Digital Commons Network^™

We Are All Mestiz(Ç)Os: An Exploration And Deconstruction Of The Myth Of Mestizaje/Mestiçagem In Mexico And Brazil, Michelle Garcia

CMC Senior Theses

Different from the United States, racial-mixing was permissible in Latin America throughout its history. Furthermore, race-mixing has been cemented into the national identities of LatAm states through Mestizaje, thus painting these states as racial democracies. This thesis examines the construction and maintenance of Mestizaje as a myth and sign for racial democracies as well as the racial disconnect created within those in “Mestizo” nations. This thesis contributes to existing literature by utilizing Mexico and Brazil due to their different socio-historical contexts. They will serve as case studies to evaluate the mechanisms that allow this myth to persevere. First, I will …

Latin American Culture, Bernardita Llanos Mardones

Open Educational Resources

This course examines a series of contemporary cultural and social issues in Latin America through the study of case studies in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Nicaragua, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Among the topics we will analyze are: feminicide- or the killing of women due to their gender, abortion rights, historical and cultural memory, peace and war, sexual abuse and male power, politics and corruption, machismo and racism. The course ends with the ethics and life style based on the community practiced by the Andean world and summarized in the thirteen principles of “el buen vivir o Sumak Kawsay.” Through the readings …

Understanding The Ideological Transformation Of Farc In Colombia, Savannah Grier

CMC Senior Theses

In 2016, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) agreed to a peace deal that led to their disarmament. The former guerrilla group, FARC, integrated into Colombian politics by forming a new party called Comunes. FARC, thus, has taken a similar route to other former rebel groups in Latin America by pursuing its agenda as a political party after demobilizing. This thesis examines the ideological transformation and political evolution of FARC, analyzing its transition from a Marxist-Leninist insurgent group to a political party within Colombia’s democratic system. By exploring FARC’s historical role in the Colombian conflict …

Inner Life, Spiritual Leadership, And Spiritual Well-Being As Predictors Of The Organizational Performance Of Employees At A Seventh-Day Adventist University In Latin America, Patricio Ordoñez

Dissertations

Problem

While traditional leadership models, such as transactional and transformational leadership, have shown success, recent research highlights the need for leadership approaches that address the spiritual and ethical dimensions of individuals in the workplace. Leaders who fail to integrate spiritual leadership risk negatively impacting employee satisfaction, creativity, and overall organizational performance. Despite the well-established concepts of inner life and spiritual well-being, more research is needed to understand their effects on employee performance in faith-based institutions. This study sought to fill that gap by examining the relationship among inner life, spiritual leadership, and spiritual well-being as predictors of organizational performance among …

Association Between Trust In The Incumbent President And Covid-19 Preventive Behaviors During The Pandemic In Four Latin American Countries, Juliana Mejía-Grueso, Gloria Isabel Niño-Cruz, Javiera Alarcón-Aguilar, Pablo Roa-Urrutia, Sergio Mauricio Moreno-López, Adriano Akira Ferreira Hino, Alexandre Augusto De Paula Da Silva, Fernando López, Deborah Salvo, Rodrigo Siqueira Reis, Guillermo Rosas, Andrea Ramírez-Varela

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed disparities in policy responses in Latin America. We examined the association between trust in the president and COVID-19 preventive behaviors in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. We used data from the Collaborative COVID-19 Response Survey by the McDonnell Academy at Washington University in St. Louis (United States), from September 2020 to March 2021. Nonprobabilistic sampling included adult citizens from the four countries. Multivariate negative binomial regression models were applied. The study included 8,125 participants, with Brazil showing the lowest adherence to preventive behaviors (65.5%). Increased adoption of preventive behaviors was linked with ages 18-26 (aIRR = …

Carnivalesque Economies: Clowning And The Neoliberal Impasse, Barnaby King

Kritika Kultura

In Colombia, clowns are proliferating and thriving, particularly in the context of neoliberal political economies prevailing since the mid-1990s. This paper explores some reasons why this might have occurred, as well as theorizing a two-way relationship of domination and resistance between clown practices and the current iteration of late capitalist global economies; what I call “carnivalesque economies.” While Bakhtin described clowns as “the constant, accredited representatives of the carnival spirit in everyday life out of carnival season,” the Colombian case suggests that their breaching of norms and violations of taboos are all too easily co-opted by governments, corporations, and institutions …

Church Reform In A New Cultural And Ecclesial Context: Diagnoses And Positive Starting Points, Carlos Schickendantz

Vincentian Studies

Carlos Schickendantz discusses why the Church's governance needs reform and the extent to which the Second Vatican Council recognized this. He explains how the Church should incorporate accountability into its structure and why its hierarchy should share power with the laity. Schickendantz describes why the sexual abuse crisis highlights the exigency for these reforms and how they all have precedents in thought resulting from the Second Vatican Council. The current synodal process also addresses two other important contemporary issues: women’s role in the Church and “the inclusion of marginalized people in a decolonial perspective.” As Schickendantz writes, “The synodal process, …

Access To Treatment For Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease In The Americas: A Call For Action A Joint Perspective From The Brazilian Thoracic Society, Canadian Thoracic Society, Latin American Thoracic Society, And The American Thoracic Society, Francesca Polverino, Mohit Bhutani, Gustavo Zabert, Frederico Leon Arrabal Fernandes, Karen Czischke, Luiz Fernando Pereira Ferreira, Lian Szabo, Juan P Wisnivesky, Margareth Pretti Dalcolmo, Juan C Celedón

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major public health problem in the Americas (a region of the world comprising North, Central, and South America), although there is substantial variation in disease prevalence, morbidity, and mortality between and within nations. Across the Americas, COPD disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including minoritized populations and impoverished persons, who are more likely to be exposed to risk factors such as tobacco use, air pollution, infections such as tuberculosis, and biomass smoke, but less likely to have adequate healthcare access. Management of COPD can be challenging across the Americas, with some barriers being specific to …

The Institutional Impact Of Left-Leaning Populism In Latin America, Nicolas Cachanosky, Joao Pedro Bastos, Alexandre Padilla, Karla C. Hernandez

Hunt Institute Working Paper Series

We study the institutional impact of 21st-century left-leaning populist regimes in Latin America. Looking at the representative left-leaning populist regimes in Argentina, Bo-livia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, we find that these types of populist regimes impose a significant undermining on the liberal-democracy institutional quality of their countries. The institutional cost is both significant and long-lasting, and our synthetic counterfactual suggests that liberal democratic institutions would have im-proved if not for these populist regimes.

Populism’S Influence On News Content: Polarization, Political Parallelism, And Journalistic Professionalism In Rafael Correa’S Ecuador, Manel Palos Pons

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This article investigates how populism in power influenced news media in Ecuador during leftist president Rafael Correa’s presidency (2007–2017). Correa’s administration triggered a bold media reform in Ecuador challenging traditional media and promising media democratization, but his government received sharp denunciations from press freedom and media organizations which considered Ecuador as a “not free” country, especially after the passing of a Communication Law in 2013 that regulated media extensively. Through content analysis of news and opinion pieces published in 2005, 2006, 2015, 2016, and 2018 by Ecuador’s main legacy newspapers, El Comercio and El Universo, different legal and political contexts …

Why Has Peace Not Come To Colombia? Between Total Peace And Armed Peace, César Niño

Journal of Strategic Security

This research asks why peace has not come to Colombia despite the end of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Total Peace is an ambitious project of Gustavo Petro’s government to build the elusive peace in Colombia. However, the country's current security and violence situation shows a crisis in realizing the peace project. New criminal actors are proliferating, massacres are increasing, the confinement of marginal populations is on the rise, and ambushes against members of the security forces continue. The disconnection of the Total Peace policy with the security and defense policy has led to the strengthening of armed structures …

Missed Exits: Causal Mechanisms Influencing Militarized Interstate Dispute Escalation In Latin America, Colton Arciniaga

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Research on militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) and the reasons for their escalation to interstate war is sparse at the global level and the regional level in Latin America. This thesis contributes new research on militarized interstate dispute escalation in Latin America. In this project, I ask: how do differences in conflict escalation indicators between states affect whether a Latin American country will participate in a Militarized Interstate Dispute that escalates to the use of force? To answer this question, I conduct a case study utilizing the most similar cases analysis approach to compare the cases of the 1995 MID between …

Latin American Trans-Ancestry Initiative For Ocd Genomics (Latino): Study Protocol, James J Crowley, Carolina Cappi, Marcos E Ochoa-Panaifo, Renee M Frederick, Minjee Kook, Andrew D Wiese, Diana Rancourt, Elizabeth G Atkinson, Paola Giusti-Rodriguez, Jacey L Anderberg, Latin American Trans‐Ancestry Initiative For Ocd Genomics, Brazilian Obsessive‐Compulsive Spectrum Disorder Working Group, Jonathan S Abramowitz, Victor R Adorno, Cinthia Aguirre, Gilberto S Alves, Gustavo S Alves, Naeshia Ancalade, Alejandro A Arellano Espinosa, Paul D Arnold, Daphne M Ayton, Izabela G Barbosa, Laura Marcela Barón Castano, Cynthia N Barrera, María Celeste Berardo, Dayan Berrones, John R Best, Tim B Bigdeli, Christie L Burton, Joseph D Buxbaum, Jennifer L Callahan, Maria Cecília B Carneiro, Sandra L Cepeda, Evelyn Chazelle, Jessica M Chire, Macarena Churruca Munoz, Pamela Claisse Quiroz, Journa Cobite, Jonathan S Comer, Daniel L Costa, Jennifer Crosbie, Victor O Cruz, Guillermo Dager, Luisa F Daza, Anabel De La Rosa-Gómez, Daniela Del Río, Fernanda Z Delage, Carolina B Dreher, Lucila Fay, Tomas Fazio, Ygor A Ferrão, Gabriela M Ferreira, Edith G Figueroa, Leonardo F Fontenelle, Diego A Forero, Daniele T H Fragoso, Bharathi S Gadad, Sheldon R Garrison, Andres González, Laura D Gonzalez, Marco A González, Polaris Gonzalez-Barrios, Wayne K Goodman, Dorothy E Grice, Jerry Guintivano, Daniel G Guttfreund, Andrew G Guzick, Matthew W Halvorsen, Joseph D Hovey, Hailiang Huang, Jonathan Irreño-Sotomonte, Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Matias Jensen, Alexandra Z Jimenez Reynolds, Joali Alexandra Juárez Lujambio, Nasim Khalfe, Madison A Knutsen, Caleb Lack, Nuria Lanzagorta, Monicke O Lima, Melanie O Longhurst, David A Lozada Martinez, Elba S Luna, Andrea H Marques, Molly S Martinez, Maria De Los Angeles Matos, Caitlyn E Maye, Joseph F Mcguire, Gabriela Menezes, Charlene Minaya, Tomás Miño, Sara M Mithani, Circe Montes De Oca, Alonso Morales-Rivero, Maria E Moreira-De-Oliveira, Olivia J Morris, Sandra I Muñoz, Zainab Naqqash, Ambar A Núñez Bracho, Belinda E Núñez Bracho, Maria Corina Ochoa Rojas, Luis A Olavarria Castaman, Trinidad Olivos Balmaceda, Iliana Ortega, Darpan I Patel, Ainsley K Patrick, Mariel Paz Y Mino, Jose L Perales Orellana, Bárbara Perdigão Stumpf, Tamara Peregrina, Tania Pérez Duarte, Kelly L Piacsek, Maritza Placencia, María Belén Prieto, Lucas C Quarantini, Yana Quarantini-Alvim, Renato T Ramos, Iaroslava C Ramos, Vanessa R Ramos, Kesley A Ramsey, Elise V Ray, Margaret A Richter, Bradley C Riemann, Juan C Rivas, Maria C Rosario, Camilo J Ruggero, Angel A Ruiz-Chow, Alejandra Ruiz-Velasco, Melisa N Sagarnaga, Aline S Sampaio, Leonardo C Saraiva, Russell J Schachar, Sophie C Schneider, Ethan J Schweissing, Laura D Seligman, Roseli G Shavitt, Keaton J Soileau, S Evelyn Stewart, Shaina B Storch, Emily R Strouphauer, Vissente Tapia Cuevas, Kiara R Timpano, Beatriz Treviño-De La Garza, Alexie Vallejo-Silva, Javier Vargas-Medrano, María I Vásquez, Guadalupe Vidal Martinez, Saira A Weinzimmer, Mauricio A Yanez, Gwyneth Zai, Lina M Zapata-Restrepo, Luz M Zappa, Raquel M Zepeda-Burgos, Anthony W Zoghbi, Euripedes C Miguel, Carolyn I Rodriguez, Mayra C Martinez Mallen, Pablo R Moya, Tania Borda, María Beatriz Moyano, Manuel Mattheisen, Stacey Pereira, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, Karen G Martinez-Gonzalez, Michele T Pato, Humberto Nicolini, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychiatric disorder. Worldwide, its prevalence is ~2% and its etiology is mostly unknown. Identifying biological factors contributing to OCD will elucidate underlying mechanisms and might contribute to improved treatment outcomes. Genomic studies of OCD are beginning to reveal long-sought risk loci, but >95% of the cases currently in analysis are of homogenous European ancestry. If not addressed, this Eurocentric bias will result in OCD genomic findings being more accurate for individuals of European ancestry than other ancestries, thereby contributing to health disparities in potential future applications of genomics. In this study protocol paper, we …

The Great Latino Unchurching : Reaching Latinos In A Secular Age, AndréS Zelaya

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Physical Activity Policies At National And Subnational Levels: A Study In Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, And Mexico, Juliana Mejía Grueso, Michael Pratt, Eugen Resendiz, Deborah Salvo, Gloria Isabel Niño Cruz, Nubia Yaneth Ruiz Gómez, Rafael Alexander Leandro Gómez, Inés Revuelta Sánchez, Gerardo Alonso Araya Vargas, Angélica María Ochoa Avilés, Raúl Francisco Pérez Tasigchana, Alejandra Jáuregui, Pedro C Hallal, Andrea Ramírez Varela

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: National physical activity (PA) policy processes are only beginning to be studied in Latin America, and little attention has focused at the subnational level. This study examined national-subnational relations in the policy process (agenda setting, policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation) in selected Latin American countries.

Methods: The Global Observatory for Physical Activity's (GoPA!) INTEGRATE-PA-Pol tool was applied in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Mexico. Data were collected in matched pairs of the capital plus one noncapital city among national and subnational policymakers (n = 27), previously identified by the GoPA! Country Contacts. PA policy development and implementation were …

Notes From The Field - Conference Proceedings, Summer Fellows 2023, Center For Latin American, Caribbean, And Latino Studies (Clacls)

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

CLACLS features proceedings papers from the CLACLS Fellows Showcase, held on November 2nd. This day-long event showcased the research and fieldwork results of Summer Fellows, who offered presentations on their projects funded by the CLACLS Summer Fellowship. The showcase was curated into four panels: 'Bodies in Resistance,' 'Ecocritical Approaches to Latin America,' 'Migration & Diasporic Experiences,' and 'Inequality: An Intersectional Approach.'

Bukele’S Formula For Terrorism, Yovani E. Chavez Rodriguez

Journal of Strategic Security

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the Mara Barrio 18 (18thStreet Gang) are two of the most notorious Maras. Their army-sized membership and extraordinary levels of brutality once led them to commit more murders than the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram, and Al Qaeda. Currently, their activities have expanded to the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. While they are undoubtedly terrorist organizations, Bukele’s formula has proven effective in combating them. Nonetheless, Bukele’s government needs to implement measures to effectively counteract terrorism without affecting the rule of law, transparency, and the respect of human rights.

Defrosting Regulatory Chill, Guillermo J. Garcia Sanchez

Faculty Scholarship

In Homer’s Odyssey, King Odysseus asked his men to tie him to the mast of his ship with the hope that he would not jump into the sea after listening to the Sirens. The Odyssey’s hero made a pact to bind himself in the future. He knew that the temptation would be impossible to resist without restraints. Similarly, the creators and advocates of international investment agreements believe that providing rights to foreign investors through international treaties will chill State policies that would harm the interests of investors in the future. The “rope” to tie the State is the threat of …

Indigenous Biocentric Law Against A Legacy Of Violence: Chilean Water Regulation, Free Trade With The Eu, And Violations Of Mapuche And Aymara Rights To Water, Joseph Jonathan Edward Simard

LLM Theses

Assertions of Mapuche and Aymara law in defence of waters are hampered by a legacy of state violence, and continued appropriation of Indigenous worldviews under commodified conceptions of nature. I interrogate and analyze the connection between Chile’s water market regime, natural resource extraction, water scarcity, and free trade and foreign investment. Chile’s Water Code facilitates water-intensive agribusiness, mineral extraction, and salmon aquaculture as part of export-oriented economy. At the same time, free trade agreements signed with EU countries knowingly encourage overextraction of water and natural resources. I argue in favour of grassroots movements toward land restitution and jurisdiction as solution. …

Interviews In Global Catholic Studies: Richard Wood, Mathew N. Schmalz, Richard Wood

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Protecting Human Rights In The Americas: The Continuous Role Of The Inter- American Commission On Human Rights, Claudio Grossman

Contributions to Books

The Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) fosters structural transformations throughout the Americas. This collection of analyses builds upon the studies on Ius Constitutionale Commune en América Latina and Latin American transformative constitutionalism to map out both the ground-level human rights impact of the IAHRS and the institutional characteristics that have enabled such fundamental changes in social reality. The volume starts with essays framing the concept and context of IAHRS impact. Then it navigates thematic analyses on specific rights and types of violations that are front and center to the protection of human rights in Latin America. The concluding essays explore …

Central Banks And Monetary Policy In Historical Perspective, Matias Vernengo, Esteban Pérez Caldentey

Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Security, Stability, Or Both? Peru's Complexities In Detaining German Peruvians, Brissa Campos Toscano

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

The United States established internment camps during World War II, detaining families from Latin American Countries for national security, with a focus on German, Italian, and Japanese ethnicities (Roosevelt 1941). However, German ethnicity families living in Latin America who were taken to internment camps in Crystal City, Texas, are less visible in history, Jane Jarboe Russell’s book “The Train to Crystal City” made some of the internees’ stories more visible. I will contend that the principal reason for Peru’s collaboration in the U.S-Latin American Internment Program was to obtain economic, political and social benefits from the United States which would …

Navigating Boundaries: Challenges And Strategies In Exhibiting Brazilian Art Globally, Bruna Ribeiro Schnor

MA Theses

This thesis critically evaluates key initiatives in New York from 2002 to 2023, notably "Brazil: Body and Soul" and "Tarsila do Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in Brazil" at institutions like the Guggenheim and MoMA, highlighting potential shortcomings in representing Brazilian culture accurately. Additionally, it discusses exhibitions like "Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca: Five Times Brazil" at the New Museum and “The Yanomami Struggle” at The Shed for their unique approaches to showcasing Brazilian art. The methodology involves analyzing significant exhibitions in New York from 2000 to 2023, evaluating their efforts to globalize Brazilian art, and understanding their global impact. …

Love And Solitude In Latin America: An Actor’S Take, Performing Graciela In Diatriba De Amor Para Un Hombre Sentado By Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Claudia C. Sevilla

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this thesis I take a journey through twentieth century Latin America through inhabiting the role of Graciela created by the late great Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his only work of theatre. Through detailed historical research I explore human topics such as marriage and isolation embodied in Graciela that in a sense mirror a people and a continent. The challenges of producing a play with no budget or partners and the freedoms and constraints of performing a one-person show, which included an audience that does not speak the language the play is written in. How does an actor adapt to …

Cooking In The Past And For The Future In Latin America, Clare A. Sammells

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Priorities For Pan-American Geography Education: Needs And Trends, Alex Oberle, Fabian Araya, Sandra Alvarez

Faculty Publications

Geography education research in Latin America is uneven in terms of its thematic focus and country-level contributions. Research demonstrates the necessity for a region-wide prioritization of geography education themes that builds on existing scholarship and adapts to emerging needs and trends. The Pan-American Institute for Geography and History, a scholarly society, established a research team with a four-year charge of advancing geography education in the region. Titled “Geographic Literacy for the Countries of the Americas”, the initiative develops research agendas that encompass the diversity of definitions and criteria, scholarly activities, and curricular resources across countries. The purpose of this study …

Age Of Autism Diagnosis In Latin American And Caribbean Countries, Cecilia Montiel-Nava, María Cecilia Montenegro, Ana C. Ramirez, Daniel Valdez, Analía Rosoli, Ricardo Garcia, Gabriela Garrido, Sebastián Cukier, Alexia Rattazzi, Cristiane Silvestre Paula

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

An earlier diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder might lead to an earlier intervention, yet knowledge and awareness of autism spectrum disorder in Latin America and Caribbean Countries are limited. A later autism spectrum disorder diagnosis has been associated with negative consequences, as it might imply later access to services. This study aims to identify factors associated with the age of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis as reported by 2520 caregivers of autistic children from six Latin America and Caribbean Countries. Results indicate that on average, caregivers were concerned about their child’s development by 22 months of age; however, the diagnosis was …

Housing Markets, Residential Preferences And Segregation: Unraveling Spatial Dynamics In Quito, Ecuador, Felipe Miguel Valdez Gomez De La Torre

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Housing issues in cities paradoxically manifest as growing inaccessibility and an oversupply with high prices. Urban public policies have been insufficient to reverse this pattern because they fail to address its root cause: the socio-spatial process resulting in uneven development. This dissertation starts with the premise that housing problems are not isolated but intricately linked to social dynamics and spatial configurations.Latin American cities represent a particular case study due to their high degree of urbanization combined with high inequality, leading to unique and highly segregated urban forms such as self-built settlements and gated communities in close proximity. We take the …

Quisieron Enterrarnos, Pero No Sabían Que Éramos Semillas: The Ayotzinapa 43 And The Historical Legacy Of Las Escuelas Normales Rurales, 1921-2014, Noah A. García

Masters Theses

In September of 2014, forty-three normalistas from the Escuela de Ayotzinapa were forcibly disappeared. While their whereabouts remain unknown, the attacks and subsequential forced disappearances is but one of many attacks the escuela normal rural has faced since its formation in 1926. This thesis traces the development of rural education in the post-revolutionary Mexican State and how its development provides insight into the 2014 forced disappearances. Additionally, I examine how the Escuela de Ayotzinapa’s legacy of a socialist education has historically been opposed. During its early years of operation, this form of education was predominantly challenged by conservatives and Catholics. …