Contributed by Charles R. Venator Santiago The University of Connecticut’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative for Civic Engagement and Public Policy (UConnPRSI) was founded during the Summer of 2021. The UConnPRSI is a research initiative seeking to document and support Puerto Ricans’ vital economic, intellectual, and cultural contributions to Connecticut and provide research-based support for developing public […]

Contributed by Charles R. Venator Santiago El Instituto is also happy to welcome Professor Salvador Vidal-Ortiz, who has a senior joint appointment with the Department of Sociology. Professor Vidal-Ortiz will be joining us during the Fall of 2025. Dr. Vidal-Ortiz’s scholarship cuts across racialization, sexuality, gender, migration, and religion; his work is interdisciplinary. He co-edited […]

Contributed by Luis Palomino “COVID-19 and internal migration in Peru” My research seeks to analyze the effects of lockdown policies on internal migration. This study also aims to determine if the effects of lockdown and remote work policies on the new patterns of the spatial distribution of the population are short-term, medium-term, or long-term, especially […]

Contributed by Charles R. Venator Santiago We are currently conducting a search for a senior scholar with a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology and El Instituto. Three finalists will visit our campus on February 7th (Professor Salvador Vidal-Ortiz, American University), February 9th (Marta Maldonado, Oregon State University), and February 12th (Elizabeth M. Aranda, […]

Contributed by Charles R. Venator-Santiago. As some of you may know, El Instituto has been asked to join in the creation of a new interdisciplinary department that seeks to combine all the Non-Departmental Units, including the American Studies Program, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative, the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, the Africana […]

Contributed by Charles R. Venator-Santiago. Charles R. Venator-Santiago received a $210,000 grant from the Connecticut General Assembly to continue working on the Puerto Rican Studies Initiative during the 2023-2024 academic year. The Puerto Rican Studies Initiative for Community Engagement and Public Policy (PRSI) is a research initiative seeking to document and support Puerto Ricans’ vital economic, intellectual, […]

We look forward to collaborating with Professor H. Kenny Nienhusser, this year’s faculty director for La comunidad intelectual (LCI). LCI is excited to welcome approximately 22 first year and 15 continuing students to its vibrant learning community. The learning community has a leadership team composed of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. This year, the […]

Contributed by Charles R. Venator-Santiago. Congratulations to Katerina Gonzalez Seligmann on her 2023-24 academic year Humanities Institute fellowship! Katerina, an Associate Professor of Spanish Studies and past director of El Instituto (2022-2023), will bring a project entitled “Aimé Césaire and His Cuban Comrades in Art.” Katerina writes that the project “examines the relationships of solidarity and […]

Contributed by Rodolfo Fernandez. In my five years teaching at UConn, I have had the opportunity to teach well over a thousand students.  I have no doubt that it would not be possible to teach so many people without the help of graduate research and teaching assistants.  I know how invaluable the labor and intellectual […]