Contributed by Charles R. Venator Santiago We are saddened to note that Wilfredo “Willie” Matos passed away on October 14, 2024, during a panel presentation at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut. Willie was sharing his thoughts and experiences in a panel addressing the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. […]

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 Menglu Chen My research project aims to delve deeper into transnational narratives by exploring the interconnections between Latin America and Asia. Through an analysis of works such as José Eustasio Rivera’s La Vorágine, where the protagonist encounters the dreadful conditions of those coerced or misled into tapping rubber trees, my study tracks the […]

Contributed by Melissa Pérez Peña   La criatura de isla trasciende siempre al mar que la rodea y al que no la rodea – Dulce María Loynaz, Cuban Poet   Although islands contribute minimally to the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, they are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as […]

Contributed by Maria Isabel Palacio-Cano My research project examines the training of the Colombian Armed Forces during the period between 2002-2008. The overall objective is to conduct a critical analysis of the professionalization of the Colombian armed forces. This analysis will assess the extent to which increased capacity and an offensive posture created the conditions […]

Contributed by Apoliana da Conceição RACE IN BRAZIL REPRESENTED IN ALUÍSIO AZEVEDO’S MULATTO How does literature represent society? Our lives? An era? To what extent is the depiction accurate? There is no better way to answer these questions than analyzing what we already have available as great written literature. In this case, we talk about […]

Contributed by Apoliana da Conceição dos Santos During the César J. Ayala Workshop on the Comparative Study of Race in the Americas, Professor Ayala illuminated the nuanced nature of racism, emphasizing its variation across different regions. He underscored the ineffectiveness of importing U.S. racism into other contexts, highlighting the unique manifestations of racism in each […]

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, […]