Spring 2010 Courses
[PDF]
Volunteer Trip to Cartagena, Colombia
March 2010
[PDF]
Sustainable Development and Ecotourism in the Eastern Caribbean
March 2010
[PDF]
Tropical Marine Ecology of the Florida Keys, Everglades & Bahamas
May 2010
[May 2009 PDF]
Support the ProgramLatin American, Latino/a
and Caribbean Studies at Miami University
Faculty
LAS Committee
The Latin American, Latino/a and Caribbean Studies Committee brings together faculty, staff and students who have scholarly, professional and personal interests in Latin American, Latino/a and Caribbean Studies.
Helane Adams Androne (English, Middletown Campus) conducts research that includes comparative study of Latina and African American women's fiction, with emphasis on ritual as an analytical paradigm for comparison.
[PhD, University of Washington]
Alejandra Alaña (Spanish graduate student, Graduate Assistant for the Center for American and World Cultures) is from Venezuela and works to encourage study abroad. Alejandra teaches LAS 208 and introductory Spanish.
Elena Jackson Albarrán (History, LAS) is interested in revolution and social movement in Latin America, popular culture, age and childhood, modern Mexico, kitsch and commodification of Latin American icons.
[PhD, University of Arizona]
Juan Carlos Albarrán (LAS) was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. Juan's interests include ethnomusicology, ritual music and dance, tourism and immigration issues.
[MA, University of Arizona]
Tammy Allen (Spanish, Middletown Campus) is interested in language teaching and occupational Spanish programs. Tammy received the Teaching Award of the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities.
[MA, Miami University]
José Amador de Jesús (LAS) studies and teaches on race, science, and culture in early twentieth-century Cuba, Brazil and his home Puerto Rico. José also teaches comparative history of slavery and emancipation in the Americas.
[PhD, University of Michigan]
Maria Auxiliadora Álvarez (Spanish and Portuguese) is a poet and teacher of colonial Latin American history, women and Transatlantic studies, and Spanish contemporary poetry. Maria is from Venezuela and collaborates with poets across the Spanish world.
[PhD, University of Illinois]
Mary Jane Berman (Director, Center for American and World Cultures, Anthropology) is interested in archaeology and museum anthropology, especially in the Caribbean and US Southwest.
[PhD, SUNY Binghamton]
Shelly Jarrett Bromberg (Spanish, Hamilton Campus) teaches SPN, LAS and AMS on the Hamilton and Oxford campuses. Shelly has expertise in Caribbean, Central American and Latino Studies, including transnational identities, immigrant rights and public scholarship.
[PhD, University of Texas]
Gerardo Brown-Manrique (Architecture) was born in México and has lived in Cuba. Gerardo researches modern and contemporary European architecture and his interests include Latin American cultural background and its contemporary expressions in architecture, music and art.
[PhD, Cornell University]
Martha Castañeda (Teacher Education) has interests that include the preparation of language teachers, uses of technology in the language classroom, and the preparation of generalist teachers to work with English Language Learners. Martha offers a summer language course in Honduras.
[PhD, University of South Florida]
Thomas Caracas Garcia (Music) teaches Latin American music, Brazilian culture, ethnomusicology and popular music. His research and performance interests span the classical-popular continuum in Latin American music, and the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos.
[PhD, Duke University]
Katie Gibson (King Library) is Information Services Librarian and liaison to the LAS Program. Katie supports students and faculty in their studies and research.
Perry Gnivecki (Anthropology, Hamilton Campus) conducts archaeological research in Cuba, Peru, US, and Bahamas, where he directs a field-school. Perry studies the emergence of complex societies, neotropical island archaeology and ecology, and human spatial organization.
[PhD, SUNY Binghamton]
Kerry Hegarty (Spanish and Portuguese) teaches Latin American film, history and culture. Kerry researches the way politics shape poetics in film, specifically in regards to the sociopolitical changes of modernization in México.
[PhD, Emory University]
Eva Rodríguez-González (Spanish and Portuguese) is interested in second language acquisition, assessment of second language proficiency and use of technology to enhance second language learning in contexts of hybrid language instruction.
[PhD, University of Kansas]
Alfredo Huerta (Botany) researches environmental physiology and stress metabolism. Alfredo facilitates scholarly exchange with University of Tamaulipas México, including collaborative research for drought-resistant sorghum.
[PhD, University of California, Riverside]
Kelli Lyon Johnson (English, Hamilton Campus) studies and teaches Latina and Caribbean women writers, including Julia Alvarez, Achy Obejas, Edwidge Danticat, and Ana Castillo. Kelli is currently exploring human rights in contemporary world literature.
[PhD, Northern Illinois University]
Thomas Klak (Geography, LAS) studies theories, discourses, practices, and ecological consequences of development. Tom teaches a field course on constraints against and opportunities for sustainable agriculture in the Eastern Caribbean.
[PhD, University of Wisconsin]
Megan Kuykendoll (Latino/a Outreach Coordinator) collaborates with campus and community entities to create more welcoming and inclusive relations between Miami University and local Latino/Hispanic communities. Megan also facilitates service learning opportunities.
Jean-Yves Merilus (Geography graduate student) is from Haiti and studies development and sustainability as well as economic geography in Latin America and the Caribbean. Jean-Yves' work on the banana industry illuminates dynamics of unequal power among nations.
Julie Minich (English) teaches classes in Latina/o and Chicana/o literary and cultural studies. Julie's interests include literary theory, LGBT and feminist studies, disability studies and film.
[PhD, Stanford University]
Susan Paulson (Anthropology, LAS) studies and teaches about ways in which systems of race/class/gender/sexuality shape landscapes and bodies. Susan does field research and leads study abroad in the Andes and Brazil.
[PhD, University of Chicago]
Carla Pestana (History) teaches early British America, Tudor Stuart England, and the early modern Atlantic world. Carla writes on Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World and the English conquest of Spanish Jamaica.
[PhD, University of California, Los Angeles]
Katia del Río-Tsonis (Zoology) teaches developmental biology and cancer biology and directs student research. Katia's research focuses on determining the cellular and molecular mechanisms of tissue regeneration.
[PhD, National University of México]
Jacqueline Rioja Velarde (Center for American and World Cultures) is a Peruvian geographer. Jacque develops and implements co-curricular programs including the UniDiversity program, Latin American and Caribbean Festival, Human Rights and Social Justice Program, and Study Abroad, among others.
[MA, Syracuse University]
Peter Rose (Classics) teaches Cuba in Revolution. Peter's writing includes Marxist approaches to Classical Antiquity and analysis of Cuban film. His current book on Rhetoric and Imperialism analyzes Che Guevara's speech on the Alliance for Progress.
[PhD, Harvard University]
Paul J. Schaeffer (Zoology) travels to Panama to study avian life history and physiology in tropical forests and energetics of avian migration. Paul leads a field course in tropical biology and conservation in Panama.
[PhD, Northern Arizona University]
Tatiana Seijas (History) teaches the expansion of Spanish and Portuguese Empires, indigenous experiences in colonial Latin America, and perceptions of the environment in national discourses. Tatiana's research focuses on the slave trade to México.
[PhD, Yale University]
Melissa Thomasson (Economics) conducts research that focuses on the economic history of health care and health insurance in the U.S., as well as racial gaps in health insurance and health outcomes.
[PhD, University of Arizona]
Elias Tzoc (Digital Initiatives Librarian) provides access and management to Miami's Digital Collections. Elias studies strategies for enhancing and increasing access to digital resources, and open source applications.
[MSIS, University of Texas, Austin]
Walt Vanderbush (Political Science) teaches Latin American Politics and US-Latin American Relations. Walt writes on Mexican political economy, US-Cuba policy, and the political left in Latin America. He has accompanied study tours in México, Venezuela, and Colombia.
[PhD, Northwestern University]
Sandra Woy-Hazleton (Institute of Environmental Sciences) is interested in public participation and environmental conflict management; product certification, especially bananas and coffee; sustainable development and eco-tourism. Sandra is also interested in service learning in environmental education and teaches a course on sustainable development in Costa Rica.
[PhD, University of Virginia]
Melanie Ziegler (International Studies) has a major research interest in US-Cuba relations. Melanie's writing includes US-Cuban Cooperation Past, Present and Future.
[PhD, Miami University]
LAS Contributing Faculty
Mark Boardman (Geology) is a professor of Geology. Mark teaches courses during the summer on a variety of issues related to ecological science and marine ecology in the Caribbean.
[PhD, University of North Carolina]
Hays Cummins (Geography) contributes to a variety of programs on campus including Western, Honors, Geology, and Geography. He teaches courses during the summer on a variety of issues related to ecological science in Costa Rica, the Bahamas, the Netherlands Antilles, and Belize.
[PhD, Texas A&M University]