Latin American History Commons^™

La Voz Spring 2021, El Instituto: Institute Of Latina/O, Caribbean, And Latin American Studies

La Voz

In this issue:

• Conference Brings Cuba Scholars to UConn
• Performance Art in the Crossfire
• An Evening with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
• Jesús Ramos-Kittrell Wins AAUP Teaching Innovation Award
• Alumni Contribute to State Latinx History Curriculum Initiative
• New Study: School Employees Help Farmworker Families Access Health Care

Central Americans In Las Vegas, Emily Salazar

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

The Las Vegas Valley has become home to a large Salvadoran and Guatemalan population with no clear understanding of the reason for its growth. Upon arrival to the United States, many Latin American immigrants will often struggle with the language barrier and the lack of resources at their disposal. This study aims to uncover what factors and advantages made the Guatemalan and Salvadoran communities choose to stay in Las Vegas Valley, as well as the contribution these populations have made to this metropolitan area. I will first examine published scholarship that uncovers the reasons on what initiatives made central Americans …

Verdad Y Responsabilidad: Los Ejes Nuevos De La Memoria En El Cine Contemporáneo De Guatemala, Grace Bushway

Student Publications

Mucha gente no sabe que hubo un genocidio de gente indígena en Guatemala entre los años 1981-1982 o que el ejército nacional del país cometió actos de tortura y violación contra poblaciones civiles. El gobierno de Guatemala prefiere esa realidad. La conversación sobre la guerra de hace más de treinta años en Guatemala es mínima en ámbitos estatales, sociales y educacionales. Para los sobrevivientes de la guerra y sus hijos, eso crea problemas relacionados con sanarse de los traumas directos e indirectos de la violencia de esa época. En 2019, dos directores guatemaltecos—Jaryo Bustamante y César Díaz—estrenaron películas para dialogar …

Sea-Level Rise And Settlement At Ta’Ab Nuk Na, Belize: Analyses Of Marine Sediment From The I-Line, 4m Transect, Conner B. Flynt

LSU Master's Theses

The ancient Maya of Mesoamerica created a culture with writing, religion, and vast trade networks. These trade networks are evident on the southern coast of Belize, where archaeologists have found sites dedicated to salt making. One of these sites, Ta’ab Nuk Na, was the subject of this thesis. Sediment and charcoal samples were collected from this site by the Underwater Maya Research Group led by Heather McKillop and E. Cory Sills. For my thesis research, I subjected these samples and components within them to loss-on ignition, radiometric dating, and microscopic analysis. Loss-on ignition was used to ascertain organic material percentage …

The Nomad Selves: The American Women Of The Spanish Civil War And Exile, Maria Labbato

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As witnesses to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and its ensuing streams of exile Americans Muriel Rukeyser and Janet Riesenfeld understood the conflict as symptomatic of larger European and antifascist struggle. Weaving biography, intellectual history, and cultural studies this dissertation reveals how the art and activism of these two North American women in the Spanish Civil War can expose an overlooked element in the antifascist movement and its fate with the rise of Cold War anti-Communism. Their experiences—one a writer and poet, and the other a dancer and screenwriter—with the Spanish conflict and exile informed their lives and creative works. …

Full Issue: Volume 2, Issue 1, Editorial Board

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

The first issue in the second volume of the Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal.

Selection From "Una Iglesia Desaparecida: The End Of An Era For The Chilean Catholic Church", September Porras Payea

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This article aims to investigate the changing political alignment of the Chilean Catholic Church following the fall of the dictatorship in the early 1990’s. The author brings together a primary source collection of new articles, photographs, and interviews, as well as a secondary source collection of sociological surveys and historiography, to interrogate the process and outcome of this political transition. The article maintains that desires for hierarchical control and a rejection of past, progressive theology motivated Church leaders to transition the Church away from community based leadership, to clerical control.

Race And Resistance On The Creation Of Mexican American Citizenship And The Chicano Identity, Luiz Francisco Guizzo Gutierrez Osorio

Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Varieties Of Transnational Life: Brazilian Nikkeis’ Changing Cross-Border Ties With Two Homelands, Hiroyuki Shibata

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the varieties of Brazilian Nikkei’s – Japanese emigrants to Brazil and their descendants – transnational lives throughout a century of their migration history. I propose an interactive process approach to migrant transnationalism to understand the divergence of Brazilian Nikkeis’ transnational lives between their two homelands, Japan and Brazil. First, I focus on the four macro-institutional contexts: 1) positions and development patterns of sending and receiving states within the international state system; the infrastructural power of states, more concretely 2) the diasporic bureaucracy of sending states and 3) the incorporative power of receiving states; and 4) the mobilizing …

Us, Abundantly: From Africa To The Americas, Karisma Jay

Theses and Dissertations

"Us, AbunDantly," a Live theatrical dance performance and film, delves into the African Diaspora and its influences. An artistic and academic project built upon the amplification of Black excellence and Black pride, this paper contextualizes a work within the oral histories and contemporary dance studies of a powerfully ancestral community.

The Villas Boas Brothers And Anthropologists, John Hemming

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This paper describes the history of the Villas Boas brothers of Brazil and their role in establishing and administering the 26,000-square-kilometer Xingu Indigenous Park in the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso. Many anthropologists came to work in the Park during the Villas Boas brothers’ decades-long residence there. The paper details some of the unique features of the Park that shaped fieldwork conditions and describes the relations between anthropologists and the brothers. Despite some skeptics, the great majority of anthropologists expressed a positive assessment of the brothers’ work. The article includes an appendix listing the anthropologists who worked in the Park …

A Holy Tug Of War: Us Christians Against The Contras (1970-1990), Mark Maxwell Brown

Theses and Dissertations--History

After the Sandinista revolution of 1979 ousted the longstanding Somoza dynasty of Nicaragua, the small Central American nation became an obsession of US foreign policy as the Reagan administration committed its efforts to deposing the leftist revolutionary government through the funding and training of the Contras, a counter-revolutionary guerrilla group. With the Cold War at a boiling point, continued control and influence over Central America became a pillar of US anticommunist agenda. Uniquely, many of the most ardent critics of the Reagan administration during this period of violent intervention were Christian missionaries. The Sandinistas were able to defeat the Somoza …

The Mothers Of The Plaza De Mayo Of Argentina: An Unconventional Success Story, Logan Johansen

Undergraduate Research Journal

In 1976, a military junta overthrew Isabelita Peron from power in Argentina. Shortly after, it began to kidnap, torture, and murder thousands of political enemies and dissidents – many of whom were college students or other educated people. These victims, often called “the disappeared” or desaparecidos, were drugged and thrown out of airplanes and were never seen again. Many of their mothers, desperate for answers, united and formed the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo group and began protesting publicly. This paper argues that despite never receiving official answers from the junta nor from the succeeding Argentine government, these powerful …

A Peculiar Institution: What Brought African Slavery To The Spanish Colonial World And How Did It Evolve?, Paige Langley

Undergraduate Research Journal

Slavery was a bedrock component in the development of the New World. While slavery did not begin in the Western Hemisphere, it most definitely grew, developed, and evolved within it. Before the Spanish set out to colonize the New World, they had already been participating in the practice of slavery, particularly race-based slavery. Upon discovering and colonizing the West, the Spanish may have viewed the initial source of unfree labor as those indigenous populations of the areas they conquered. However, the expansion of Atlantic trade and the precious commodity of African slaves would soon be introduced to the Spanish colonial …

The Brazilian Bandeirantes: Heroes Or Villains?, Mitchell Robey

Undergraduate Research Journal

The early history and exploration of the Americas are riddled with names such as “Frontiersman,” “Pioneer,” and “Coureur de bois”. Yet, a commonly unrecognized name is that of the Brazilian Bandeirante. The memory of Brazil’s Bandeirantes remains controversial as they not only settled lands, but also gained considerable wealth and power from capturing new and escaped slaves. Additionally, unlike their North American counterparts, Bandeirantes hailed from an assortment of occupations, with “explorer” not being one of them. Bandeirantes were those individuals who turned to the unexplored heartland of Brazil as they grew tired of the marauding pirates found along …

Día De (Los) Muertos - The Revered Mexican Holiday Of Death, Logan Johansen

Undergraduate Research Journal

In recent years, Americans have become enthralled with what many might refer to as Mexican Halloween. Notably, the Disney film Coco in 2017 portrayed a fantastical interpretation of the holiday, combining music and a wholesome story typical of the company’s many animated films. Although the celebration falls just after October 31st, the traditional holiday is not an imitation of the Americanized All Hallows’ Eve. Yes, there are costumes, candy, and lots of partying, but the purpose and intent of the holiday is entirely different. With rapidly growing popularity in the United States and even across the world, it is important …

La Voz Winter 2021, El Instituto: Institute Of Latina/O, Caribbean, And Latin American Studies

La Voz

In this issue you will find:

• MA Student Researches Takeover in Providence Schools
• Indigenous Language Survival in Colombian Amazon
• "Rise of the Latinx Vote"
• La Colectiva Virtual Conversation
• Mark Healey Wins SCHARP Award

Beyond "Viuda De": Practical Approaches To Promoting Mexican Books Printed At Women-Owned Businesses, Taylor Leigh, Colleen Barrett

Library Presentations

Women print shop owners have existed for much longer than most people realize; the first examples in Mexico date to the seventeenth century. Unfortunately, these texts are not always clearly described in a way that is findable beyond searching “viuda de.” Though many title-pages describe their businesses in terms of being a widow of their husband, these business owners deserve credit for their entrepreneurial efforts and should be findable in their own right. This poster would highlight the strategies and steps taken by a Hispanic Studies Librarian and a Rare Books Librarian to better promote these types of works held …

Biografía De Agustina Guffain Vda. De Doittau, Dra. Michelle R. Hewlett-Gómez

AGUSTINA GUFFAIN VDA. DE DOITTAU

No abstract provided.

A Devised Ethnodrama: Conscious Voices, Sonia Pasqual

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Using techniques of storytelling, dance, poems, and monologues in the process of re-enacting life stories, the ensemble display issues that may be impeding society’s growth—discrimination against body image, blackness, females, and LGBTQ individuals. In addition, engagement in storytelling and performance can help the audience increase their cognitive skills, empathy, and ability to live a communal life. This evidence-based practice can transform lives and society. It has the potential of continuing to other faculties and with other departments, such as film, musical, and additional narratives. This specific work could be extended out beyond art and education into populations of any communities …