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, teaching and personal interests in Latin America, the Caribbean region, and Latino/a issues in the United States.
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]
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]
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]
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]
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.
[M.Arch., 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]
Darrel Davis (Educational Psychology) was born in Belize and returns as often as possible. He provides support for the Miami-Honduras workshop and plans to start a workshop in Belize. Darrel is interested in all things Technology.
[PhD, University of South Florida]
Karen Dollinger (Spanish and Portuguese) is interested in Mesoamerican mythology, colonial Latin America (specifically the writings of nuns, Crypto-Jewish culture, and the Mexican Inquisition) and Latin American fantasy and science fiction. She has studied at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico, and has travelled to Cuba.
[PhD, Ohio State University]
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]
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]
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]
Raúl Ianes (Spanish and Portuguese) is from Montevideo, Uruguay, and he has lived and studied in Argentina. His teaching and research is focused on 19th century Latin America, with particular interests in history, memory, and national subjectivity in relation to literature and culture, as well as uneven Latin American transitions to modernity.
[PhD, University of Pennsylvania]
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]
Megan Kuykendoll (Family and Child Studies graduate student) 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.
Erin Miller (Global Programs Manager; Lifelong Learning) is working on expanding international study in Latin America. She is interested in coordinating cross-cultural competencies and experiences for students, and in facilitating the development of faculty-led study abroad workshops.
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]
David Motta (Spanish and Portuguese) teaches Spanish and English Linguistics along with other intermediate Spanish language courses. David's interests and studies include morphology and dialectal variations across Latin America.
[ML, Universidad de Costa Rica]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Lauren Whitmer (Anthropology and Spanish & Portuguese) conducts research on gendered violence in Latin America and Latino communities. She is also interested in issues of post-colonialism and neo-colonialism, structural violence and the violence of everyday life, indigenous resistance, revolution and social change in Latin America, race- and ethnic-based violence, women's health, and feminist anthropology. Her research focuses especially on Peru, Brazil, Haiti, and immigrant communities in the US.
[MA, Ohio University]
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 & Environmental Earth Science) 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]