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, thoroughness, methodological framing, and significance of the work for real-world applications. All 5 will graduate in May: Elena Bielesz, Ryan Rosario, Diego Reyes, Vivian Chavez, and Wendy Perez. They will be missed!

See below for the abstracts of their work. 

Elena Bielesz 

The Impact of Trump Administration Immigration Policies on Connecticut Schools and Families 

Abstract/Description: Anti-immigrant rhetoric, policies, and practices, which have grown increasingly prevalent due to the current national political climate, have adverse effects on the mental health of immigrant families and the teachers that support them in Connecticut. This study seeks to represent the opinions of Connecticut K-12 MLL (Multilingual Learners) Education Teachers and Administrators whose daily lives are impacted by the anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies and procedures. The study employed a human subjects-based approach supported by a review of related literature. MLL Educators from around the state of Connecticut were interviewed. These interviews found that while immigration-based trauma and stressors are common in students, families and educators throughout the state, representation, access to education, community solidarity and administrative support are vital to the positive development of immigrant student and family mental health. The study concluded that the development of statewide trauma-oriented and culturally informed training for teachers would decrease secondhand trauma and stress and allow educators to support their students in the best way possible.  

Keywords: Multilingual Learners, Immigration Based Trauma, Second-hand trauma, United States Political Rhetoric, Immigration Policy, Trump Administration 

Vivian Chavez

Barriers to Disclosure: Sexual Violence & Reporting Failures in Arizona’s Immigration Detention System

Abstract: Sexual VIolence is a prevelant and pressing issue within the United State’s immigration detention centers. My Thesis examines the underreporting of sexual violence within immigration detention centers, focusing on facilities in Arizona. Although there are federal policies like the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), and resources ICE Detainee Handbooks in place establishing formal and legal protection for those in detention, this does not translate into safety and accountability. In my research I use a combination of official reports, PREA audits, ICE inspection documents, survivor testimony and advocacy research to better understand the gap between institutional claims of compliance and the lived experiences of detainees. My findings show that although detention centers maintain multiple channels of reporting and seem to demonstrate procedural compliance on paper, there are still a substantial amount of barriers which prevent survivors from safely disclosing abuse. These barriers include fear of retaliation and deportation, language and cultural obstacles, lack of trust in institutional processes and inconsistent or inadequate investigative practices. This demonstrates that the existence of legal protections and institutional policies does not translate into safety or justice for detainees. The gap between policy and lived experience shows that compliance alone is not enough. If there is no meaningful enforcement and survivor centered practice, sexual violence in immigration detention will remain underreported and inadequately adressed. 

Keywords: Immigration Detention, Sexual Violence, Underreporting, Institutional Barriers, 

Wendy Perez

Provider Decision-Making in Spanish Interpreter Use: An Evaluation of Current Practices

Abstract/Description: 

This project aimed to demonstrate the importance of utilizing in-person interpreters, as an implemented best practice for a pediatric emergency room. This project evaluated current practices in an existing pediatric emergency room for interpretation services among attending providers. Using a qualitative study and qualitative initiative approach, a survey of nine open-ended questions was distributed to the pediatric emergency room attendings in this specific pediatric hospital.  Results were obtained via REDCap, where providers discussed their preferences for modalities, ratings of current practices, discussion of training, understanding of culture versus language misunderstandings and more. While in-person interpretation remains a preference within the interpretation services being provided, there is an existent gap in how readily available it is to providers and how consistently it is implemented for communication. Further studies should be conducted for feedback on implementing any initiatives as a result of this study.

Keywords: language barrier, providers, attendings, rating, evaluating, in-person, compassion

Ryan Rosario

Selective Security: The Gendered Costs of El Salvador’s State of Exception

Since President Nayib Bukele’s March 2022 State of Exception, El Salvador has been hailed as a modern model of security achievement and a template for handling gang violence across Latin America and the United States. Yet this definition of success relies on a narrow view of public safety that centers male victims of street crime and prioritizes police patrols, mass arrests, and mass incarceration to drive down the general homicide rate. This thesis argues that, despite the reported decline in homicide, the State of Exception has not produced comparable reductions in femicide or intimate partner violence (IPV). This failure reflects a Salvadoran legal system shaped by deep-rooted paternalism that has not invested in diversionary and therapeutic responses for aggressors. Combining descriptive statistics on homicide and femicide from Salvadoran state institutions with an independent femicide series compiled by ORMUSA (Organización de Mujeres Salvadoreñas por la Paz) for the period 2020 to 2024, I compare the trajectories of general homicide and femicide rates before and after the March 2022 State of Exception. I contextualize these trends through an analysis of institutional bottlenecks in policing and courts, as well as a historical examination of mano dura policies and Cold War counterinsurgency. The data show that while reported overall homicide collapses after 2022, femicide declines only modestly, and NGO estimates remain above one femicide per 100,000 women, diverging from official reports. What emerges is that El Salvador’s security gains are structured by gender. These findings point toward a different model of security, one centered on diversionary and therapeutic alternatives to incarceration for aggressors, the establishment and enforcement of criminal protective orders, and a robust network of women’s shelters as core pillars of public safety.

Diego Reyes

Priced Out of Stability: Healthcare Costs and Economic Insecurity in America 

This thesis considers how rising health care costs are impacting rates of medical debt and bankruptcy among middle and working class Latinos in CT. In particular, it questions how the Big Beautiful Bill (PL No. 119 – 21) has affected income distribution across middle-, upper-middle, and lower-income households in the U.S.. This research claims that this legislation is facilitating a hollowing out of the middle class; rather than stabilizing economic opportunity and increasing access to health insurance, these policies actively produce and deepen economic inequality, creating a “K-shaped economy” that pushes vulnerable Latinos in CT further into financial precarity. 

 

By Researcher and Curator Catalina Alvarado Cañuta. 

An Art Exhibit at The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford public opening on Thursday, May 7, 2026.

Weaving Images of Healing: Caring for the Ancestors of the Future is an exhibition proposal that forms part of the doctoral thesis process of Mapuche academic Catalina Alvarado-Cañuta. Catalina is a Fulbright scholar and PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of Connecticut. Her research falls within the field of medical anthropology, where she studies the processes of healing colonial traumas and wounds, and indigenous art as a methodology for research and healing.

The purpose of this exhibition is to offer a visual complement to the written work of the thesis, as images have a communicative power that academic writing does not always manage to convey. At the same time, the exhibition is an alternative way of disseminating the results of the research, allowing the knowledge generated to transcend the format of the scientific article in English and reach wider and more diverse audiences.

The exhibition will be held at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford. This collaboration stems from the previous experience Ancestors Today (2024), which was carried out as part of the Collective Healings initiative, led by Professor César Abadía-Barrero. For this exhibition, the museum showed its willingness to work with indigenous communities and opened its spaces to this type of dialogue.

This project is based on the premise that the collective healing of colonial wounds is a non-linear and multifactorial process involving tangible and intangible dimensions, such as creation, spirituality, rituals, territories, non-human beings, art, intuitions, and intentionality. The articulation of these elements as part of a process constitutes a community response to historical violence and the marks of colonialism that continue to affect indigenous communities to this day.

The exhibit curated by Alvarado-Cañuta, brings together two internationally renowned Mapuche artists, Loreto Millalén and Francisco Huichaqueo; Amabilia Escalante Ortiz, a young Guatemalan weaver with Maya ancestry living in Hartford, and Jeff Cán Xicay, Maya Kaqchikel weaver from Patzicía, Guatemala. The exhibition includes: a chañuntuko, a traditional Mapuche textile piece made especially for this occasion by master weaver Loreto Millalén. Millalén defines the chañuntuko as a portable territory—a textile used for horseback riding, traveling, sitting and resting, chatting, and sharing. This piece in this exhibition also represents the fire, a vital element that brings people together.

 

A section of projections of different bodies of water recorded in ancestral territories in Chile, Guatemala, and the United States, along with archival images by Mapuche artist and filmmaker Francisco Huichaqueo. Water is essential because without it, there is no life. Textiles created for the “memory garments” (commonly known as archaeological objects) from the museum’s collection—items once used by the indigenous peoples of the Americas—crafted by Amabilia Escalante as a symbol of care and affection for the people who once held these objects. The memory garments are rescued from the darkness of the storage room to coexist with the other works and are wrapped in colorful fabrics that bring them back to life. A collective piece “Hilos de los Rezos” made with threads that represent the transit of people in multiple dimensions from minche mapu (underworld) to wenu mapu (space above) made by Catalina Alvarado-Canuta, Francisco Huichaqueo, Loreto Millalén, and Pablo Millalén. Jeff Cay’s work Ojer Winäq (ancestral people in Kaqchikel language) is a textile piece created on a backstrap loom; it consists of a white fabric interwoven with reeds that serve as an internal structure, evoking a skeletal system that supports the body of the textile. At its center is a sequence of winäq (human figures), derived from the motifs of the Patzicía güipil,which represent the ancestors: grandfathers and grandmothers who are part of the community’s long history. In this sense, the piece is conceived as a spatial device that functions simultaneously as an altar and as a living presence. The fabric, suspended from above, descends like a white mist. This gesture refers to the community’s stories, where grandfathers and grandmothers manifest as mist, smoke, or incense: subtle forms of presence that inhabit and traverse the space. And finally, an ethnographic embroidery made by Catalina, who incorporated part of her fieldwork and personal experience into the work. This piece is still in progress and is signed with a needle with a red thread, the blood of Mapuche people, those who continue to write their history. This embroidery chooses to live with the projections of water, where it creates the shadows of the threads as another being. The exhibition has the presence ofthe kollon, a Mapuche ritual mask which represents protection and joy. The whole exhibition is accompanied by a Mapuche dance projected on the rocks. And finally, an ethnographic embroidery made by Catalina, who incorporated part of her fieldwork and personal experience into the work. This piece is still in progress and is signed with a needle with a red thread, the blood of Mapuche people, those who continue to write their history. This embroidery chooses to live with the projections of water, where it creates the shadows of the threads as another beings. The exhibition has the presence of the kollon, a Mapuche ritual mask which represents protection and joy. The whole exhibition is accompanied by a Mapuche dance projected on the rocks.

Conceived from a Mapuche indigenous perspective, Weaving Images of Healing is an exhibition that brings together the collective strength of indigenous creators from Abyayala (ancestral name for Latin America) who have come together to heal, to collectively alleviate the wounds caused by colonialism. Their creations embody the persistence of the ancestral memories of their respective peoples through different materials and languages such as textiles, ceramics, film, and embroidery.

In the context of indigenous relational ontologies, these creations are considered living beings. Each one has a spirit that establishes links with the multiple forms of life that inhabit the territories. These works were created and intended to be shared in the exhibition, to accompany each other, to care for each other collectively, to come together in a great family reunion of ancient lineages that existed before colonial invasions and the borders of nation-states. This exhibition, which brings together different indigenous peoples of the Americas, has been designed to welcome all the lives that visit it.

The creators, their creations, and the histories of their peoples are part of a textile that is constantly being woven. Their presence is a way of building community in the face of dispossession, of supporting one another, and of cultivating the existence of indigenous spirits. In other words, it is a way of affirming what colonialism has tried to erase through various forms of violence, but which today is manifesting itself with force to collectively resurface.

This exhibition and the gathering of creations remind us that healing is not forgetting. It is remembering with awareness, it is mending to create a strong textile that reinforces the continuity of indigenous life, to sustain and care for the ancestors of the future.

This exhibition is much more than just academic work. It is about sowing seeds. It is about building community. It is about spreading awareness, educating, and raising consciousness. The ancestors of the future -us, our children, our grandchildren, and the communities yet to be born- will inherit what we can build today. This proposal constitutes a decolonial action that simultaneously intervenes in the curatorial, artistic, museum, and health fields, offering a shift from the Western conception of art as an object of passive contemplation to a practice that activates healing, reconnection with ancestral memory, and collective projection toward the future.

Curator-Researcher: Catalina Alvarado-Cañuta

Artists:

Loreto Millalén, Mapuche, Master Weaver

Francisco Huichaqueo, Mapuche, Artist and Filmmaker

Jeff Cán Xicay, Weaver, Maya Kaqchikel, Patzicía

Amabilia Escalante Ortiz, Guatemala, Weaver

Catalina Alvarado-Cañuta, Mapuche, Academic and Embroiderer

 

Special thanks to: César Abadía-Barrero, Camilo Ruiz, Pablo Millalén.

To the various units at the University of Connecticut:

Department of Anthropology

Humanities Institute

Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute

Global Affairs

El Instituto, Institute of Latino/a, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Global Health & Human Rights Research Program

 

Contributed by Graduate Student Ms. Amelia Hickey

When we think about trafficking networks in Latin America, the image that often comes to mind is a male‑dominated world of cartel leaders, smugglers, and violent enforcers. But new research is beginning to challenge this narrow view. Emerging scholarship is revealing a more complex and far less visible reality: women play critical roles in sustaining and expanding transnational organized crime.

This up‑and‑coming research examines women not only as victims of exploitation, but as strategic recruiters operating across human, drug, and weapons trafficking markets. Through trust‑based relationships—as friends, romantic partners, caregivers, or family members—women often serve as the first point of contact between criminal organizations and new recruits. These roles allow trafficking networks to grow quietly, shield leadership from exposure,and move fluidly across different illicit markets.

Rather than treating sex, drug, and weapons trafficking as separate crimes, this work approaches them as interconnected businesses. Organized crime groups reuse routes, personnel, and recruitment strategies across commodities, adapting quickly to law enforcement pressure. Women’s perceived harmlessness and social accessibility make them uniquely effective within these systems, particularly in roles that rely on emotional trust and relational proximity.

Drawing on court cases and network‑based analysis, this research challenges gendered stereotypes that obscure women’s agency in organized crime. It also raises urgent questions for policymakers and investigators. If recruitment is a shared mechanism across trafficking markets, can anti‑trafficking strategies afford to remain siloed?

By reframing women as key organizational actors, this research offers new tools for understanding how trafficking networks actually function, and how they might be more effectively disrupted.

Contributed by Graduate Student Beatriz Torres Do Nascimento

My experiences at the MACLAS 2026 conference and at “Cultures From Below” were both incredible, though in different ways. At the first, which took place at the University of PennWest, California campus, I must admit I was very tense and anxious, as it was my first time presenting at a conference in English and sharing this new research. Despite having sweaty hands, I leaned on my classroom experience, since I used to be a high school teacher. Because of that, I felt comfortable, as if I were teaching a class, moving around the space, explaining my research rather than just reading from slides. It went much better than I expected, especially for a first presentation.

When I finished, there were many questions about my research. The audience showed strong interest in my topic, and I also received very valuable feedback, which I wrote down so I can pay closer attention to certain methodological details. Beyond the feedback and the clear interest from the audience, MACLAS 2026 was also great for networking. Through these connections, I was encouraged to apply for a prize that the conference will award for the best graduate student research. In addition, I met the editor of a journal, who also encouraged me to try to publish my work. I felt very empowered and personally encouraged, which motivated me to carry out a strong research project over the summer so that I can write a solid paper. Beyond my individual achievements, at MACLAS I also met a contact who could potentially become a collaborator with the Puerto Rican Studies Initiative (PRSI), since they also work on Puerto Rico. I was very happy to make a connection that could benefit PRSI as well.

At the Emory University conference, my experience was different, but equally incredible. Since it was a conference organized by and for graduate students, I felt more at ease and even made a few friendships that I will carry beyond the conference. I also received important feedback there. However, because there were more specialists in Brazilian studies, I felt that much of what I presented was less new to the audience than it had been at the other conference.

Overall, these were two wonderful experiences that truly empowered me. I am very grateful to El Instituto (ELIN) for their support. Sharing my research at these conferences gave me even more certainty that there is a gap in Brazilian studies that I am on my way to helping fill, at least in part.

Contributed by Professor and Director Charles R. Venator-Santiago.

Announcing the creation of the Puerto Rican Data and Research Consortium

The Puerto Rican Research and Data Consortium is a collaboration among research centers, hubs, programs, and initiatives that study the Puerto Rican experience. Central to this collaboration is an effort to share and disseminate data, information, and research, develop standards for collection, use and analysis of data, and develop research partnerships.

Our goal is to provide data driven research that can be helpful to the community at large including students, policy makers, community leaders, community-based organizations, elected officials, the press, civic leaders, fellow scholars and educators, and the public more generally. This project is available in our Puerto Rican Research and Data Consortium for Public Policy webpage.

Contributed by Professor and Director Charles R. Venator-Santiago.

Puerto Rico and the United Nations, A Preliminary Bibliography of United Nations Documents and Speeches Addressing Puerto Rico’s Political Status, 1953-2025

This report provides a preliminary bibliographical overview of all United Nations documents and speeches addressing various dimensions of Puerto Rico’s political status. This research bibliography is meant to introduce readers to the study of Puerto Rico’s political status debates in the United Nations. Our intention is to update this bibliography every fall and continue to expand or add more materials as they are released and as we find them. Materials for this project are available at the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library. This report is part of the Puerto Rico Status Archives Project and is available in our data reports webpage.

 

Contributed by professor Beatriz Aldana Marquez.

I remember the first time I did not belong. I was five years old, fresh from a long and terrifying journey into the United States, standing in front of a typical classroom of American children, all smiling and eating ice cream without the burden of responsibility. At the time, I was an undocumented Mexican eldest daughter, living in a small trailer next to the dairy farm that employed my father. My parents were chasing an American dream, one that my classmates were already enjoying.

While children from my class enjoyed summer breaks, I rotated a work schedule with my sister to clean houses with my mother for White American families who ignored us in public. Even their children knew not talk to us, as the “help” was not meant for friendship. Stark divisions followed me all throughout my education, reminding me that Latinos are viewed differently. Even popular culture taught me that Mexicans were meant for comic relief, giving my American peers permission to joke about “illegal Mexicans invading” their small town. Belonging was not about being an equal, but about playing the role of the subservient, disposable, and entertaining Mexican immigrant.

Responsibility meant ignoring the flashbacks of the border and of my abusive household. My focus became mastering English, understanding American culture, and learning all I could about immigration policies. No one noticed, and I was alone among my American friends. The differences between us were inescapable, leading me to blame myself for not pushing past the loneliness of being one the few Latino immigrants in town. Again, I did not belong. Latinos continued to be seen as suppliers of labor for White American families, and their suffering at the hands of immigration enforcement remain irrelevant outside business negotiations.

Thirty years after my arrival, the fear has never left. Fear still controls my life even when others tell me I should not be afraid. How do I explain that the fear of La Migra knocking at my door is my oldest recurring nightmare? Nothing feels secure as of lately and yet Latinos are told to remain compliant in face of violence and racial profiling. Even as a professor, I cannot escape this fear because ICE continues to look for us and target our safety.

I cannot offer a solution, only solidarity in this struggle to survive as Latino immigrants in this era of ICE enforcement. Sometimes, the first step is simply recognizing the existence of fear so that we can understand that we are not alone.

Contributed by undergraduate student Sol Ramirez. 

I am happy to provide a summary of the expenses covered by El Instituto’s generous sponsorship of $200 for the Somos Uno Puppet Show. Your support made it possible for us to bring this celebration of Mexican and Latine culture to life through puppetry, music, poetry and dance.

A portion of the sponsorship supported the materials and supplies needed to create the puppets and stage components for the show. This included many types, shapes and sizes of paint, glue, elastic, and the construction of 30 unique puppets. These materials were essential to developing the visual and tactile aspects of the production and bringing the characters to life.

In addition, your contribution helped cover music and artist compensation. Musician Omar Ruiz Lopez composed and recorded original pieces for the show, including guitar, violin, percussion, and mandolin, as well as the overall score. This original music was integral to the storytelling, complementing the movement and shadows to enhance the audience’s experience.

Show Description – Somos Uno Somos Uno utilizes puppetry, shadows, music, and dance to celebrate both Mexican and Latine culture. The performance showcases the roots of these cultures, the hardships they have endured, and the power of unity to overcome challenges and thrive. Through this creative and collaborative approach, we aim to educate, inspire, and bring communities together around shared cultural experiences.

 

We are deeply grateful to El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies for supporting our work and enabling us to create a meaningful, culturally rich experience for our audience. Your sponsorship played a vital role in ensuring the success of this production. Thank you again for your generosity and support.

Contributed by graduate student Jhinia Garcia.

My research focuses on understanding the structural determinants of health among Hispanic populations in the United States. Using national survey data and quantitative methods, I examine how socioeconomic conditions shape overall health through four key mediating pathways: access to healthcare, health behaviors, mental health, and physical health. In this context, attending the ASSA 2026 Annual Meeting (January 3–5, 2026, Philadelphia) strengthened my methodological approach and informed refinements to my research design. The conference also facilitated engagement with current research in health economics and health policy that directly informs my analysis of structural health disparities.

The Whetten Latin American Studies Fellowship Fund provided USD 655 in Fall 2025, which was used only for conference expenses. The funds covered round-trip transportation, three nights of lodging near the venue, student registration, and local transportation and meals. These expenses enabled full participation in conference sessions and professional events.

I attended multiple sessions directly related to my research on the structural determinants of health, including The Economics of International Health, Economics of the Health Gradient, Economics of Mental Health, Economic Impact of Childcare Interventions, and Value of Health and Longevity. Session chairs included Shiko Maruyama, Karen Eggleston, James Heckman, Anna Chorniy, Emily Beam, and Robert Topel. These sessions examined how institutional arrangements, labor market conditions, early-life environments, and public policies shape health outcomes across the life course and contribute to persistent socioeconomic gradients in health.

The conference helped with concrete methodological insights relevant to my research framework, particularly for modeling indirect effects and identifying policy-relevant mechanisms linking socioeconomic disadvantage to physical and mental health outcomes. Discussions of childcare interventions and school-based health programs strengthened the life-course perspective of my research, reinforcing the importance of early institutional contexts in shaping later health disparities. In addition, presentations on health system reforms and incentive structures in international settings helped contextualize my work within broader debates on healthcare access and quality.

Overall, the fellowship enabled full participation in the ASSA 2026. The training, feedback, and methodological exposure gained during the conference will inform refinements to my MA research design and guide the next stages of my research projects.