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James A. Robinson is a University Professor at the University of Chicago with joint appointments in the Harris School of Public Policy and Department of Political Science. An economist and political scientist, he conducts influential research on political and economic development, examining how political power, institutions, and prosperity interact through both quantitative economic modeling and qualitative fieldwork methodologies. Robinson's research focuses on institutional analysis and political economy, with deep regional expertise in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. He has conducted extensive fieldwork across Bolivia, Colombia, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, investigating how historical institutions shape contemporary economic outcomes. His interdisciplinary approach integrates economic theory with anthropological and historical case studies to explain patterns of economic divergence and political stability. Recent publications (2023-2025) reveal persistent themes in institutional persistence, state-society dynamics, and the cultural foundations of development. His work increasingly examines the interaction of economic and political inequality, the role of non-institutional factors in leadership strategies, and the historical roots of peripheral development trajectories across diverse global contexts. Scientific recognition includes: 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel Fellow, Institute of African Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka Robinson co-authored three seminal books with Daron Acemoglu: Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (theoretical foundations of regime stability), Why Nations Fail (translated into 41 languages, arguing inclusive institutions drive prosperity), and The Narrow Corridor (analyzing state-society struggles for liberty). He maintained a 28-year summer school at Colombia's University of the Andes (1994-2022) and continues active research collaborations across Africa and Latin America.

• Political Economy
• Economic Development
• Institutional Analysis
• +3 more

Ben Nobbs-Thiessen is an Assistant Professor of History and Chair of Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg. He holds a PhD from Emory University (2016), with prior roles as a research associate at Arizona State University (2016–18) and a teaching fellow at Washington State University (2018–2020). His research focuses on Mennonite migrations across the Americas, environmental change, and indigenous-settler relations. He teaches courses on Latin American Mennonites and Mennonite Studies II. His research combines archival work, field studies, and oral histories from Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. His 2020 book Landscape of Migration examines Bolivia’s lowland colonization and its intersection with Mennonite and indigenous communities. Current projects include a century-long study of Mexico-Canada Mennonite migrations linked to water scarcity and neoliberal reforms. His publications span journals like Journal of Latin American Studies and Agricultural History , addressing topics like frontier development, foodways, and border conflicts. His transnational approach bridges environmental, migration, and colonial histories. He contributes to interdisciplinary initiatives such as the Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies and the Centre for Rupert's Land Studies.

• Mennonite Studies
• Environmental History
• Migration and Diaspora Studies
• +3 more

Eric Van Young is a distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), specializing in colonial and 19th-century Latin American history, particularly Mexico. He has held significant roles, including Chair of the Department of History (2000-2004) and Interim Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities (2007-2008). His research focuses on rural history, peasant movements, cultural history, and biographical studies of key figures like Lucas Alaman. He earned his B.A. from the University of Chicago (1967), M.A. and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (1968, 1978). Education: B.A. (University of Chicago), M.A. & Ph.D. (UC Berkeley) Roles: Professor of History, Department Chair, Interim Dean His research explores Mexico’s colonial and early national periods, emphasizing rural economic structures, popular rebellions, and the intersections of culture and politics. Current projects include a biography of Lucas Alaman and a synthetic history of Mexico (1750-1850). He has authored numerous books, including Writing Mexican History (2012) and The Other Rebellion (2001), alongside over 100 articles. His work bridges economic and cultural historiography, offering critical insights into regional dynamics and the construction of national identity. Van Young’s scholarly contributions include editorial roles for journals and book series, as well as extensive peer review for academic publishers. His interdisciplinary approach addresses themes like messianic movements, state formation, and the legacy of colonial institutions in modern Mexico.

• Colonial Latin American History
• 19th-Century Mexican History
• Rural History
• +4 more

Ramsey McGlazer is an Associate Professor specializing in twentieth-century European and Latin American literature, film, and critical theory. His research engages with poetry, politics-aesthetics intersections, critical carceral studies, and feminist/queer/psychoanalytic frameworks. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Critical Theory from UC Berkeley (2015) and previously taught at the University of St Andrews and Brown University’s Pembroke Center. McGlazer’s work interrogates modernist critiques of progress, radical psychiatry movements, and the interplay between aesthetic practices and institutional critique. His acclaimed monograph Old Schools: Modernism, Education, and the Critique of Progress (2020) won the American Association for Italian Studies First Book Prize. Current projects include The Clinic and its Double , exploring mid-century radical psychiatry and avant-garde art. He serves as Senior Editor of Critical Times and Coeditor of Italian Culture , and has translated key works like Rita Segato’s The War Against Women . McGlazer’s writing appears in venues such as Los Angeles Review of Books and n+1 . Research interests span Surrealist provocations, Brazilian artist Lygia Clark’s propositions, and transnational feminist solidarities. His scholarship bridges literary analysis with critical engagements in carceral studies, postcolonial theory, and decolonial thought.

• Twentieth-century literature
• Film studies
• Critical theory
• +9 more

Dr. Joshua Savala is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), part of the College of Liberal Arts. He holds a PhD from Cornell University (2019) and previously taught at Rollins College in Florida. His research focuses on Latin American social movements, transnational histories of the Pacific, and labor solidarity in the Andean and Southern Cone regions. Key areas of expertise include maritime workers, anarchism, public health epidemics, and border studies. Education: PhD in History, Cornell University (2019) MA in History, Cornell University (2015) MA in History, Tufts University (2012) BA in History and Sociology, University of California, Davis (2007) Research Interests: His groundbreaking work examines collaborative relationships between Peruvians and Chileans in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including studies on cholera epidemics, anarchist networks, and cross-border solidarity. Recent projects investigate cooperative urban planning on the U.S.-Mexico border and disaster responses in Valparaíso. Publications: Includes the award-winning book Beyond Patriotic Phobias (2022) and articles in Hispanic American Historical Review and Journal of Social History . His Spanish translation Más allá de la guerra (2024) is a binational publication with universities in Peru and Chile. Awards: Best Book (Social Sciences) on the Southern Cone (Honorable Mention), 2023 Flora Tristán Book Prize (Honorable Mention), 2023 José María Arguedas Prize, 2020 Teaching: Teaches courses on Modern Latin America, Pacific World histories, and borderland studies. Recent courses include Studies in Latin American History and South America Since 1810 . Labs/Teams: Engaged with UTEP's Borderlands Digital Humanities Center and the Institute of Oral History, emphasizing collaborative interdisciplinary projects.

• Latin American History
• Pacific World Studies
• Social Movements
• +7 more

Chi-Ming Yang is a Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences, where she has established herself as a leading scholar in literary and visual culture studies with a focus on race, empire, and East-West cultural exchanges. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges British, American, Asian, and Latin American studies while examining historical periods from the early modern era through the 18th century to contemporary contexts. Educational Background: Ph.D. in English from Cornell University B.A. in Comparative Literature from Stanford University with emphases in Spanish, Chinese, and English Professor Yang's research interrogates the intersections of race, visual culture, and imperial histories through multiple disciplinary lenses. Her work explores how objects, images, and texts function within global networks of power and representation, with particular attention to transpacific and transatlantic connections. She has developed significant expertise in chinoiserie, material culture, and the visual dimensions of racial formation across historical periods. Her recent publications demonstrate a growing interest in ecological perspectives on race and empire, particularly evident in her 2021 article 'The Song of the Rice Bird,' which innovatively examines plantation slavery through avian migration patterns. Her scholarship consistently bridges historical analysis with contemporary concerns about representation, power, and cultural exchange. Professional Recognition: 2022 Best Advisor Award in English, Sponsored by the English Undergraduate Advisory Board Professor Yang maintains an active advising role, having chaired doctoral dissertations including Jacob Myers' 'Noxious Life: Figuring Vermin in the Natural Histories of the Anglophone Caribbean' (2025) and Cassidy Holahan's 'Dramatizing the Novel: Transmedial Exchange in the Long Eighteenth Century' (2023). She regularly participates in departmental workshops and events, including the 2024 conversation with Sharon Holland exploring Black feminist perspectives on animal life in relation to Octavia E. Butler's work. Her teaching portfolio reflects her interdisciplinary approach, with recent courses including 'Science Fictions of Octavia E. Butler,' 'Orientalisms,' '18th-Century British Poetry,' and 'Arts of Abolition and Liberation,' demonstrating her commitment to connecting historical scholarship with contemporary social justice concerns.

• Literary and visual culture of race and empire
• East-West cultural exchanges
• Transatlantic/transpacific exchanges
• +12 more

Leo J. Garofalo is the Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Professor of History at Connecticut College, where he joined in 2002. He coordinates the Social Justice and Sustainability Pathway and co-directs the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program. His scholarship focuses on colonial Latin America with emphasis on racial dynamics and cultural exchange. Education: B.A. in History and Hispanic Studies from Brown University M.A. from Boston College Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin at Madison Research Focus: Garofalo investigates the intersection of African and Indigenous cultures in colonial Peru, examining how marketplaces, taverns, and religious practices shaped Afro-Andean identities. His current work traces West African diaspora routes to the Andes and analyzes Afro-Iberian influences on witchcraft traditions. He utilizes Inquisition records and Spanish imperial archives to reconstruct transatlantic cultural networks. Awards: Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Professorship (endowed chair) Social Science Research Council Grant Fulbright-Hays Research Grant Academic Leadership: Garofalo has organized campus events featuring Afro-Peruvian performers (Negrura Peruana) and activists like former Colombian Governor Luis Murillo. In 2010, he co-led a Study Away Teach Away program in Oaxaca, Mexico, examining immigration and indigenous rights movements.

• Latin American History
• Caribbean History
• History of Race and Ethnicity
• +6 more

Marisol De La Cadena is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis, with affiliations in Science and Technology Studies (STS). Her work bridges anthropology, political theory, and environmental thought, focusing on ontological divergence and multispecies relations in Latin America, particularly in Peru and Colombia. Department: Department of Anthropology School: College of Letters and Science University: University of California, Davis Email: mdelac@ucdavis.edu Office: Young Hall 315 Her research centers on the intersection of modern politics and non-modern or ahistorical ontologies, especially through what she calls "ontological openings." Drawing from deep ethnographic engagement with Quechua-speaking interlocutors in the Andes, she explores how earth-beings, humans, and nonhumans co-constitute worlds that exceed Western categories. Her theoretical contributions challenge conventional boundaries between nature and culture, history and timelessness, and politics and cosmology. Her recent fieldwork in Colombia examines human-cow relations on cattle ranches and in veterinary schools, situating these practices within broader ecological crises and post-conflict transitions. Her publications reveal a consistent interest in how ethnographic concepts function as both empirical observations and theoretical tools. The body of her work, including key articles like "Uncommoning Nature" and "Runa: Human but not only," reflects a deep commitment to rethinking anthropological method and theory. Her research trends emphasize ontological politics, multispecies ethnography, and the decolonization of knowledge, contributing significantly to contemporary debates in STS and anthropology. Her scientific honors include: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow (2008) Lewis H. Morgan Lecture Series Invited Speaker, University of Rochester (2011) Invited Researcher, Center for Advanced Studies, Norwegian Academy of Sciences (2015) Guest Speaker, Mellon-Sawyer Seminar, University of Cape Town (2010) She has been principal investigator on several major grants, including the John E. Sawyer Mellon-Sawyer Seminar on the Comparative Study of Cultures (2012–2016), a Wenner-Gren Conference Support Grant (2009–2010), and multiple research fellowships from the Guggenheim, Wenner-Gren, and American Philosophical Societies. These grants have enabled collaborative, transdisciplinary research on cosmopolitics, indigeneity, and the anthropology of worlds. She is affiliated with research initiatives such as the Sawyer Seminar on the Comparative Study of Cultures and contributes to global academic networks in anthropology and STS. Her work fosters dialogue between indigenous thought, continental philosophy, and ethnographic practice, creating spaces for alternative modes of knowing and being.

• Anthropology
• Science and Technology Studies (STS)
• Indigeneity
• +12 more

Marysol Quevedo is an Associate Professor at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, specializing in musicology with a focus on Cuban and Puerto Rican musical cultures. Her research explores intersections between music, politics, and identity in post-revolutionary Cuba and the Caribbean diaspora. Research Themes: Cuban avant-garde music and revolutionary ideology Film music analysis (e.g., Leo Brouwer's scores) Cultural diplomacy through symphonic institutions Puerto Rican music historiography Public ethnomusicology and community engagement Publication Trends: Analyzes Cuban composers' negotiation of socialist values with global artistic movements, emphasizing music's role in ideological narratives through film scores, symphonic programming, and diasporic cultural preservation.

• Cuban Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Musicology
• +5 more

Marcela Echeverri Muñoz is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Yale University, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Her scholarship bridges history, anthropology, and political theory, with a focus on Latin America, the Atlantic World, and the Spanish Empire. She is recognized for her interdisciplinary approach to understanding political subjectivities, state formation, and social transformation during the Age of Revolutions. PhD in Latin American and Caribbean History, New York University, 2008 MA in History of the Hispanic World, Fundación MAPFRE-Tavera and CSIC, Madrid, 2006 MA in Social and Political Theory, The New School for Social Research, 2001 BA in Anthropology, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, 1997 Her research centers on the interplay of race, gender, law, and political theory in colonial and 19th-century Latin America. She investigates how enslaved and Indigenous peoples navigated imperial and republican transitions, particularly through royalist affiliations. Her work challenges peripheral narratives of Spanish America in Atlantic slavery studies, positioning the region as a central site of abolitionist and constitutional experimentation. The trends in her recent publications reveal a sustained focus on slavery, abolition, and political transformation in the Spanish American mainland. She analyzes how anti-slavery movements were intertwined with republicanism, citizenship, and state formation, especially in Gran Colombia. Her scholarship spans legal history, Atlantic processes, and transimperial dynamics, often highlighting marginalized voices in revolutionary contexts. She frequently contributes to major reference works and edited volumes on Atlantic revolutions and Latin American independence. Her scientific awards and fellowships reflect her standing in the field: James Alexander Robertson Prize Michael Jiménez Prize Bolton-Johnson Prize Honorable Mention Yale Heyman Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship MacMillan Research Fellow, Yale Mellon Residential Fellow, CUNY NEH Summer Institute Participant, Johns Hopkins Fellowships from John Carter Brown Library, CSIC, Fundación Mapfre, and Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia Echeverri has secured significant research grants from Harvard’s Atlantic History Seminar, CUNY Research Foundation, and Yale. She has co-edited special issues on Gran Colombian history and Spanish American abolition, and led key academic initiatives including the Race and Slavery in the Atlantic World Working Group and the Early Modern Empires Workshop at Yale. Though student advising is not explicitly detailed, her role as a senior scholar implies mentorship of graduate students. She is affiliated with several research networks and has been a visiting scholar at institutions such as Freie Universität Berlin. Her ongoing book project on Gran Colombian slavery underscores her commitment to redefining the hemispheric significance of Latin American abolition. She remains an active contributor to both scholarly and pedagogical conversations in Atlantic and Latin American history.

• History of Spanish Empire
• Atlantic World
• Slavery and Abolition
• +9 more

Carlos Jáuregui is Professor of Spanish at the University of Notre Dame, with concurrent appointments in Anthropology and faculty fellowships at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and Institute of Latino Studies. His research focuses on colonial Latin American cultural studies, biopolitics, and visual culture, bridging literary analysis with historical anthropology. Education includes: Ph.D. Hispanic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh (2001) Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh (2000) M.A. Spanish American Literature, West Virginia University (1997) Law Degree, Universidad Externado de Colombia (1993) Research explores colonial power dynamics through frameworks like biopolitics and postcolonial theory, examining how historical narratives conceal violence while invoking spectral 'returns' of suppressed alterity. Recent work analyzes visual sovereignty in revolutionary iconography (e.g., Emiliano Zapata) and theological justifications of Spanish colonialism. Publications consistently engage with paradoxes of memory, resistance, and representation across 500 years of Latin American cultural production. Awards highlight transnational recognition: 2024 Emiliano Zapata Catedra distinction 2023 Dolores Huerta Book Award Premio Casa de las Américas (2005) Multiple Fulbright and NEH fellowships Advising includes doctoral students now faculty at University of Florida, Concordia College, Carleton College, and Furman University. Current book projects examine colonial renegades in Yucatán and monumental forgetting of Hernán Cortés in Mexico (1524-2024).

• Colonial Studies
• Biopolitics
• Latin American Cultural Studies
• +4 more

Carolina Alves is an Associate Professor in Economics at University College London's Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). She holds a distinguished position as a Fellow in Economics at Girton College, University of Cambridge, and serves on the Leadership Team of the UCL Centre for Capitalism Studies. Her academic journey spans prestigious institutions including SOAS, University of London for her PhD, and Unesp and Unicamp in Brazil for her undergraduate and master's degrees. BSc in Economic Science from Unesp (Brazil) MPhil in Sociology of Labour from Unicamp (Brazil) PhD in Economics from SOAS, University of London Joan Robinson Research Fellow in Heterodox Economics at Girton College, University of Cambridge Dr. Alves' research spans critical areas including Critical Macro-Finance, Structuralist Macroeconomics, and the Decolonisation of Economics, with influences rooted in Classical Political Economy, Latin American Structuralism, Dependency Theory, and Marxian economics. Her work critically examines the international monetary system, power relations in economic systems, and Eurocentric limitations in economic theory. Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on heterodox economic approaches, with particular attention to government bonds, international financial subordination, and the historical development of economic thought. Her eight most recent publications reveal a consistent research trajectory examining the intersections of political economy, financial systems, and economic theory development, with increasing attention to decolonial perspectives in economics. This work has garnered significant attention across academic and policy circles, with multiple citations and social media engagement. Joan Robinson Research Fellowship in Heterodox Economics at Girton College, University of Cambridge Co-founder of Diversifying and Decolonising Economics initiative Co-editor of The Developing Economics blog Trustee for Cambridge Trust for New Thinking in Economics As an educator, Dr. Alves serves as module leader for 'New Economic Thinking and Public Value' and co-leader for 'Rethinking Capitalism' at UCL. She is deeply engaged in initiatives aimed at transforming economics education, particularly through the Diversifying and Decolonising Economics movement which she co-founded. Her leadership extends to multiple advisory roles including the Rebuilding Macroeconomics Advisory Board, Progressive Economy Forum Council, and Positive Money Advisory Panel.

• Critical Macro-Finance
• Structuralist Macroeconomics
• Decolonisation of Economics
• +7 more

Claire Priest is the Simeon E. Baldwin Professor of Law and Professor of History at Yale University, holding dual appointments in the Yale Law School and the History Department. She specializes in legal and economic history, with a focus on property laws, credit systems, and institutional development in early America. Her seminal work Credit Nation (2021) redefines American economic history by examining how colonial credit laws shaped capitalism and slavery. Education: B.A. (Yale, 1994), J.D. (Yale Law School, 2000), Ph.D. in History (Yale, 2003). Roles: Co-director of Yale Law School’s Latin American program (SELA) and Yale’s Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies advisory committee. Her research bridges law, economics, and slavery, appearing in top journals like Harvard Law Review and Law and History Review . She has held visiting posts at Columbia and Harvard Law Schools and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Recipient of the 2021 Yale Law Women’s Faculty Excellence Award, she teaches courses on property, American legal history, and political economy in the Age of Revolution.

• Legal History
• Economic History
• American History
• +3 more

Roland Greene is the Mark Pigott KBE Professor and Anthony P. Meier Family Professor of the Humanities at Stanford University, holding dual appointments in the Department of English and the Department of Comparative Literature. He serves as Director of the Stanford Humanities Center and co-chair of the Renaissances and Poetics Workshop research groups. Educated at Brown University (A.B., 1979) and Princeton University (Ph.D., 1985), his academic career includes prior roles at Harvard and Oregon universities. His research focuses on Renaissance literatures of England, Latin Europe, and the transatlantic world, with expertise in poetry and poetics from the Renaissance to the present. Major works include Five Words: Critical Semantics in the Age of Shakespeare and Cervantes (2013) and editing the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (2012). Recent lectures address topics like Juan Caramuel’s Metametrica , Baroque aesthetics, and digital humanities challenges. Greene has advised over 50 Ph.D. students, many of whom hold academic positions globally. Awards include American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership and leadership roles like MLA President (2015–2016). His work engages with interdisciplinary themes such as colonial baroque, digital humanities, and global literary history.

• Poetry and Poetics
• Renaissance/Early Modern Literature
• Transatlantic Studies
• +3 more

Jocelyn Saidenberg is a Lecturer specializing in comparative literature, ancient poetry, and interdisciplinary studies. She holds a doctoral degree in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research integrates linguistics, social anthropology, and psychoanalysis to analyze didactic poetry’s transformative potential, as seen in her dissertation Echo Otherwise on Lucretius’s atomic poetics. Her creative work includes multiple poetry collections and essays exploring themes like displacement, existential inquiry, and interdisciplinary art. Key publications span academic interviews and poetry anthologies, with notable works such as kith & kin (2018), Dead Letter (2015), and Shipwreck (2013). Dr. Saidenberg has received prestigious awards including the Frances Jaffer Award and the American Academy of Poets Greenwald Prize (2001). Her creative and critical outputs reflect a sustained engagement with language’s capacity to interrogate human experience across historical and cultural contexts.

• Comparative Literature
• Ancient Greek Poetry
• Latin Poetry
• +4 more