January 26, 2024
Out soon, a new book on the historical memory of slavery and the slave trade in Santo Domingo, by UConn History alumna Rosa Carrasquillo (Prof. at College of the Holy Cross).
Follow Editora Educación Emergente in X for more information.
December 27, 2023
El Instituto director Charles Venator-Santiago was invited to join Connecticut Public Radio’s Where We Live in political misinformation.
December 1, 2023
El Instituto Interim Director Venator-Santiago was recently quoted in Politico. He provided an analysis of the local primary environment in Puerto Rico.
November 8, 2023
Charles R. Venator-Santiago, the Interim Director for El Instituto and the Puerto Rican Studies Initiative was recently quoted in NBC Connecticut. You can read the article here.
October 25, 2023
Interim Director of El Instituto, Charles Venator Santiago, presents Puerto Rican Studies Initiative research findings in the Shining Star Awards event given by the Meriden-based Midstate Chamber of Commerce and its Hispanic Leaders in Action subcommittee, often known as HOLA. You can read further at myrecordjournal.com.
October 18, 2023
Our newest colleague, Beatriz Aldana-Marquez, was recently cited in Telemundo for her research on immigrant detention facilities. You can read the article on the Telemundo website.
October 13, 2023
Charles R. Venator-Santiago, the Interim Director for El Instituto and the Puerto Rican Studies Initiative was recently quoted in the New York Times. You can read the article here.
Author Esmeralda Santiago, and Faculty Interim Director of El Instituto, Dr. Charles Venator-Santiago, was recently featured on the podcast Where we Live, produced by Connecticut Public Radio. In the podcast, they talk about Esmeralda Santiago’s new book Las Madres, which chronicles five women as they survive and are shaped by their experiences by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and the efforts at permanent relief resources in Hartford. The episode can be heard in CT Public Radio website.
October 12, 2023
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 Studies Institute, and the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute. The idea is to create one department that can consolidate all resources in one place. The administration has committed to providing generous support for the creation of a new department during its first three years. Some of the goals of this initiative include hiring full-time faculty that could define this new department as their tenure home. All institutes and programs would become content areas within a new interdisciplinary department. This would mean that El Instituto would cease to exist as an autonomous institute and would become a content area within a new interdisciplinary department. As of the time of this writing, El Instituto faculty has voted to remain an autonomous institute or not join the new department. The Provost’s Office has informed us that “units that decide not to join the new department should be aware that there are no central plans to continue growing those units outside of this new department structure.” I am not sure what the future holds for El Instituto, but I am committed to an open and transparent discussion of the issues. More to come in the future.
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, and cultural contributions to Connecticut and to provide research-based support for the development of public policies addressing the needs of Puerto Ricans in the State of Connecticut.
This initiative is part of a collaboration among various programs, including El Instituto (UConn Storrs, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), Puerto Rican and Latin@ Studies Project (UConn Hartford, School of Social Work), and the Hispanic Health Council/Mi Casa. This initiative was initially funded during the 2022-2023 academic year by the Connecticut General Assembly with American Rescue Plan Act funds. For more information, please visit the PRSI webpage.