Contributed by Charles R. Venator Santiago   A History of the Puerto Rican Day Parades in Connecticut Graduate student, Jhinia Garcia, and Professor Charles R. Venator-Santiago recently completed a mobile gallery on the history of the Puerto Rican Day Parades in Connecticut. This gallery consists of a series of panels/posters, a short video collecting oral […]

Contributed by Charles R. Venator Santiago This year’s Robert G. Mead Jr. Lecture will be provided by Professor José E. Cruz on Tuesday, October 27, from 4:00-6:00pm. Professor Cruz is Professor Emeritus of political science at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Professor Cruz’ talk will focus on his latest book, Puerto […]

Contributed by Julien Torrento   As a Mahan fellow, I participated in the summer institute at the Voces Oral History Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the leading Latino oral history archive in the United States. Through this fellowship-funded research, I received training in oral history methodology as well as the standards and […]

Contributed by Beatriz Torres do Nascimento   “From Brazil to the U.S.: The Reconfiguration of Privilege and Racial Identity Among Brazilian Immigrants”, is my graduate research project at UConn. My research investigates how the myth of racial democracy—an identity deeply rooted in the formation of Brazilian society—shapes the experiences of Brazilian immigrants when they arrive in […]

Contributed by Adrian Chavarria My original research question, which guided my summer research trip supported by the Elizabeth Mahan Fellowship, was: How did the city—the media, municipal government, and the constituency of the city of Comayagua—react to the military coup of April 22nd 1975? Was this reaction different to how it responded to the re-establishment […]

Contributed by Amelia Hickey     On June 10, 2026, I had the honor and privilege to present my preliminary thesis research at the Chicago-Kent College of law in Chicago, Illinois. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity, and to have been funded by El Instituto’s Elizabeth Mahan Fund for Graduate Studies in Latin American […]

Contributed by Professor Charles R. Venator-Santiago. Director Charles R. Venator Santiago had a wonderful opportunity to join Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernandez Rivera, along with various members of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Puerto Rican and Latino Legislative Caucus, in an event for Federal Representative John Larson in Hartford, Connecticut. We look forward to […]

Contributed by Professor Charles R. Venator-Santiago.  El Instituto|UConn Puerto Rican Studies Initiative is in the process of signing several memoranda of agreements with various institutions in the mainland and in Puerto Rico. The current batch of agreements is designed to support the rescue and preservation of Puerto Rico’s labor history. The UConnPRSI is now collaborating […]

Contributed by Professor Anne Gebelein.  El Instituto and LCI hosted the 8th graders of FAME Middle School of New Haven on Thursday, April 23, 2026. The Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration (FAME), situated in the heart of the Latino community of the city, promotes true bilingualism, rather than the standard CT model of transition to […]

Contributed by Professor Anne Gebelein.  5 LLAS majors presented their 4994W capstone projects to the faculty on April 21st. Students focused on contemporary challenges to Latino and Latin American people’s well being, creating original research that included surveys, examination of government and international data, interviews, and critical comparative analysis. Faculty were impressed with the originality, […]