Contributed by Director Charles Rob Venator-Santiago  In the case of Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo (September 8, 2025), a majority of the Supreme Court temporarily upheld the authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain and interrogate Latinos in California based on four criteria. Justice Sotomayor, in her dissenting opinion, noted, “Based on the evidence […]

Contributed by Director Charles Rob Venator-Santiago  The UConn Puerto Rican Studies Initiative (UConnPRSI) was launched in the fall of 2022. Initially funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), it is now supported by the Connecticut General Assembly’s Puerto Rican and Latino Legislative Caucus. We are pleased to announce that we have secured funding for […]

Contributed by Graduate Student Adrian Chavarria This weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to volunteer at the Latino Policy Agenda Summit 2025 held in Hartford, CT on Saturday October 4, 2025. I was able to hear from and interact with legislators, community leaders, and members of the community who provided policy recommendations to address the […]

Contributed by affiliate faculty Scott Wallace Associate Professor of Journalism Scott Wallace’s memoir of images and text, Central America in the Crosshairs of War, has won the Foreword INDIES Best Book in Political & Social Sciences and a Gold IPPY Winner for Independent Publisher Book Awards for best History Book. Scott’s book is also an International […]

Contributed by Graduate Student Lorraine Pérez My research evaluates the interactions between birds and the parasites that affect them. Specifically, I get to study Darwin’s finch birds in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador, and examine how urban vs. non-urban finch populations are affected by an invasive parasite that can cause up to 100% chick mortalities. […]

Contributed by affiliate faculty Michele Back  On September 5th The Modern Language Journal released a special issue entitled “Critical Reflections on Colonial Pedagogies: Lessons Learned for Language Teacher Education.” The issue was co-edited by Michele Back (Associate Professor, World Language Education, Neag School of Education), Romina Peña-Pincheira (Gustavus Adolphus College), and Daniela Silva (University of […]

Contributed by Graduate Student Santiago Mayochi I spent this summer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, doing research for my Ph.D project, which focuses on the Argentine response to the U.S. expansion over the Caribbean, especially Cuba. The Pan American conferences and the interventions in the Caribbean raised the alarms for many people in Argentina who gave […]

Contributed by Graduate Student Olin Green Earlier this year, I was fortunate to have been awarded the 2024-2025 El Instituto Predoctoral Fellowship, supported by the Elizabeth Mahan Fund. These awards allowed me to continue my research during the summer on a project titled The Hidden Dimensions of Road Safety: Exploring Socioeconomic and Built Environment Factors […]

Contributed by Charles R. Venator-Santiago (Director, UConnPRSI)             The UConn Puerto Rican Studies Initiative for Civic Engagement and Public Policy is a research initiative housed in El Instituto. This initiative is funded by the Connecticut General Assembly and is tasked with providing research support to community-based organizations, community leaders, academics, and elected officials. Central to […]