behold and I was enchanted from the first drum beat to the last a ir

flip,” she said. The dancing, “told the stories of millions of Africans brought to Brazil to be enslaved and how they overcame their

oppression through their art and culture. It was amazing but more importantly after learning about the history of colonialism in

Bahia brought learning to a different level.”

Testimonies taken from: Bulls in Brazil - World Cup and More by Barbara Melendez, USF News

T he Argentina human rights program The program has just completed an-other successful year. The students

were able to attend a hearing for the trials of the personnel who ran the ESMA (Naval Mechanics School) detention center during the dictatorship. Some of the students worked on an internship with the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo, and other students worked for an NGO in the Boca neigh-borhood of Buenos Aires that is run by a group of mothers who live in the neighborhood, providing both food and after school tutoring for the chil-dren there.

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In addition to the coursework and internships, we also found time for some fun. We went to the Estancia Don Silvano again, where we enjoyed horseback riding, dancing and a fabulous gaucho show. We also spent an afternoon in Tigre eating a traditional Argentine meal and shopping at the Mercado de Frutas. Argentina played in the final match of the World Cup this year for the first time in 24 years. This was also very exciting for all of us.

I was also able to visit many historical and monumental sites that are a part of the memory of Buenos Aires. During my time here, I have been witness to history in the making as Argentina made it to the finals in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. This is an opportunity I may not have had otherwise and I couldn't be happier that I made the decision to come. There is so much to gain from an experience like study abroad and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

Wendy Martínez, ISLAC - Human Rights

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D uring my time as a student at ISLAC at USF, I often reflected on the good fortune I had to

have chosen a department that was small and close-knit, yet also provided me with the resources to grow and even excel as a student.

I graduated from the masters program feeling prepared and ambi-tious to pursue a doctoral program. I received offers of admission as well a as full funding to every school I applied to. I chose to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where I was offered the top appli-cant recruitment fellowship. I will begin my studies this August in the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies. I will be working under sociologist Javier Auyero in the inaugural Argentine Studies program focusing my studies on the black community in Ar-gentina.

I spent this summer in Buenos Aires, Ar-gentina working as the assistant coordina-tor of the Association of International

Studies, teaching English and human rights in Argentina. I also met with the leaders of Agru-pación Xangô, an organization fighting to elimi-nate racism in the education system, major forms of communication and vernacular lan-guage. The summer in Buenos Aires has pre-pared me to comfortably navigate the city and with contacts to return and begin my doctoral research.

Prisca Gayles, MA prisca.gayles@gmail.com

O n conferences and Graduate Student Academic Engagement I realized soon in my academic career that applying to conferences to present my work would provide a more

fruitful experience at the Master’s level than keeping my work safe within the confines of my comfort zone. There is so much invalua-ble experience to be had through the entire process of presenting your work at a conference. I was able to develop my skills in ab-stract writing, organize and deliver my work in an effective way to a varied audience, receive feedback from peers and professionals in the field, and become comfortable and confident in speaking about my work to large groups of people. For these reasons, I highly encourage all graduate students to pursue “Call for Papers” pertinent to your field of study. It will change your graduate school experience!

Most recently, my colleague, Sophia Daniels, and I traveled to a conference hosted at Tulane University in New Orleans-which happened to coincide with Mardi Gras! It was quite an academically and culturally enriching experience.

I urge you to take advantage of opportunities both away and at home! Here at USF there are many opportunities for gradu-ate students to participate in various poster competitions, research symposiums, and graduate student conferences.

Robyn Odegard, ISLAC Graduate Assistant

R ebecca Blackwell, incoming fall 2014 MA student and ISLAC Graduate Assistant.

I graduated in 2007 from the Central University of Venezuela and for many years now I have been longing to go back to school. For the last few years, I have been working as a research assistant for the Peruvian human rights activist and foren-sic anthropologist, José Pablo Baraybar and, after meeting Dr. Rachel May and Dr. Harry Vanden, I believe I have finally found the ideal place to give an aca-

W e want to welcome Joan Jacobs to ISLAC Family.

Joan will be working for ISLAC as Academic Program Specialist. She has plenty of experience, having worked at USF in several different capaci-ties. In fact, congratulations are in order since this past Spring 2014, she

received a USF 25 years of service award. (See picture to the left)

Welcome Joan!

I truly feel that this opportunity to become part of ISLAC can be a radical eye-opener and I am looking forward to the contextualization, knowledge and perspective a program like this has to offer. C

ongratulations to our 2013-2014 Graduates, you are officially ISLAC Alumni!

Paola Aragon and Timothy Golob graduated last Spring 2014.

Robyn Odegard, Reina Borjas, Libby Smith and Yoannie Quiñonez are our Summer 2014 graduates.

Happy Bulls Graduation and Best Wishes