Latinamericanist

the
University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies | Volume 40, Number 2 | Fall 2009

Bacardi Family Lecture Series

Health and Policy in Latin America
and the Caribbean
The 2009 Bacardi Family Lecture Series consisted of five Health officials implemented a multi-faceted and localized strategy
presentations by distinguished scholars and public figures over the emphasizing surveillance and detection, education, treatment, and
course of the fall semester on Health and Policy in Latin America and cooperation among governmental agencies. All detected cases, in
the Caribbean. The series addressed priority diseases, public policy, residents and tourists, were treated free of charge. The education
and strategies for meeting health challenges in the region. The invited campaign, targeting different age and ethnic groups, focused on
speakers also participated in an interdisciplinary graduate seminar on proper hygiene and prevention. A second wave of H1N1 cases is
the same topic that incorporated UF faculty members from the expected during the winter months, but Yucatan has strong policies in
Department of Anthropology and the place to address the pandemic.
Colleges of Medicine, Public Health and In Venezuela, health is recognized by
Health Professions, and Veterinary the government as a fundamental
Medicine. The lecture series was human right. Carlos Muntaner, Chair of
sponsored by the UF Center for Latin Psychiatry and Addictions Nursing
American Studies’ Bacardi Family Research at the University of Toronto,
Endowment in collaboration with the spoke about Venezuela’s national public
UF Health Science Center. health system called Misión Barrio
The series was kicked off by Arachu Adentro. This system, based upon the
Castro, Assistant Professor of Social principles of community engagement
Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and participatory democracy, has
who discussed the links between improved health infrastructure and
HOLLY BRAUSE

research, policy, and clinical practice. provides free primary healthcare for all
She focused her talk on HIV/AIDS and Venezuelans. A key component of
syphilis, particularly the transmission of Misión Barrio Adentro, started in 2003,
 Bacardi Family Lecturer James Trostle flanked by LAS affiliate
these diseases from mother to child. faculty members Lance Gravlee from Anthropology (left) and Jorge has been the establishment of health
Current barriers to prevention and Hernández from Veterinary Medicine (right). Gravlee and centers in low-income communities that
policy-making in the region include Hernández were the main organizers of the Bacardi Family Lecture previously had no access to local medical
Series in fall 2009.
fragmentation of primary health care care. Relatively few Venezuelan health
systems, delays in lab testing and professionals are employed by Misión
treatment, underreporting of epidemiological data, lack of Barrio Adentro, however, and the system is now dominated by Cuban
infrastructure, unidirectional training of health care professionals, and doctors and nurses. Due to the lack of Venezuelan involvement, the
the relatively small number of NGOs that support public health sustainability of the system has been questioned.
initiatives. Cuba has seen success in disease prevention, as compared María Eugenia Morales, a faculty member in Biochemistry and
to other Latin American countries, due to accessible health care for Microbiology at the Universidad del Valle in Guatemala, discussed
pregnant women, extensive testing, effective treatment procedures, and arboviral diseases in Guatemala. Dengue and West Nile virus, both
government support. transmitted by mosquitos, are active and prevalent throughout
Alvaro Quijano, Minister of Health of the State of Yucatan in Guatemala, but little has been done to address them. In Guatemala,
Mexico, presented Yucatan’s efforts to contain and prevent the spread the occurrence of arboviral diseases is grossly underreported and
of the H1N1 influenza virus over the past few months. The number of laboratories lack the capacity to detect and track the diseases. The lack
confirmed cases of H1N1 in Yucatan peaked in June 2009 at of data about the prevalence of arboviruses has led to low levels of
approximately 200 and was mainly concentrated in urban areas. Bacardi Family Lecture Series continued on page 3

inside: p2 Director’s
Corner
p3 Flora Zárate
Andean Art p5 Faculty News
& Publications
p18 Alumni
& Notes
News
 Director’s Corner Latinamericanist

the
Volume 40, Number 2
Since assuming the directorship in July, I have received a very warm welcome Fall 2009
from faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the Center. I am especially grateful
to Carmen Diana Deere for her exceptional service to the Center these past five center for Latin american studies
years. 319 Grinter Hall
I may be a new face at the helm of the Center, but I am not new to UF. I came to
PO Box 115530
the university in 1989 as an Assistant Professor of Political Science and an affiliate of
the Center. Throughout my tenure as a faculty member in Political Science, I have Gainesville, FL 32611–5530
taught many courses in Latin American politics at the undergraduate and graduate 352–392–0375
level. For the Center, I have supervised dozens of MA theses in Latin American www.latam.ufl.edu
Dr. Philip Williams Studies and directed a Rockefeller Foundation Visiting Fellows program based at the
Center. From 2004-07, I served as chair of the Political Science Department.
The Center has had a busy fall semester. This year the annual Fall Reception took place at the Harn
Museum of Art and was co-hosted by the Association of Hispanic Alumni. During the event, our Alumni 2009-2010 Faculty Advisory Council
Steering Committee President, Stephen Walroth-Sadurní, announced the launch of Milenio Américas, a Philip Williams (Las/Political science),
society of alumni and friends formed to support of the Center’s many programs activities (see p. 18). We took chair
advantage of the weekend events to hold our fifth LAS Alumni Steering Committee meeting. Tom Ankersen (center for Governmental
This year’s Bacardi Lecture Series focused on “Health and Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean.” In resonsibility)
collaboration with the Health Science Center we brought five speakers - from the US, Canada, and Latin Efraín Barradas (Las/spanish &
America - who discussed current and emerging health issues that affect Latin American and Caribbean Portuguese)
development (see cover story). Center-based and affiliate faculty were also involved in organizing and Richmond Brown (Las)
participating in events related to the university’s Common Reading Program that focused on the book, The Hannah Covert (Las)
Devil’s Highway, by Luis Urrea (see p.12).
Elizabeth Ginway (spanish & Portuguese)
This past fall semester, the Center is also hosting a number of visitors from Latin America. As part of the
Faye Harrison (anthropology/african
Amazon Conservation Leadership Initiative (ACLI), four Moore Visiting Fellows joined us in the fall: Adriana
american studies)
Paese (Universidade Federal do Amapa, Brazil), Thaissa Silva (Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Brazil),
Andy Naranjo (Finance)
Luz Marina Velarde (Peru), and Rosario Chavez (Natural Resources Program Manager at Proyecto Araucaria
XXI, Peru). We also hosted Beatriz Bustos Torres, a visiting professor from the Universidad de Guadalajara Anna Peterson (religion)
(Mexico). Richard Phillips (UF Libraries)
Despite UF’s current budget crisis we are grateful for the continuing support from alumni and friends of the Maria Rogal (art & art History)
Center. Especially noteworthy was the gift from Paul and Polly Doughty to establish an endowment in their Charles Wood (Las)
daughter’s name – the Carol French Doughty Memorial Fund. The endowment will support graduate student
research in Latin America and Latino communities, with an emphasis on educational issues (see p. 19).
Editor: Hannah covert, Las
The Center also continued its success in securing external grants to support its mission. In June, the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded the Center for Latin American Studies and the Center for Graphic Designer: susan Duser, UF news
Bureau
African Studies nearly $1 million for a new master’s program in sustainable development practice (see p. 5).
In October, Karen Kainer (PI), Jonathan Dain (co-PI), and Hannah Covert (co-PI) received a $300K US-Mexico
TIES grant from the USAID-funded Higher Education for Development (HED) program. The partnership, with
the University of Veracruz (UV), will develop leaders to enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainable
resource management in Southeastern Mexico (see p. 10).
We have a busy year ahead, not the least of which is preparing the Center’s new Title VI proposal this
spring. In the coming months I look forward to working with all of you in continuing to build on the Center’s
strengths and exploring new opportunities for growth.
.
cOntents

3 andean arpilleras Lecture 10 U.s.–mexico ties Grant

4 2010 annual conference 11 Business in Brazil, Outreach news
5 new master's in Development 12 student news
5 Faculty news & Publications 17 alumni news & notes
8 recent Faculty Books 18 milenio américas
9 2009 Lasa international congress 19 Donors, carol French Doughty Fund
 eVents

Flora Zárate and the Art of the Andean Arpillera

T
he UF Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research and the allow visitors to see a progression from very traditional Andean scenes to
Center for Latin American Studies sponsored a demonstration more modern works dealing with the Latino diaspora and immigration
and exhibition of Andean arpilleras (tapestries) by acclaimed to the U.S. Zárate walked the visitors through the pieces, explaining their
Peruvian artist, Flora Zárate. Zárate was born in Ayacucho, a renowned significance and the message she aims to convey with each tapestry.
center for artistic production, but it was in a women’s cooperative on the —Contributed by Ellie Lewis, MALAS student
outskirts of Lima that she first learned the techniques to make arpilleras.
She is now recognized as one of the foremost
arpillera artists in Peru and recently exhibited
her work at the Museo Nacional de la Cultura
in Lima.
Elayne Zorn, Associate Professor of
Anthropology at the University of Central
Florida and specialist on Andean textiles, gave a
brief presentation on Andean visual arts and
the arpillera. She explained that these
incredibly detailed three–dimensional
tapestries, hand–sewn by women, originated in
Chile and often carried important political
messages, commemorating loved ones who had
“disappeared” during the Pinochet dictatorship.

The technique soon caught on and spread to
other Andean nations, including Peru and  Artist Flora Zárate poses with her arpilleras depicting Cuban immigration to Florida (left) and Mexican
Bolivia. The artists work with bright, modern immigration across the U.S. – Mexico border (right)..
fabrics and incorporate elements of traditional
Andean visual arts into their depictions of
everyday life. As Zorn demonstrated, the works are divided along gender
lines and organized in accordance with the Andean concept of verticality.
Sometimes mythical figures make an appearance, such as that of the
dreaded pishtaco, a man who sucks the fat from his victims.
Originally created to protest human rights abuses, arpilleras have also
become a valuable source of income for some Peruvian women, largely
because of the tourist trade. Many arpilleras depict markets, planting,
harvesting and scenes of traditional rural and community life. An
interesting recent development has been the incorporation of new,
modern elements of life both in the highlands and in urban areas. These
tapestries provide the women who make them with a way of illustrating
some of the changes their societies are currently experiencing and
continue to act as a form of social commentary, tackling a wide range of
issues. Talented artists such as Zárate have created powerful images not
only of the Andes, but also of immigration across the U.S.–Mexico
border and from Cuba to South Florida.
After the presentation there was a demonstration by the artist herself.
Working incredibly quickly, Zárate showed how she sews human figures
for the arpilleras. Even though only one side is visible on the finished
work, she carefully makes a complete, individual set of clothing for each
person, sewing red lips onto the faces of the women and black for the
men. Zárates’s finished arpilleras were exhibited around the room to
ELLIE LEWIS
Bacardi Family Lecture Series continued from front cover
funding for research and surveillance. Other health concerns,
such as malnutrition, respiratory illness and diarrhea, have
taken precedence within the Guatemalan health system
James Trostle, Professor and Chair of Anthropology at Trinity
College in Connecticut, was the final Bacardi speaker. His
lecture discussed roads as pathways of infectious disease in
coastal Ecuador. Trostle argued that while roads can lead to
economic growth and better access to medical care, they can
also bring unintended negative health consequences. Roads
have been linked to the increase of sexually transmitted diseases,
respiratory illnesses, parasitic diseases, and mortality due to
traffic accidents. In Ecuador, Trostle’s research discovered that
villages closer to roads had more infectious disease, especially
diarrhea, than those farther from roads.
Graduate students enrolled in the seminar offered in
conjunction with the Bacardi Family Lecture Series had the
unique opportunity to meet and interact with each of the
presenters and to read journal articles written by them. Overall,
the class and the lecture series created many opportunities to
discuss and evaluate the state of health in Latin America. The
Center looks forward to further collaborations with the UF
Health Science Center.
—Contributed by Clay Giese and Erica Felker-Kantor, MALAS
Students

FaLL 2009 3
 eVents
World Music Ensembles Fall Concert
ERIC KRAMER
 Jacaré Brasil performs at the World Music Ensembles fall concert.
FALL 2009 COLLOQUIUM SERIES
Sept. 3 Experiments in Socio-
Environmental Development in Acre, Brazil.
Marianne Schmink, Professor, UF Center for
Latin American Studies
Sept. 17 Maya Natural Resources: Past
and Present.
Mark Brenner, Associate Professor, UF
Geological Sciences
Oct. 1 The Digital Library of the Caribbean.
Paul Losch, Operations Librarian, UF Latin
American Collection
Oct. 15 Cosmology and Worldview at
Mexico’s Last Maya Capital: Evidence from
Monumental Art and Architecture.
Susan Milbrath, Curator, Florida Museum of
Natural History
Oct. 29 Chile Under Pinochet.
Allison Bruey, Assistant Professor of History,
University of North Florida
Nov.12 Comparative Latino and Black
History in the Age of Barack Obama.
Paul Ortiz, Director, UF Oral History Program
Nov.19 Ontology of Argentine Modernity:
Logical Time in Esteban Echeverria’s Fantasy.
Martin Sorbille, Assistant Professor, UF
Spanish & Portuguese Studies
4 tHe Latinamericanist
T he World Music Ensembles’ fall concert celebrated Latin
American and African musical traditions with performances
by Jacaré Brasil, Fundamento Rumbero, Agbedidi Africa, and
Pazeni Sauti—UF’s new African Choir. The audience enjoyed
Brazilian samba, Cuban rumba, West African drumming, and
choral music from Ghana and Kenya. The festive atmosphere
demonstrated that music exists to provide an enduring aural
experience in our minds, memories, and hearts. The concert was
co-sponsored by the School of Music, the Center for World Arts,
the School of Theatre and Dance, the Center for Latin American
Studies, and the Center for African Studies.
59th Annual Center for Latin American
Studies Conference
26th Annual Center for African Studies
Gwendolen M. Carter Lectures
Mellon-LASA Seminar
Bridging Conservation and Development in Latin
America and Africa:
Changing Contexts, Changing Strategies
January 28-30, 2010
Latin American and African countries house some of the planet’s
most diverse ecosystems, yet possess some of the world’s lowest
standards of living. Expanding human populations, widespread
poverty, the complexity of tropical ecosystems, and economies
strongly dependent on natural resources make these regions and
their inhabitants particularly sensitive to the inextricable linkages
and tradeoffs between conservation and development. Especially
in these settings, biodiversity conservation and sustainable devel-
opment are complex, and range from synergistic to conflicting
efforts, depending on how they are implemented.
The purpose of this conference is to bring together conservation
and development experiences from Africa and Latin America to
discuss and compare emerging trends, and stories of success and
failure. These exchanges will not only facilitate mutual learn-
ing among the participants, but also serve as a foundation to
strengthen collaboration between the regions, and the definition
of long-lasting solutions to advance conservation and economic
development in its multiple dimensions. The conference is co-
sponsored by the UF Tropical Conservation and Development
Program in the Center for Latin American Studies and the UF
Center for African Studies. Registration information and further
details are available at: http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/tcd/
Focus on Training
UF Receives Grant from MacArthur Foundation for New
Master’s in Development Practice

T
he John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded
UF’s Center for Latin American Studies and Center for African
Studies nearly $1 million to develop a new Master’s degree
program in Development Practice (MDP).
UF was among just 10 universities worldwide chosen to share $7.6
million in seed money for the creation of such degree programs over the
next three years. The programs are designed to provide students with
training beyond the typical classroom study of economics and
management found in most development studies programs. The core
curriculum of UF’s MDP degree bridges the natural sciences, health
sciences, social sciences and management. It will combine classroom
study with collaborative summer field programs with the University of
Botswana and universities in Mexico.
The MDP program builds on the internationally recognized Tropical
Conservation and Development (TCD) program run by the Center for
Latin American Studies for the past 20 years. TCD has developed an
applied and interdisciplinary approach to training students in
conservation and sustainable development. Originally focused on the
Amazon region, TCD’s focus has expanded to other tropical regions of
Latin America as well as Africa.
The Co–Directors of UF’s MDP program are Grenville Barnes (SFRC)
and Brian Child (Geography). The Steering Committee includes
representatives from the Colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences,
Public Health and Health Professions, Veterinary Medicine, Design,
Construction and Planning, Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Warrington
College of Business Administration, and the Levin College of Law.
The MacArthur Foundation’s seed grant to UF will be supplemented
with funding from various university units for a total of about $1.8
million over four years. The funding will pay for two new faculty
positions, one in health and development and the other in development
administration, as well as a new program coordinator position.
Sheila Onzere was recently hired as MDP’s program coordinator.
Originally from Kenya, Sheila is a PhD candidate in sociology and
sustainable agriculture at Iowa State University. She will provide
administrative oversight for MDP, coordinate the academic program,
and organize publicity and student recruitment.
The global network of MDP programs will be coordinated worldwide
by a secretariat based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Other universities in India, Australia, Ireland, China, Senegal, Botswana
and Nigeria as well as Emory University are involved in the program.
The universities are expected to produce 250 graduates by 2012, with a
total of 750 students enrolled. More than 70 universities in North
America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America submitted
proposals.
Further information about the UF MDP program is available at:
http://web.africa.ufl.edu/mdp/index.html.

Faculty News and Publications

Five of the Center’s affiliate faculty received the
2009 International Educator of the Year award
from their respective colleges: Michael
Lauzardo (Medicine), Lyn Branch (Agricultural
& Life Sciences), Edil Torres-Rivera
(Education), Andy Naranjo (Business), and
Maria Rogal (Fine Arts.)
Leslie Anderson (Political Science) was a
Fulbright Scholar in spring 2008 in Argentina,
teaching a doctoral seminar on social capital at
the University of Buenos Aires and conducting
research on the reforms that took place in
Argentina during the 1980s and 1990s. She
presented a paper on “Nicaragua in
International Affairs” at the University of La
Matanza, in March 2008. In May 2009, she
presented “Progress Amid Regress?: The 2008
Nicaraguan Municipal Elections” at Bowdoin
College in Maine. Publications: Nicaragua:
Progress Amid Regress? (with L. Dodd). Journal
of Democracy, 20(3) 2009: 153–167; Single
Party Predominance in an Unconsolidated
Democracy: The Example of Argentina.
Perspectives on Politics, 7(4) 2009.
Grenville Barnes (SFRC) Tenure, Tourism
and Timber in Quintana Roo, Mexico: Land
Tenure Changes in Forest Ejidos after Agrarian
Reforms (with J. Barsimantov, A. Racelis, & M.
DiGiano). International Journal of the
Commons, 2010; O Desenvolvimento do
Direito de Posse Comunal de Terra nas
Communidades Afro–Latinas (with K. Painter
& T. Ankersen). Amazonia Legal: Revista de
Estudos Socio-Juridicos Ambientais, 11(2) 2009:
13–40.
Carmen Diana Deere (LAS/FRE) is a visiting
scholar at FLACSO–Ecuador in Quito this
academic year, carrying out research on
women’s property rights and the gender asset
gap. She presented her research at the following
conferences: “Mujeres y Gobiernos
Progresistas” at FLACSO–Ecuador in
September, “Bolivia post–Constituyente: Tierra,
Territorio y autonomía indígena” at Fundación
Tierra in La Paz in October, “Presentación del
Censo de Poblacion y Vivienda 2010” at
FLACSO–Ecuador in November, and
“Globalization and Smallholder Agriculture” at
ESPOL in Guayaquil in December.
Kitty Emery (FMNLH) presented
“Etnozoología de Depósitos Rituales de los
Mayas Modernos de Guatemala” (with L.
Brown, E. Anderson, E. Thornton, & M.
Faculty News and Publications continued on page 6

FALL 2009 5
FACULTY
Faculty News and Publications continued from page 5
LeFebvre) at the Simposio de Arqueología
Guatemalteca in Guatemala City in July 2008
and “Ethnoarchaeological Studies of Animal
Material Disposal Patterns in the Southern
Maya Lowlands and Implications for Maya
Zooarchaeology” (with L. Brown, E. Anderson,
E. Thornton, & M. LeFebvre) at the Society for
American Archaeology Annual Meetings in
Vancouver in April 2008. She also presented
“Effects of Precipitation Variation on Wetland
Habitat Use as Reflected by Animal Remains
from Maya Archaeological Sites and Oxygen
Isotopes from Maya Archaeological Deer
Remains: Experiments in Tracing Drought
using Bones and Teeth” (with E. Thornton, H.
Schwarcz, A. Repussard, & J. Malatesta) at the
Society for American Archaeology Annual
Meetings in Atlanta in April 2009. Publications:
Negotiations with the Animate Forest: Hunting
Shrines and Houses in the Maya Highlands
(with L. Brown). Journal of Archaeological
Method and Theory, 15(4) 2008: 300–337;
Zooarchaeological Habitat Analysis of Ancient
Maya Landscape Changes (with E.K.
Thornton). Journal of Ethnobiology, 28(2) 2008:
154–179; A Regional Perspective on Biotic
Change during the Classic Maya Occupation
Using Zooarchaeological Isotopic Chemistry
(with E.K. Thornton). Quaternary
International, 191(1) 2008: 131–143.
Alfonso Flores–Lagunes (FRE) delivered
invited talks on “Estimating the Effects of
Length of Exposure to a Training Program: The
Case of Job Corps” at the Encuentro
Internacional Capital Humano, Crecimiento,
Pobreza: Problemática Mexicana hosted by the
Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, and at
the Colegio de Economistas de Nuevo León,
both in Monterrey, Mexico in October. He also
presented “Estimating the Effects of Length of
Exposure to a Training Program: The Case of
Job Corps” at the joint meeting of the Latin
America and Caribbean Economics Association
and the Latin American Econometric Society
in Buenos Aires in September.
David Geggus (History) presented the
papers “The Slaves of Cap Français” at a
conference on The Black Urban Atlantic at the
University of Texas at Austin in April and “The
Biographers of Toussaint Louverture” at Stories
of Saint-Domingue, Stories of Haiti:
Representing the Haitian Revolution, 1789–
2009 at UCLA in October. Publications: The
6 The Latinamericanist
Haitian Revolution and the Abolition of
Slavery and the Slave Trade [in Hebrew].
Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly, 107 (Summer
2009): 30–39; The Caribbean in the Age of
Revolution. In D. Armitage and S.
Subramanyam, eds., The Age of Revolutions in
Global Context, c. 1760–1840. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2010: 83–100, 240–246.
Susan Gillespie (Anthropology) presented
the paper “Historias or Historia? The
Syntagmatic Structure of the Popol Vuh” at the
Annual Meeting of the American Society for
Ethnohistory in New Orleans in October. She
also presented a poster “Mapping La Venta
Complex A: Archival Archaeology in the Digital
Age” (with J. R. Toney & M. Volk) at the
Annual Meeting of the Society for American
Archaeology in Atlanta in April. Publications:
The People of the Cerro: Landscape,
Settlement, and Art at Middle Formative
Period Chalcatzingo (with D. C. Grove). In W.
L. Fash and L. López Luján, eds., Art of
Urbanism: How Mesoamerican Kingdoms
Represented Themselves in Architecture and
Imagery. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks,
2009: 53–76; Culturas Locales y
Transformaciones Regionales: Investigación de
la Socialidad Preclásica a través de su
Materialidad. In Ma. T. Uriarte and R. B.
González Lauck, eds., Olmeca: Balance y
Perspectivas: Memoria de la Primera Mesa
Redonda. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, 2009.
Clarence Gravlee (Anthropology) presented
the papers “Linking Ethnography and
Measurement in Research on Racial
Inequalities in Health” (with D.A. Monroe & C.
McCarty) and “Cultural Consonance and
Health in a Foraging-Farming Society of Native
Amazonians: Panel data, 2002–06” (with V.
Reyes-García, T. W. McDade, R. Godoy, T.
Huanca, W. R. Leonard, S. Tanner, TAPS
Bolivian Research Team) at the Society for
Applied Anthropology Conference in Santa Fe,
NM in March. He also received a National
Science Foundation Cultural Anthropology
Program grant to conduct summer field
training in data collection methods, 2010-2013
(R. Godoy, PI; C.C. Gravlee, W.R. Leonard,
T.W. McDade, V. Reyes-Garcia, Co-PIs).
Publications: Genetic Ancestry, Social
Classification, and Racial Inequalities in Blood
Pressure in Southeastern Puerto Rico (with A.L.
Non & C. J. Mulligan). PLoS ONE, 4(9): e6821.
MJ Hardman (Linguistics) was awarded
Doctora Honoris Causa by the Universidad
Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru
on July 14, 2009 in recognition of her
outstanding professional trajectory, academic
merits, and renowned scientific production
and specialization in the areas of linguistics,
anthropology, and history.
Tace Hedrick (English/Women's Studies)
Queering the Cosmic Race: Esotericism,
Mestizaje, and Sexuality in the Work of
Gabriela Mistral and Gloria Anzaldúa. Aztlán:
A Journal of Chicano Studies, 34(2) 2009:
67–98.
Peter Hildebrand (Emeritus FRE) co–
authored a paper presented by David Wilsey
(UF PhD Interdisciplinary Ecology 2008) on
“Certification of Chamaedorea Palm Fronds, a
Non–Wood Forest Product, from a Livelihood
Systems Perspective” at the World Forestry
Conference in Buenos Aires in October.
Karen Kainer (LAS/SFRC) Graduate
Students and Knowledge Exchange with Local
Stakeholders: Possibilities and Preparation
(with A.E. Duchelle, K. Biedenweg, C. Lucas, A.
Virapongse, J. Radachowsky, D. J. Wojcik, M.
Londres, W.L. Bartels, & D. Alvira). Biotropica,
41, 2009: 578–585; Partnering for Greater
Success: Local Stakeholders and Research in
Tropical Biology and Conservation (with M.L.
DiGiano, A.E. Duchelle, L.H.O. Wadt, E. Bruna,
& J. Dain). Biotropica, 41, 2009: 555–562;
Domesticação e melhoramento da castanheira
(Bertholletia exclesa Bonpl.) (with L.H.O.
Wadt). In A. Borém, M.T.G. Lopes, & C.
Clement, eds., Domesticação e melhoramento de
plantas: Espécies Amazônicas. Universidade
Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2009.
Terry McCoy (LAS) delivered the keynote
address at XChange Latin America 2009, a
meeting of IT vendors and distributors, in
Miami on “The 2009 Latin American Business
Environment: On the Road to Recovery?” He
was also an invited participant in a workshop
on Brazil Strategic Culture organized by the
Applied Research Center at Florida
International University.
Faculty News and Publications continued on page 7

Faculty News and Publications continued from page 6
Susan Milbrath (FLMNH) presented the
paper “Los Murales de Mayapan y la Reforma
Religiosa” (with C. Peraza Lope & M. Delgado
Kú) at the XIX Encuentro los Investigadores de
la Cultura Maya at the Universidad Autónoma
de Campeche in Mexico in November. She also
presented “Radical Reform in the Maya
Worldview at Mayapan, Mexico’s Last Maya
Capital” at the Institute of Maya Studies at the
Miami Museum of Science in October, and
“Ode to Our Ancestors: Revival Style
Architecture at Mayapan, Mexico’s Last Maya
Capital” at the Annual Meeting of the Society
for Architectural Historians in Pasadena, CA in
April. Publications: Clash of Worldviews in
Late Mayapan (with C. Peraza Lope). In L.
Cecil & T.W. Pugh, eds., Maya Worldviews at
Conquest. Boulder, CO: University Press of
Colorado, 2009: 183–204; Archaeoastronomy,
Ethnoastronomy, and Cultural Astronomy. In
A. Garrison Darrin & B.L. O’Leary, eds.,
Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology,
and Heritage. Boca Raton: CRC Press, Taylor &
Francis Group, 2009: 156–192.
Juan–Carlos Molleda (Public Relations)
Colombia’s Juan Valdez Campaign: Brand
Revitalization through “Authenticity” and
“Glocal” Strategic Communications (with M.
Roberts) In G.J. Golan, T.J. Johnson, & W.
Wanta, eds., International Media
Communication in a Global Age. New York, NY:
Routledge, 2010: 380–400; Public Relations in
Brazil: Practice and Education in a South
American Context (with A. Athaydes & V.
Hirsch). In K. Sriramesh & D. Vercic, eds.,
Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory,
Research, and Practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY:
Routledge, 2009: 727–748; Authentic Passion
about Colombia. Frontline On–Line,
International Public Relations Association,
www.ipra.org, April 2009.­­
Charles Perrone (Spanish & Portuguese
Studies) delivered three invited lectures:
“Transamerican Motives in Cecília Meireles” at
the Conference on Brazilian Women Writers,
hosted by the Brazilian Endowment for the
Arts in New York City in October; “Letra,
Letras, América, Américas: Inter–relações de
espaços e gêneros discursivos” at the Salão
Literário do Piaui in Teresina, Brazil in June
2009; and “Interfaces: Invention, Insularity,
Brazilian Lyric In/and the Americas” at the
FALL 2009
Symposium on Brazilian Literature in Inter–
American Context at Brown University in May.
Publications: Famished for Form: Haroldo de
Campos and the Foundations of Concrete
Poetry. In B. McGuirk & E.R.P. Vieira, eds.,
Haroldo de Campos: In Conversation. London:
Zoilus Press, 2009: 34–45; 4 x 3 x 2 =
Quadrangulating Triangular Pairs:
Simultaneous Versions of a Vital Concrete
Poem. Tradução em revista, (PUC–Rio/UFSC)6,
Fall 2009; Sorpresas sin fin: revistas de poesía
brasileñas y lógicas culturales 60/00. Nerter,
13–14, 2009: 24–28; Versatile Vanguard Vectors:
from Visible Voices to Virtual Vortices in the
Vamps, Versions, and Voyages of Brazilian
Concrete Poetry. Graphos, UFPB, 10.2-11.1,
2008/2009: 69–88; Harpas farpadas: Casos sin-
gulares de interlocução interamericana.
Graphos, UFPB, 10.2–11.1, 2008/2009: 11-16;
Brazilian Literature, Crônica. Handbook of
Latin American Studies, Austin: University of
Texas Press, 64, 2009: 444–50; Translation of
poetry by Augusto de Campos and Paulo
Leminski in Vanitas, 5, 2009.
Francis (Jack) Putz (Biology) Critical Need
for New Definitions of “Forest” and “Forest
Degradation” in Global Climate Change
Agreements (with N. Sasaki). Conservation
Letters, 2(5) 2009: 226–232; The Importance of
Defining ‘Forest’: Tropical Forest Degradation,
Deforestation, Long–term Phase Shifts, and
Further Transitions (with K.H Redford).
Biotropica, 2009: 1–11; Dangers of Carbon-
based Conservation (with K.H Redford).
Global Environmental Change, 19, 2009: 400–
401; Tropical Forest Management for Carbon
Retention. (with P. Zuidema, M.A. Pinard,
R.G.A. Boot, J. A. Sayer, D. Sheil, P. Sist, Elias, &
J.K. Vanclay). PLOS Biology, 6, 2008: 1368–
1369; Anthropogenic Soils and Tree
Distribution in Lowland Forests in Bolivia
(with C. Paz–Rivera). Biotropica, 41(6) 2009:
665–675.
Mary Risner (LAS) presented the paper
“Design and Development of a Community of
Practice of Business and Foreign Language
Faculty” at the Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education
conference on E–Learning in Vancouver in
October. She also presented “Take Latin
America and the Caribbean into Your
Classroom!” at the annual conference of the
FACULTY
Florida Council for Social Studies in
September.
Marianne Schmink (Anthropology) received
a $22,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation
and the Latin American Studies Association
(LASA) to support the Center’s 2010 Annual
Conference “Bridging Conservation and
Development in Latin America and Africa:
Changing Contexts, Changing Strategies” as a
Mellon-LASA Seminar. The grant will also
sponsor a panel on the topic at the 2010 LASA
Congress. She presented “Amazon Forest
Citizens: Work, Life, and Hope in Rio Branco,
Acre, 1989-2004” at the conference on
Environmental Policy, Social Movements, and
Science for the Brazilian Amazon at the
University of Chicago in November.
Publication: When Social Movement Proposals
Become Policy: Experiments in Sustainable
Development in the Brazilian Amazon (with
M. Allegretti). In C.D. Deere and F.S. Royce,
eds., Rural Social Movements in Latin America:
Organizing for Sustainable Livelihoods.
Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida,
2009: 196–213.
D. Daniel Sokol (Law) delivered an invited
paper on “Cartel Leniency” at the Catholic
University of Chile’s Center for Competition
Policy in July.
Maya Stanfield–Mazzi (Art & Art History)
delivered an invited paper on “Los donantes
incaicos en la pintura de la escuela cusqueña”
at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San
Marcos in Lima, Peru as part of the Ciclo de
Conferencias Temas de Arte in June.
7
FACULTY
Recent Faculty Books
 José Álvarez
Trafford Publishing, 2009
Principio y fin del mito fidelista
Álvarez uses the theory and methodology of
historical deconstruction to analyze the factors
that led to Fidel Castro’s rise to absolute
power, revealing hidden facts that revise the
historiography of this period in Cuban history.
The book is the winner of the 2009 International Latino Book Award for
non–fiction history or political books and was the Silver Medal Winner
in the 2008 Florida Book Awards for Spanish language books.
 José Álvarez
Universal Publishers, 2009
F ra n k P a í s : A rc h i t e c t o f C u b a ’s
Betrayed Revolution
Even though Fidel Castro founded the 26 of July
Movement, organizing throughout Cuba fell on
the shoulders of an underground leader named
Frank País. País became the national chief of
action and the top leader of the M–26–7's
National Directorate. Antagonism between Castro and País may have
been the reason for País’s mysterious death at the age of 22.
 Leslie E. Anderson
Cambridge University Press, 2010
Social Capital in Developing
De m o c r a c i e s : A r g e n t i n a a n d
Nicaragua Compared
Drawing on extensive field work in Nicaragua
and Argentina, as well as public opinion and elite
data, this book explores the contribution of social
capital to the process of democratization and the limits of that
contribution. Anderson finds that in Nicaragua strong, positive, bridging
social capital has enhanced democratization, while in Argentina the
legacy of Peronism has created bonding and non-democratic social
capital that undermines the development of democracy.
8 The Latinamericanist
 Eleanor M. Fox & D. Daniel Sokol (eds.)
Hart Publishing Ltd., 2009
Competition Law and Policy in
Latin America
This book offers an analysis of the emerging
law and economics of competition policy in
Latin America. Effective competition policy is
critical to assisting in the growth of Latin
American economies, their global
competitiveness, and improving the welfare of domestic consumers. The
volume provides new region specific insights on how to better achieve
these aims.
 Lara Lomicka & Gillian Lord (eds.)
CALICO, 2009
T h e N e x t Ge n e r a t i o n : S o c i a l
N e t w o rk i n g a n d On l i n e
C o l l a b o ra t i o n i n F o re i g n L a n g u a g e
Learning
This volume provides an overview of Web
2.0—what it is, what tools and applications
make up the Web 2.0 world, and where it stands with respect to language
teaching and learning. The use of specific Web 2.0 tools, such as
podcasting, social-networking sites, microblogging, wikis, and chatbots, is
discussed as well as learner attitudes toward virtual worlds.
 Charles Perrone
University Press of Florida, 2009
B r a z i l , Ly r i c a n d t h e A m e r i c a s
This book explores how recent Brazilian lyric
engages with its counterparts throughout the
Western Hemisphere in an increasingly
globalized world. Focusing on the years from
1985 to the present, it examines poetic
output—from song and visual poetry to discursive verse—across a range
of media.
 FACULTY

University of Florida at the

LASA 2009 International Congress, Rio de Janeiro
The following UF faculty and graduate students participated at the LASA 2009 Congress in Rio de Janeiro, June 11–14, 2009.
Faculty participation was funded by the Center’s Title VI National Resource Center grant. The Center’s LAS Graduate Student
Travel Fund and the Safa Graduate Student Travel Endowment funded three of the seven graduate students who presented.
Faculty
Efraín Barradas (LAS/SPS), panel organizer, “Para leer a Walter
Mercado: Acercamientos multidisciplinarios,” and presenter, “El
Evangelio según San Walter.”

Hannah Covert (LAS), panel organizer, “Issues in Latin American

Studies Undergraduate Education.”

Carmen Diana Deere (LAS/FRE), presenter, “Poverty, Headship,

and Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America.”

Tace Hedrick (English), presenter, “Walter Mercado and ‘Oriental’

Mysticism in Latin America.”

Paul Losch (Libraries), institutional representative to the Latin

American Scholarly Research and Resources Section.  Jennifer Twyman (FRE), Gina Alvarado (Sociology), Doriam Borges Mello
(former visiting scholar at the Center) and Carmen Diana Deere (LAS) at LASA.

Ana Margheritis (LAS/Political Science), presenter, “Maintaining

the Course in the Midst of Storms. Foreign Policy, Domestic
Politics, and Democracy Promotion in Comparative Perspective.”
Mary Risner (LAS), presenter, “Latin American Studies and the
Integration of Online Learning.”
Ignacio Rodeño (SPS), chair, “Para leer a Walter Mercado:
Acercamientos multidisciplinarios,” and presenter, “Entre túnicas
anda el juego: Rappel y Walter Mercado.”
Helen Safa (LAS), panel organizer and chair, “Strategies for
Combating Racial Inequality in Latin America.”
Marianne Schmink (LAS), discussant, “Contemporary Debates on
Ecology, Culture and Society: Global to Local Environmental
Politics in Latin America.”
Mark Thurner (History), panel organizer and chair, “Topoi of
Latin American History” and presenter, “The Failure of Failure:
The Metahistory of a Master Topos.”
Chuck Wood (LAS), panel organizer and chair, “Comparative
Crime, Law, and Governance in the Americas,” and presenter,
“Perspectives on Required Gateway and Methods Courses in
Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs.”
Graduate Students
Ane Alencar (SFRC), presenter, “The Paving of BR163 Highway:
Reconciling Infrastructure Investments with Economic
Development, Social Benefits and Conservation in the Amazon
Frontier.”
Gina Alvarado (Sociology), presenter, “Poverty, Headship, and
Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America.”
Rose Caraway (Religion), presenter, “Space, Place and Religious
Practice in Contemporary Cuban Protestantism.”
Rosa Cossío (SNRE), presenter, “Capital in Forest Management
Success of Small Forest Enterprises in Madre de Dios, Peru.”

Manuel Vásquez (Religion), chair, “‘Economies of Sanctity’: The
Translocal Roman Catholic Church and Latin America,” and pre-
senter, “Brazilian Immigration and the Project of Religious
Multiculturalism in Atlanta, Georgia.”
Philip Williams (LAS/Political Science), panel organizer,
“Religion and the Politics of Encounter: Brazilian, Guatemalan,
and Mexican Immigrants in Metro Atlanta.”
Flávia Leite (Sociology), presenter, “Social Sustainability
Outcomes of Direct Action Land Reform: Comparative Analysis.”
Mason Mathews (SNRE), presenter, “Social Capital in the
Transition from Patron-Client to Social Movement Networks in
Brazilian Amazonia.”
Jennifer Twyman (FRE), presenter, “Poverty, Headship, and
Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America.”

FALL 2009 9
 LINKAGES

Mexican Biodiversity Leadership Grant

Awarded to Center
T he Center for Latin American Studies, in collaboration with the
School for Forest Resources and Conservation, was awarded a
$300,000 three–year grant from Higher Education for Development
(HED) to implement a partnership with the Center for Tropical Research
(CITRO) at the Universidad Veracruzana (UV) in Xalapa, Mexico. The
partnership, focused on developing leadership for biodiversity conserva-
tion and sustainable resource management of rural landscapes in south-
eastern Mexico, was funded under HED’s U.S.–Mexico Training,
Internship, Exchanges, and Scholarships (TIES) Partnership Initiative.
The project builds upon the Center’s Tropical Conservation and
Development (TCD) program which seeks to train graduate–level
professionals; promote cross–national, integrative and comparative
problem-centered research; and strengthen and expand learning and
action networks. The Principal Investigator (PI) of the grant is Karen
Kainer (LAS/SFRC), while Hannah Covert (LAS) and Jonathan Dain
(LAS/FRE) are Co–PIs. UV Research Professors, Eddie Ellis (MALAS
1996, PhD SFRC 2001) and Citlalli López, co–direct the program at
CITRO.
The UF–UV TIES initiative will train master’s-level Mexican graduate
students at both UF and UV, foster faculty exchanges between the two
institutions, and expand experiential learning activities to enhance UV’s
impact on regional conservation and sustainable resource use. Kainer
and Dain will spend the 2010–11 academic year at CITRO where they
will teach courses on forest conservation and natural resources
leadership skills. Two CITRO faculty members will spend nine months
in Gainesville on sabbatical, which will include participating in UF’s
Natural Resources Leadership Institute. Student support includes ten
scholarships for CITRO’s master’s students and three scholarships for
Mexican students to complete master’s degrees at UF in Latin American
Studies and Forest Resources and Conservation.
Over $137,000 in matching funds was provided by the College of
Agricultural and Life Sciences, the School of Forest Resources and
Conservation, and the Center for Latin American Studies, increasing the
overall project budget to $437,000.
HED was founded in 1992 to further the engagement of higher
education with the development goals of the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). It focuses on human and
institutional capacity building and strengthening to address global
development challenges worldwide.

 U.S.–Mexico TIES grant partners Eddie Ellis from Universidad Veracruzana

(center) and Karen Kainer from UF (right) with Elvira Durán, a colleague from
Oaxaca, Mexico.

Welcome New Center Affiliates, Staff and Visitors!

Affiliate Faculty Visitors Thaissa Silva (Brazil)

School of Human Development and Beatriz Bustos (Mexico) Moore Visiting Fellow
Organizational Studies Visiting Scholar
Luis Ponjuan (Latino Studies) Luz Marina Velarde (Peru)
Adolfo Cacheiro (U.S.) Moore Visiting Fellow
Spanish & Portuguese Studies Visiting Scholar
Carina González (Argentina)
Rosario Chávez (Peru)
Wildlife Ecology & Conservation Moore Visiting Fellow
Robert Fletcher (Brazil)
Adriana Paese (Brazil)
Staff Moore Visiting Fellow
Aimee Green
Program Coordinator

10 The Latinamericanist

Business in Brazil Program
Celebrates 10th Anniversary
U F's Business in Brazil study abroad program, coordinated by the
Center for Latin American Studies and the Center for
International Business Education and Research (CIBER), celebrated
its tenth anniversary in summer 2009. Students spend three weeks in
Rio de Janeiro taking intensive Portuguese classes and attending
business seminars at the Catholic University of Rio (PUC) and at
local firms. For the fourth week of the program, students travel to São
Paulo for additional corporate site visits as well as cultural excursions.
 2009 program participants and Brazilian children on a visit to learn about
small business initiatives in the Dona Marta favela. The visit was led by well–
known Brazilian entrepreneur and PUC lecturer, Daniel Pla.
 Business in Brazil participants on a site visit to the Banco Nacional de
Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) in Rio de Janeiro.
FALL 2009
outreach
Outreach News
Library Travel Grants
T he Center for Latin American Studies, with support from
its U.S. Department of Education National Resource
Center grant, made seven travel awards for research at the UF
libraries in summer 2009. Scholars from the following
universities visited the Latin American Collection: Bowling
Green State University, Catholic University, Florida
International University, University of Georgia, University of
South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Wayne State College. The
scholars pursued a variety of research topics, including
literature, history, gender, criminology, and race. Information
on the 2010 Library Travel Grants program is available at:
http://www.latam.ufl.edu/Funding/travel.stm.
Lending Library Featured
Item: Teaching Resources
for Ecuador and Peru
The Center’s Outreach Program recently published
Teaching Resources for Ecuador & Peru, an exciting new
electronic resource for K–12 Spanish teachers. The
DVD includes lesson plans and narrated pictures and
videos that pertain to Ecuadorian and Peruvian
cultural practices, customs, and famous sites. The DVD
has everything from a tutorial on the traditional
Andean method for cleaning llama wool to a detailed
look at a recycling program at an Ecuadorian
elementary school. The DVD’s materials were compiled
as the culminating curriculum development exercise of
the Center’s Fulbright–Hays Group Project Abroad for
K–12 Spanish teachers which took place in Ecuador
and Peru in summer 2008. The DVD has been
distributed to teachers around the state and nation at
conferences sponsored by the Florida Council for the
Social Studies, the Florida Foreign Language
Association, the National Council for the Social
Studies, and the American Council on Teaching of
Foreign Languages.
The contents of the DVD are available on the
Outreach Program’s website at: http://www.latam.ufl.
edu/outreach/fulbright.stm.
—Contributed by Matt Trokan, MALAS student
11
 outreach

Outreach News

Common Reading Program

Highlights Latin American
Immigration to U.S.
T he UF Dean of Students Office sponsors a Common Reading
Program (CRP) each year to provide all 6,400 first–year
undergraduate students with a common intellectual experience, and
to stimulate discussion, critical thinking, and encourage a sense of
community among students, faculty and staff. This year’s text, the
award–winning The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, dealt
with the issue of Latin American immigration to the U.S. The CRP’s
goals include exposing students to issues relevant to today’s global
community and introducing students to the high academic and  Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway, Milagros Peña
intellectual expectations at UF. (Sociology), and Philip Williams (LAS) participated in New Student
Each incoming first–year student received a copy of The Devil’s Convocation in August 2009 as part of the Common Reading Program.
Highway at orientation over the summer, with the expectation that
partially supported by the Center for Latin American Studies,
it would be read before the start of the fall semester. The Devil’s
featured a visit and lecture by the author, and several film showings,
Highway is a novel based on a true story. It was chosen for the CRP
art exhibits and lectures, all relating to the theme of immigration.
because of its interdisciplinarity, global perspective, and broad
These events included a well–attended viewing of the science fiction
appeal by a panel of UF faculty, staff and students. The book follows
film Sleep Dealer, a photo exhibit at the Harn Museum of Art,
the story of 26 undocumented Mexican migrants who try to cross
featuring work by David Taylor about the U.S.–Mexico border, and
the border through the Arizona desert, 14 of whom do not survive
a public performance of the highly acclaimed cross–media
the arduous journey. Through this story, the author artfully weaves
documentary on the immigrant experience in Queens, New York,
information on the broader social, historical, and economic context
entitled Crossing the BLVD. The Center for Latin American Studies
behind migration from Latin America to the U.S. The book
is pleased to have been a part of this exciting, interdisciplinary
encourages students to look beyond the public debate on
program which highlighted such an important issue in the field of
immigration to the humanity and dignity of the individual
Latin American Studies.
immigrant.
—Contributed by Holly Brause, MALAS student
In addition to the required reading, the CRP also features a set of
activities geared toward the theme of the book. This year’s activities,

Student NEWS
August and December 2009 G R A D U A T E S
Undergraduate LAS Minors & Certificates
Nicole Alvarez, Telecommunications Jenna Portela, Marketing
Nicole Birch, Anthropology Angela Revers, Psychology
Maria Correa, Political Science Thomas Reynolds, Political Science
Jake Heaton, Spanish Alexandra Rodriguez, Anthropology
Juanita Ibanez, Political Science Andrea Sparano, Anthropology
Anthony Maroun, Political Science Estefania Vaca Zabala, Anthropology
Anthony Piferrer, Political Science

12 The Latinamericanist
 STUDENTS

Graduate LAS Certificates

J. Richard Abbott, Botany
Anna Brodrecht, Anthropology
Andrea Chavez, Geography
Allison Hopkins, Anthropology
Leonardo Martinez, Anthropology
Benito Perez, Urban and Regional Planning
Rosana Resende, Anthropology
Kristin Tennyson, Criminology
Jennifer Valdes, Mass Communication

MALAS Degrees
Brie Bailey
Specialization: Development Studies
Advisor: Richmond Brown (LAS)
Thesis: “The Guatemalan Peace Accords: Indigenous Rights and the Promise of Peace”

Andrea Ferreira
Specialization: Brazilian Studies
Advisor: Elizabeth Ginway
Thesis: “The Crônicas of Machado de Assis, 1871-1878”

Noelle Nuebler
Specialization: Brazilian Studies
Advisor: Robin Wright (Religion)
Thesis: “Empowerment of Indigenous People in the Regularization, Surveillance, and Protection
of Indigenous Lands in the Brazilian Amazon”

Alfonso Sintjago
Specialization: Development Studies
Advisor: Carmen Diana Deere (LAS/FRE)
Thesis: “Agrarian Reform in Venezuela: A Case Study of Fundo Zamorano in the State of
Monagas”

Maria Lucimar Souza

Specialization: TCD
Advisor: Marianne Schmink (LAS)
Thesis: “Institutional Arrangements for Fire Management in the Brazilian Amazon”

Ruth “Sunni” Witmer

Specialization: Anthropology
Advisor: Larry Crook (Music)
Thesis: “Popular Virtuosity: The Role of the Flute and Flutists in Brazilian Choro”

FALL 2009 13
 Students

Doctoral Teaching Awards

The Center for Latin American Studies is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2010 Latin American Doctoral
Teaching Awards. The four awardees, all PhD candidates, will develop and teach upper–level undergraduate
interdisciplinary seminars (LAS 4935). The winners and seminars are:

Judy Anderson (Anthropology)

Afro-Latin America
Rose Caraway (Religion)
Religion, Culture, and Resistance in the Caribbean
Gabriela Stocks (Anthropology)
Evicted! Forced Displacement in Latin America in the 21st Century
Ruth “Sunni” Witmer (Music)
The Role of Music in the Political and Social Consciousness Movements of Latin America and
the Caribbean

New MALAS Students FALL 2009

Chelsea Braden (University of Kansas) Whitney López–Hardin (University of Alabama
Political Science at Birmingham)
Holly Brause (Linfield College) Development Studies
Anthropology Daisy Pérez (DePaul University)
Emmanuel Clervius (University of Florida) Political Science
Caribbean Studies Brian Readout (University of Florida)
Zachary Cohen (University of Georgia) Development Studies
LABE Alisa Woofter (Iowa State University)
Paul Deis (Humboldt State University) Development Studies
Political Science
Kyle Doherty (Millsaps College)
History
Casey Dowd (Florida State University)
Spanish
Erica Felker-Kantor (Boston University)
Development Studies
Clay Giese (Vanderbilt University)
Development Studies
 First–year MALAS students.
Ana Carolina de Lima (Universidade de São
Paulo)
TCD

14 The Latinamericanist
 Students

Student Field Research Grants in Latin America:

Focus on Women and Development
I
n 2009, the Center for Latin American Studies awarded $39,000 in grants for twenty–two UF graduate students from eleven departments to
conduct research in Latin America. Independently of one another, six students pursued research on women and development, reflecting a
longstanding focus associated with UF scholars such as Helen Safa, Anita Spring, Marianne Schmink, Florence Babb, and Carmen Diana Deere.
Information on these six projects, taken from the students’ grant reports, follows.

In Managua, Nicaragua, Gina Alvarado (Sociology) investigated the importance

of owning assets for women in poor urban households and of titling policies
targeted to women. She was affiliated with the NGO Terre des hommes and
interviewed women living in the area of Mercado de Mayoreo.

Also in Managua, Eleanor Lewis (LAS) studied the federation of women’s

agricultural cooperatives, FEMUPROCAN. She worked at the national
headquarters, conducted interviews with leaders and grassroots members, took
part in several workshops and conducted field trips, including a visit to observe
the roadside market built by FEMUPROCAN to enable women to sell their
products directly to the public.

María Gabriela Hernández (Art and Art History) focused on the Asociación
Ecoturística de Damas de la Isla de Chira, located in Costa Rica’s Nicoya
Peninsula. The association has constructed a hostel for tourists, a restaurant,
 The Nova Timboteua Women's Association in Pará, Brazil partici-
and provides guided tours around the island to educate visitors about their pated in Denyse Mello's (SNRE) study on rural women's enterprises in
natural surroundings and biodiversity of the area. Gabriela reports, “They have the Brazilian Amazon.
been successful in changing their way of life in this marginalized and impoverished
community, and most of all, their way of thinking.” Her particular project explored “how design can be a tool for empowerment and social change.”

Denyse Mello (SNRE) investigated rural women’s enterprises in the Brazilian Amazon. She sought “to
understand how women perceive gender relationship changes, how women’s income changes within
the family, and how policy and market environments contribute to their empowerment.” She hopes her
research will enable “women’s enterprises to get more public support, to contribute to understanding
the effectiveness of enterprises in reducing gender inequality, and to improving the well–being of
women’s families.”

Jennifer Twyman (FRE) conducted summer research in the Guayas region of Ecuador. She made
contacts with government officials and several farmer groups, especially women. She also conducted
four preliminary focus group discussions with women in which she learned about household
structures, credit, the ownership and management of household and community assets (e.g. farm
machinery, irrigation), and decision–making. In general, the groups indicated that decisions were made
jointly and that ownership did not greatly impact decision–making. This was in contrast to the joking
before each meeting that “las mujeres mandan en la casa.”

 Participants of Gina Alvarado's (Sociology)
study on women and asset ownership in
Managua pose with some of their hand–made
products.
Finally, in Bogotá, Colombia, Odyscea Moghimi–Kian (LAS) explored social mobilization and
Colombia’s internally displaced women. She wanted to learn if displaced women mobilized, why or
why not, and the efficacy of their efforts. She met with La Red de mujeres en accion hacia el futuro, “a
group of 15 women who [have] made significant strides in demanding legislation to protect displaced
women in Colombia’s court system.” She conducted in–depth interviews with several members of the
movement. She also interviewed five displaced women who did not participate in a social movement,
as well as officials of three NGOs and the government agency devoted to the displaced population. Her
research queries “whether or not these women’s movements can be considered feminist and what they
say about the state of democracy in Colombia.”
—Contributed by Richmond Brown, Associate Director

FALL 2009 15
 Students

Student Funding
2008-09 Grant Recipients
Congratulations to the following UF Latinamericanist graduate students who received financial support from
outside funding agencies to support their programs of study or their thesis/dissertation research! Overall, these
students raised $160,000 to support their studies during academic year 2008-09.

Ane Alencar (SFRC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Kelly Biedenweg (SFRC), National Science Foundation
Jack Forbes (Music), Fulbright-Hays Program
Lucas Fortini (SFRC), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
David Garcia (Anthropology), National Science Foundation
Jeff Hoelle (Anthropology), National Science Foundation
Heather Kaiser (SPS), Sigma Delta Pi
Nick Kawa (Anthropology), Fulbright-Hays Program
Iran Rodrigues (Political Science), National Science Foundation
Claudia Segovia Salcedo (Botany), SENACYT
Brian Tyler (Anthropology), National Science Foundation
Vivian Zeidemann (SNRE), Botany in Action

UF Acronymns

CIBER Center for International Business Education &

Research
FLMNH Florida Museum of Natural History
FRE Food and Resource Economics
LABE Latin American Business Environment Program
The Center for LAS Latin American Studies
Latin American Studies MALAS MA in Latin American Studies
SFRC School of Forest Resources & Conservation
would love to hear from its SNRE School of Natural Resources & Environment
SPS Spanish and Portuguese Studies
A L U M N I TCD Tropical Conservation & Development Program
WEC Wildlife Ecology & Conservation

If you have not already done so, please

complete our electronic Alumni Update
Form online at:
We're on Facebook!
http://www.latam.ufl.edu/Alumni/ Join us for news and events related to
update.stm Latin American Studies at UF. TCD also has a page.
Search for the Center under UF Center for Latin
American Studies and TCD under Tropical
Conservation and Development.

16 The Latinamericanist
 &
alumni

News
Alumni project in Playa Ocotal, Costa Rica Geraldo Silva (PhD Geography 2009) is
immediately after graduation. He currently working as a consultant on a project to start
works as a Foreign Service Officer for USAID the Museu de Geologia e Paleontologia at the

Notes in Private Enterprise in Washington, DC. Next

Brie Bailey (MALAS 2009) works for a small
human resources company in Utah. She serves
as the primary point of contact for Spanish–
speaking clients.
Antoni Castells–Talens (PhD Mass
Communication & LAS Certificate 2004) is a
researcher at the Universidad Veracruzana's
newly–created Centro de Estudios de la
Cultura y la Comunicación in Xalapa, Mexico.
His research focuses on indigenous and citi-
zens' media, nationalism, and state formation
in Mexico.
Devin Dotson (MALAS 2009) works in
communications and outreach for American
Rivers, an environmental non–profit
organization in Washington, DC.
Kevin Fox (MA International Business & LAS
Certificate 2008) was hired as a Project
Manager for a condominium construction
year, he will travel overseas with his wife for
various assignments in the developing world.
Susan Poats (MALAS 1975 & PhD Anthropology
1979) is President of Corporación Grupo Randi
Randi, an NGO in Quito, Ecuador that focuses
on conservation and sustainable development.
Richard Powers (BA Political Science & LAS
Minor 1991) has worked as a Financial Specialist
at Wachovia Bank for eight years and has traveled
extensively in Peru over the past four years.
Kenneth Purl (MALAS 1986) is a career Army
Officer with 35 years of service. He enrolled in
MALAS as a Major in the Army as part of the
Foreign Area Officer program. He is now a
Lieutenant General serving as the Military
Deputy Commander of U.S. Southern
Command, whose mission is to work with U.S.
Embassies and Latin American military
partners in Central and South America as well
as the Caribbean. During his career he has had
assignments in Panama, Brazil, Honduras, and
Colombia.
Parque Estadual de Vila Velha in Parana,
Brazil.
Pamela Stedman–Edwards (PhD Political
Science 1996) recently moved to Santiago,
Chile where she intends to continue writing
on environment and economic policy and
working as a consultant.
Richard Wallace (PhD Anthropology 2004) is
an Assistant Professor of Anthropology/
Geography at California State University
Stanislas.
William Torre Worley (MALAS 2001) has just
returned from a three–year tour in Argentina
and currently works as a Desk Officer for
Western Hemisphere Affairs at The Joint Staff
in Washington, DC.
Maria Eugenia Zelaya (née Mora) (MALAS
2002 & MA Political Science 2006) has an
Adjunct Faculty position in Political Science at
Santa Fe College and also works as a Spanish II
IB Teacher at Eastside High School in
Gainesville.

80th Anniversary Celebration 60th Annual Conference

Spring 2011
The Center for Latin American Studies’ 80th Anniversary will be celebrated in conjunction with its
60th Annual Conference in late March or early April 2011. Tentatively entitled, “The Contribution of UF
to the Field of Latin American Studies and Latin American Development,” the conference will include
panel presentations, roundtables, receptions and other events focusing on the many contributions and
accomplishments of the Center’s faculty, staff, and alumni over the past 80 years. Proposed topics
include the history of the Center; the work of emeritus faculty members, major scholarly figures in the
Center’s history, and/or distinguished alumni scholars; experiences of UF alumni serving as current or
former U.S. ambassadors to Latin America; immigration issues; Latin American history; business in
Latin America; and alumni careers dealing with Latin America. An exhibit of antique Latin American
and Caribbean maps and cultural events are planned.
The conference planning committee is co-chaired by Carmen Diana Deere (LAS) and Joan Flocks
(CGR/Law), a MALAS alumna and current faculty affiliate who serves as chair of the LAS Alumni
Board’s Program Committee. It is not too early to begin thinking about the activities or topics that you
might like to see included in the conference. We welcome alumni, faculty and student volunteers for
the planning committee! Contact Carmen Diana Deere (deere@latam.ufl.edu) or Joan Flocks (flocks@
law.ufl.edu) if you are interested in getting involved.

FALL 2009 17
 Milenio Américas Launched to Support Center
M ilenio Américas, a society of alumni and friends dedicated to supporting the UF Center for Latin American Stud-
ies, was launched at the Center’s Annual Fall Reception at the Harn Museum of Art in September 2009. The Center
was pleased to co-host the reception with the Association of Hispanic Alumni (AHA) in celebration of the first Hispanic
Heritage Alumni Weekend. The evening’s program included speeches by LAS Alumni Board President Stephen Walroth–
Sadurní, Center Director Philip Williams, UF President Bernie Machen, and AHA President Ignacio Abella.

The Milenio Américas Society supports the Center’s wide range of initiatives related to Latin America and the Caribbean
— from enhancing UF student education to addressing regional challenges affecting Florida and Latin America through
research and dialogue. You can demonstrate your commitment to the Center’s important work through individual or
corporate membership in Milenio Américas.

Individual Membership - Individual members make a $500 annual pledge for five years.

Corporate Membership - Corporations make a $1,000 annual pledge for five years.

Lifetime Membership - Cumulative gifts to the Center of $10,000 or greater.

Membership benefits include:

 A commemorative gift
 Recognition on the Center’s website
 Invitations to Center–sponsored events, such as the Annual Fall Reception and the Annual Conference on
Latin American Studies

Contact Janet Romero, Associate Director of Development, if you are interested in joining Milenio Américas,
jromero@uff.ufl.edu, (352) 392–9418.

Current Milenio Américas Members

Individual Lifetime
Steven Keats Margaret Boonstra
Bonnie Lincoln Charles & Wanda Denny
Chris & Bernie Machen Paul & Polly Doughty
Omar Monteagudo Helen Safa
Eric Wagner Marianne Schmink
STEVEN JOHNSON

 UF President Bernie Machen speaks at the

launch of Milenio Américas.

After I graduated from UF, the truth is, I maintained a low profile as an alumni
and only when LAS reached out to me several years ago did I realize that it
was time to step up and give back to the school and department which has
so positively impacted my life. We are reaching out to you because we know
that in some way your career path involves the Americas. I invite you to make
the commitment to Milenio Américas and make a determination that your hard
earned money will be wisely invested in the future for those whose touch-
STEVEN JOHNSON

stone is our own; our love of the Americas.

—Steven Keats, member of Milenio Américas and the LAS Alumni Board

 Center Director Philip Williams, AHA President

Ignacio Abella, former Center Director Carmen Diana
Deere, and LAS Alumni Board President Stephen
Walroth–Sadurni, and members of the AHA.

18 The Latinamericanist
 Thanks To Our Donors
The Center for Latin American Studies would like to express its gratitude for the generosity of those who have responded to
our mailings and to the University of Florida Foundation’s annual appeal. The donations go towards the Latin American
Studies Fund, the Alumni Graduate Student Travel Fund, or the McCoy Latin American Travel Scholarship Fund. Gracias to
the following people:
Donald Bellis & Lygia Sharkan Bellis
Brian Bombassaro
Steven Keats
Mark & Deborah Kisker
Bonnie Lincoln
Murdo & Shena MacLeod
Marianne Schmink
Eugene Taggart
Eric Wagner
Sondra Wentzel
Ieda & Howard Wiard
The Carol French Doughty Memorial Fund
The Doughty Family has started the
Carol French Doughty Memorial Fund
at the UF Center for Latin American
Studies to support graduate student
research activities in Latin America and
Latino communities, with an emphasis on
educational issues. This fund’s purpose
reflects Carol’s interest in Latin America
and its people along with her strong
belief that teaching was an indispensable
calling in support of society and nation.
Carol was the daughter of Polly and
Paul Doughty (Professor Emeritus,
Anthropology) and sister of Tom Doughty.
Carol was born in Lima, Peru in
1963. From the start, she demonstrated
an interest in education and cultural
anthropology. While at Gainesville
High School and during her university
studies, Carol pursued those interests
by participating in student exchange
programs in Peru. She graduated from
FALL 2009
Special thanks to those who have donated to the new
Carol French Doughty Memorial Fund:
Jo Lee & William Beaty Helen Safa & John DuMoulin
Jeanne Berry Nancy Rogers Sever
Julie & Joseph D’Amico Anita Spring
Carmen Diana Deere Natalie & Parker Small
Dominck Dellino Brian & Rosalind Sterling
Paul & Polly Doughty Brian & Sonia du Toit
Mary Elmendorf & John Landgraf Jill Carolyn White
Mary Furman & Charles Thorn III Philip & Victoria Williams
Gainesville Women’s Forum
David Geggus
Lois & James Hensel
John & Denise Krigbaum
Wunhild & George Ryschkewitsch
Indiana University in 1985, majoring
in Latin American Studies/Spanish and
Anthropology. Carol worked in Los
Angeles as a primary school teacher, a job
that she loved. Carol later earned a master’s
degree in education at Long Beach State
and was a mentor teacher in bilingual
education, specializing in teaching
kindergarten and first grade.
Carol married Bo Nilsson in Sweden,
where they resided. She taught English,
Spanish, and art to primary grades. She
dedicated herself to being a wonderful
mother and example for her daughter
Maya who was born in 2002. Carol was
known by all as a caring, creative and
enthusiastic person — and her friends and
family love and miss her greatly.
If you are interested in making a gift to the  Carol French Doughty.
fund, please complete the donation form
on the next page.
19
 NONPROFIT ORG
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PAID
Center for Latin American Studies PERMIT NO 94
GAINESVILLE FL
319 Grinter Hall
P.O. Box 115530
Gainesville, FL 32611–5530

Giving to the Center for Latin American Studies

We rely on contributions from our friends and alumni to support certain special activities such as student travel to conferences
and seed support for larger fund-raising efforts.

If you would like to make a donation to the Center, please fill out the form below.

My gift is to benefit: Method of payment: ABZF

 The Latin American Studies Fund (011147)  Check Enclosed (Make check payable to: UF Foundation, Inc.)
 LAS Alumni Graduate Student Travel Fund (012521) Credit Card  Discover  VISA  Master  American Express
 McCoy Travel Scholarship Fund (014527) Card Card Number:___________________________________
 Carol French Doughty Memorial Fund (016720) Expiration Date (MM/YY): ______________________________

Name____________________________________________ Name as it appears on the card:_________________________

Address__________________________________________ Signature:_ _________________________________________

City/State/Zip______________________________________ Home Phone:________________________________________

Email_ ___________________________________________ Credit Card billing address (if different from one at left):
__________________________________________________
Gift Amount:
 $500  $250  $100  $50  $_________________ City/State/Zip:_ ______________________________________

Remember to enclose your company’s MATCHING GIFT Please return to:

FORM! It can double or triple your gift! Visit www. University of Florida Foundation, Inc.
matchinggifts.com/uff or www.floridafund.uff.ufl.edu for more Attn: Janet Bente Romero
information. P.O. Box 14425, Gainesville, FL 32604–2425