2020-21
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Maria Hernandez is a first-year student pursuing a Master of Arts in Latino and Latin American Studies through El Instituto. Maria received her B.A. in Political Science and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Lehman College. Her research interests are in immigrant health, food insecurity, chronic diseases, and health outcomes. |
| Daniela Itzel Domínguez Tavares is a second year student pursuing a Master of Arts in Latino and Latin American Studies. I received my B.A. in History from the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, Mexico. I have worked as a newspaper columnist and history teacher. I have published historical fiction and articles related to women and migrants and some critical reviews. In 2017 I received a grant to develop a research project (PECDA). My research interests are: Mexico, populism, bilateral relations between the United States and Mexico and Cold War. |  |
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Liliana Oliveira (she/her/Ella) is a first year student pursuing a M.A at El Instituto as well a graduate certificate in Feminist Studies. Liliana graduated from UConn with a B.A in History and minors in Political Science and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Her research interests are on the portrayals of gender and sexuality of Latinx characters in U.S. media. |
| Alonso Velasquez is a first-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in Latina/o/x and Latin American Studies in El Instituto. Alonso received his B.A. majoring in Journalism and minoring in political science from Central Connecticut State University. He is interested in researching the political participation and involvement of indigenous communities in Peru, his birth country. |  |
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Caesar Valentin is a first year joint M.A., M.P.A. student. Caesar Graduated from UConn with a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy with a minor in Human Rights. Caesar is interested in Political Theory and Public Administration Ethics. |
| Genesis Carela is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in Latino and Latin American Studies. She received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Rhode Island. She is interested in curriculum interventions in K-12 urban public schools, specifically the use of culturally sustaining pedagogy. Her long term goal is to work in the field of education policy to ensure that schools offer a high quality education that meets the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Her thesis research explores instructional and curricular approaches that are responsive to students and include marginalized perspectives more generally. |  |
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Oxana Sidorova is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in Latino and Latin American Studies. She received her B.A. in Marketing Management from the Don State Technical University, Russia. Her research interests are first and second language acquisition, translanguaging, language teaching and learning, world language education. She is particularly interested in bilingual and multilingual education, intercultural communication, intercultural competence, CLIL, project-based learning, designed-based learning, interdisciplinary in language teaching and learning. |
| Randy Torres is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in Latinx, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies. He received a dual B.A. in History and Critical Race Studies from the University of Houston Downtown. His interests focus on the intersections of racial construction and historical production in Mexico, Texas, and the Southwestern U.S. |  |
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Nina Vazquez is an M.A. student in Puerto Rican, Latinx, Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Nina graduated with a dual B.A. in Criminal Justice and Political Science with an emphasis in Racial and Ethnic Relations. Her interests are on the history of development of race and ethnicity in Latin America and the Caribbean, Puerto Rican citizenship and Puerto Rican radical politics from the 1930s to 1970s. |
| Rocio Orozco is a second-year MA student who received her bachelor's degree Anthropology from California State University-Sacramento. Her research interests are the concept of "race" and how it intersects with politics and economics; human rights; Mexican immigration; and the lives of Mexican immigrants. Her primary focus is on understanding the lives and experiences of women migrants and minority rights. |  |
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Elizabeth Gonzalez is a graduate student pursuing a degree in Latin American, Latinx and Caribbean studies through El Instituto. She received her BA in the same field from Central Connecticut State University. She has a background in conservation biology and her interests are heavily vested in decolonization theory, human rights, environmental education and preservation of the natural world. |
| Megan Fountain is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts in Latino and Latin American Studies. She received her B.A. in Literature from Yale University and has worked extensively with Guatemalan and Mexican migrants in Connecticut. She is particularly interested in investigating how oppressed communities engage with processes of transitional justice, memory, and reparations in Central and North America. |  |