Events
ISLAC Global Symposium
Mapping contemporary challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean
Date, Time and Location
Thursday, April 11 - 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday, April 12 - 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tampa Campus
TECO
4110 Apple Dr.
Tampa, FL 33620
Registration
Please Register to attend.
Director’s Welcome
Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) studies have grown significantly since the 1960s, adapting to the forces of globalization, encompassing transnational migrations, international trade, and global partnerships.
In commemoration of its upcoming 30th anniversary, the Institute for the Study of
Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC) welcomes you to its first Global Symposium,
highlighting ±«Óătv’s achievements and featuring global experts discussing contemporary
issues in LAC communities across the world.
Thank you for joining us!
ł§ľ±˛Ôł¦±đ°ů±đ±ô˛â, 
Beatriz Padilla, PhD
Director, Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC)
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Speakers
MarĂa Auxiliadora González Malabet
Anastasia BermĂşdez Torres
Angelina Cotler
Luciana Gandini
Richard Kernaghan
Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian
Edlin Veras
Angela Vergara
SPEAKER BIOS
MarĂa Auxiliadora González Malabet
UNINORTE, Colombia
“Impact of the Political Incidence School for Migrant Women. A Case of Social Integration
Between Venezuelan Migrants and Colombian Leaders in the Colombian Caribbean Coast.” &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
MarĂa González-Malabet has a PhD in Government from the ±«Óătv
(±«Óătv). Her major is in Comparative Politics and a minor in International Relations.
She received different fellowships to finance her doctoral thesis from institutions,
such as the Inter-American Foundation, the Sisters of the Academy, the University
of South Florida, and the Universidad del Norte. Her doctoral dissertation is focused
on the political agency of women for the progressive change of Latin American cities.
She is director of Instituto de Desarrollo PolĂtico e Institutional – IDEPI, and a
full-time professor and researcher at the Universidad del Norte in the Department
of Political Science and International Relations. Her research focus is on Development
Policies, Gender, Latin American Feminisms, and Social Movements. She is currently
a serving in the postdoc fellowship “Orchides” from Colombia’s Ministry of Science,
Technology, and Innovation researching the impact of the Colombian Peace Treaty (2016)
in Women´s political participation in PEDT zones.
Anastasia BermĂşdez Torres
University of Seville, Spain
“The Colombian diaspora in Europe and the Truth Commission: the role of exiled women
in the political space” &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Anastasia Bermudez is senior lecturer/researcher in the Department of Social Anthropology,
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain). She has a PhD and MSc in Geography, an MA in Area
Studies (Latin America), and a BA in Human Geography and Politics, all from the University
of London (Queen Mary; Institute of Latin American Studies). Her main research interests
include international migration and mobilities, violence and peace in Colombia, and
gender and intersectionality. 
Angelina Cotler
John Hopkins University
“The main challenges programs in Latin American and Latinx studies face in the current
political climate in the U.S.”&˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Angelina Cotler holds a PhD in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is currently the inaugural program director of the
Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies program at Johns Hopkins University.
Previously, she was the senior associate director of the Center for Latin American at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and the University of Pittsburgh, before taking up the position of Director of Membership and Development at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). She was the co-chair of the Peru section in LASA and currently is the media manager.
Luciana Gandini
UNAM
“Migration policies and prolonged transit in the Americas: The contemporary mobility
context” &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Luciana Gandini is a research fellow at CLALS, non-resident fellow at the Migration
Policy Institute, and a full-time tenured researcher at the Legal Research Institute
at UNAM in Sociology law. She is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI,
CONACYT), level II. She coordinates the University Seminar on Studies on Internal
Displacement, Migration, Exile and Repatriation (SUDIMER) at UNAM, which promotes
research on migration and human mobilities at UNAM. She is a co-author of  Caravanas  (UNAM, 2020), which was a co-recipient of the .  In 2018, she received the award "Reconocimiento Distinción Universidad Nacional
JĂłvenes Investigadores 2018" from UNAM.
Her project, “Emerging challenges on immigration policy: the case of Migrant Protection Protocols and other Latin American forced immigrants,” aims to identify some of the main public policy challenges on both human mobility and international protection in the Latin American region, particularly in Mexico, in a context where the increase on the mobility of people in need of international protection contrasts with the tendency of governments to impose limits on the right of asylum.  Additionally, in recent months she has focused her research on the impacts of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis on the inclusion and effective access and exercise of socio-economic rights of Venezuelan and Central American displaced populations in Latin America and how this situation generates an even more complex scenario and demands reshaping immigration policies through the enforcement of international protection principles. &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Luciana is interested in topics related to international migration, development and human rights, (in)voluntary migration and forced migration, Venezuelan exodus and Central American migrant caravans, impacts of COVID-19 on migrant and refugee population, return and skill migration, and qualitative and quantitative social research methods.
Richard Kernaghan
University of Florida
Richard Kernaghan is an ethnographer of aesthetics and legal relations interested in rivers, settler colonialism, and political time. He teaches courses on legal anthropology and the craft of ethnographic representation at the University of Florida, where he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Affiliate Faculty in the UF Center for Latin American Studies.
Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian
Organization of American States
“Regional agenda for the inclusion of migrants and refugees in the Americas” 
 &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian (Venezuelan-American) is director of the Department of Social
Inclusion of the Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity at the Organization of
American States (OAS), where she is responsible for directing the work of the OAS
in matters of social inclusion and access to human rights with special consideration
to populations in vulnerable situations. Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian has a Master's degree
in International Relations from the ±«Óătv and a PhD in Political
Science from Florida International University.
 &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
She has edited, published, and co-authored several articles and volumes on issues
of Latin American reality. Some of her recent contributions include the articles,
“The Summit is a Great Chance for Better Cooperation on Migration” (2022) and “One
Year Later: Slow Progress on a Key Migration Initiative” (2023), both published by
Americas Quarterly, and the book chapter, “How to achieve more representation of indigenous
and Afro-descendant people in Latin America and the Caribbean” (UNAM 2022).
 &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
She is also a founding member and coordinator of the Network of Latin American Female
Political Scientists “#NoSinMujeres,” a project that seeks to promote, make visible,
and empower the work of women dedicated to Latin American Political Science. &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
 &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
She is a regular columnist for the Venezuelan daily, El Nacional, and for the Web portal Caracas Chronicles, as well as a guest columnist in various regional media. She is also a 2021 Fellow
of the Draper Hills Fellowship on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at Stanford
University, a member of the Advisory Board of the Carter School for Peace and Conflict
Resolution at George Mason University (GMU), and a Senior Associate (Non-Resident)
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.
 &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
In 2008, 2016, 2019, and again in 2020, she won the Outstanding Performance Award
granted by the Secretary General of the OAS, in recognition of her extraordinary work
and contribution to the American organization. Muñoz-Pogossian won the Status of Latinos'
Alumna Award in 2023.
Edlin Veras
Swarthmore College
“Caribbean Apartheid: Race, Racism, and the Law in the Dominican Republic” &˛Ô˛ú˛ő±č;
Dr. Edlin Veras is a visiting assistant professor of Sociology and Black Studies at
Swarthmore College. His research and teaching interests include race, racism, immigration,
and antiblackness in the U.S. and Caribbean, with a specific focus on Haiti and the
Dominican Republic. His research has been published in the “Sociology of Race and
Ethnicity.” He is a 2020 American Sociology Association Minority Fellow and is working
on his book project tentatively titled, “Expired and Unfree: How Anti-Blackness Shapes
Life after Work.”
Angela Vergara
University of Central Florida
"Navigating Success: The Impact of Latin American Student Presence on Academic Achievement
in a Hispanic-Serving Institution" 
Dr. Angela Vergara is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University
of Central Florida. Her areas of expertise include Latin American sociology, global
and social inequalities, and reproductive health. Her research involves topics in
Hispanic/Latinx race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, mental health outcomes,
and interwoven identities. Her current research focuses on gender differences, immigration
status, culture language and the effects on the educational achievement gap, social
class, health inequalities, and mental health accessibility in the Hispanic/Latinx
population. Her teaching interests include qualitative research methods, health inequalities,
and global inequalities.
AGENDA
April 11, 2024
Time | Session | ||
---|---|---|---|
8:30 AM | Registration and Check-In | ||
9:00 AM |
Opening RemarksBeatriz Padilla, ISLAC Director |
||
9:45 AM |
Institutes and Centers for the Study of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinos: Roles and ChallengesModerator: Alejandro Márquez, ±«Óătv Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences/ISLAC |
||
10:45 AM | Break | ||
11:00 AM |
Migrations Across the AmericasModerator: Beatriz Padilla, ±«Óătv Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences/ISLAC |
||
12:00 PM | Lunch Break | ||
1:00 PM |
International Experiences in EducationModerator: Lauren Braunstein, ±«Óătv College of Education |
||
2:00 PM |
Latin Americans in the DiasporaModerator: Kersuze Simeon-Jones, ±«Óătv School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies/ISLAC |
||
3:00 PM | Break | ||
3:15 PM |
Borders, Crime, and MobilizationModerator: Dr. Molly Hamm-Rodriguez, ±«Óătv College of Education |
||
4:15 PM |
Poster PresentationsMatheus Ivanesciuc, ±«Óătv Judy Genshaft Honors College |
April 12, 2024
Time | Session | ||
---|---|---|---|
8:30 AM | Registration and Check-In | ||
9:00 AM |
Hybrid/Interactive Panel: Exploring the Cultural Contributions of Virtual Global Exchange: Students from the ±«Óătv and the Universidad Marista de MĂ©rida de MĂ©xico (UMM)Margarita Altuna, Rachel Hipkins, Tyler Green, Milysha Castaneda, ±«Óătv World Languages |
||
10:00 AM |
Social and Civic Transformation “Here” and “There” - Teaching About and Engaging with Latin America and the CaribbeanDr. Molly Hamm-Rodriguez, ±«Óătv College of Education “Language and Social Justice: Youth Participatory Action Research in the Dominican
Republic” |
||
11:00 AM | Break | ||
11:15 AM |
Democracies and Regimes in Latin America and the CaribbeanModerator: Angelina Cotler, Johns Hopkins University |
||
12:15 PM | Lunch Break | ||
1:00 PM |
Migration and HealthModerator: Mahmooda Khaliq Pasha, ±«Óătv College of Public Health (±«Óătv COPH) |
||
2:00 PM |
History and CultureModerator: Adriana Novoa, ±«Óătv Department of History/ISLAC |
||
2:50 PM | Break | ||
3:00 PM |
Culture and LiteratureModerator: Roberto JimĂ©nez, ±«Óătv Department of World Languages/ISLAC |
||
4:00 PM | Final Closing Remarks | ||
ReceptionJoin us for a reception in the Rotunda (next to TECO) |
Special thanks to our community partners
PARKING
Guest parking is available. Please look for signs to indicate ISLAC GLOBAL SYMPOSIUM.
More information about guest parking and handicap parking options can be found at
Parking Services.
DIRECTIONS
For reasonable accommodations or questions, please contact CAS RSVP.