Latin American Studies Commons^™

El Terror Y El Ritual: Estudio De Los Festivales De Cine De Terror En México, Luis Jesús Quiñones Beltrán

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Esta investigación contribuye al campo de los estudios de festivales de cine, cine de género y representaciones simbólicas del miedo. Analiza el papel de los festivales de cine de terror en México como espacios de construcción simbólica, circulación cultural y resignificación del miedo. A partir de un enfoque cualitativo basado en entrevistas a organizadores de festivales y cineastas colaboradores, se examina cómo estos festivales configuran experiencias colectivas en torno al terror a través de prácticas rituales, afectivas y culturales. Se retoman conceptos como el capitalismo gore, necro-máquina y contra-máquina para contextualizar la investigación. Se utilizan categorías de los estudios de …

The Eugenic Sterilization Of Puerto Rican Women: A Case Of Us Interests And Religious/Spiritual Freedom, Anique Y. Jones

International Studies (MA) Theses

Between the 1930s and 1970s, approximately one-third of Puerto Rican women of childbearing age (20–49) were sterilized— the highest rate in the world during that time. Driven by U.S. political and economic interests, and underpinned by eugenic ideology, Governor Blanton Winship and President Franklin D. Roosevelt championed sterilization as a solution to the island’s perceived "overpopulation" and its associated problems: unemployment, disease, and poverty. While Puerto Rican women were exploited as instruments of U.S. policy, sterilization paradoxically became widely accepted as a form of birth control on the island. This thesis critically examines the power dynamics and collective responses that …

A Tale Of Two Faiths: Contemporary Protestantism In The Spanish-Speaking Catholic World, Jackson B. Mitchell

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the shifting religious landscape of the Spanish-speaking Catholic world through the lens of Protestant growth, particularly Pentecostal and Evangelical movements. Beginning with a historical account of Spain’s Catholic hegemony and its colonial export of Catholicism to Latin America, the study traces how Latin America’s religious identity has gradually diverged from its Spanish roots. Over the past half-century, Protestantism has grown rapidly across Latin America, challenging Catholic dominance and reshaping the region’s spiritual and social fabric.

The thesis then turns back to Spain, where rising immigration from Latin America and changing cultural dynamics have facilitated the reintroduction of …

Translation And Migration, Utopia And Dystopia: Representations Of The Labor Of Cultural Mediation In Fictional Eastern Europe And The Real Us-Mexico Border, James L. Richie Iv

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

With the publication of Moira Inghilleri’s book, Translation and Migration (2017), the linguistic act of translation and the social phenomenon of migration have been linked in the world of interdisciplinary studies, yet this linkage may obscure the relevance of works in which only one phenomenon (translation or migration) is presented. A case study in which a work exploring migration can be contrasted with a work exploring the function of translation may reveal in one another the social forces that condition both practices. In Lucas Pope’s independently created video game Papers Please (2014), the player embodies a border patrol agent in …

Los Muxes De Juchitán: Resistance, Identity, And Expressions Of Gender In The Zapotec Culture, Leah Mack

Audre Lorde Prize

This work is a cultural analysis of the Indigenous Zapotec third-gender community in Juchitán, México called the muxes. It examines the historical context that explains how the muxes have survived the process of Spanish colonization: a history of resistance and pride in their Indigenous identities. This essay also explains the European norms of the gender binary and how the norms in Juchitán are different and unique. Then, it analyzes a few cultural spaces that are important to the Zapotec Indigenous identity and the gender identity of the muxes, such as the market and the festive celebrations known as Las Velas. …

Navigating Change: The Migration Experiences Of Post-2017 Cuban Migrants In Tampa Bay, Julissa Maria Ramirez Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the migration experiences of Cuban migrants who relocated to Tampa Bay following the termination of the “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy in 2017. Through semi-structured interviews and a comprehensive literature review, the study examines the interplay between historical and contemporary factors, including U.S.-Cuban relations, shifting legal frameworks, and policy changes. It delves into migrants' motivations, their navigation of complex immigration processes, and their social and economic integration into Tampa Bay. A comparative analysis highlights the differences between pre-2017 and post-2017 migration pathways, emphasizing the heightened risks and uncertainties faced by recent migrants. The findings underscore the critical …

Syncretic Spirits / Espíritus Sincréticos, Angelica Tapia - Estrada

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Syncretic Spirits / Espíritus Sincréticos is a multimedia exhibition that invites viewers into a fantastical space where cultural identity and perception intertwine. Colorful shaped panels, sculptural installations, prints, and drawings bridge physical and metaphysical realms. Personal archetypes intuitively inspired by natural forms drive the work.

Influenced by the dualities of my upbringing as a first-generation Mexican American, I was immersed in Mexican culture through my family traditions while finding a home in the nurturing embrace of the heartland. The work has become a means of reclaiming a new layered sense of self, disentangling from my Catholic upbringing, embracing indigenous healing …

Truth, Reconciliation, And Neoliberalism: Remembering And Forgetting Pinochet’S Chile, Aimee Leigh Gallagher

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………..................4

III. Primary Documents and Headnotes.....26

IV. Textbook Critique……………….............36

V. Textbook Entry…………………………....42

The Third Revolution: How The Haitian Revolution Redefined The Age Of Revolution, Cedric Rule-Becker

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay.................................2

II. Primary Source Documents............15

III. Textbook Critique...........................25

IV. New Textbook Entry.......................28

Cultural Model Of Indigenous Custom Marriage, Maria G. Stapleton

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines and documents the tradition of Indigenous Custom Marriage (ICM) practiced in a semi-rural community in central Mexico. The arrival of Spaniards to Mesoamerica during the sixteenth century brought new forms of marriage to the region, those of the Christian religion and of the Spanish crown’s laws. While these new forms slowly gained acceptance, the traditional pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican form of getting married has endured over the intervening centuries up through the present. This traditional form of marriage is not monolithic, but shows variation across the diverse ethnic groups, communities, and geographic regions of Mesoamerica. The community studied, Tlanalapa, …

Moral Bonds, Modern Subjects: Pecúlio, Property Rights, And The Abolition Of Slavery In Rio De Janeiro, 1822-1888, Alexander Joseph Lundberg

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of enslaved persons’ savings for self-purchase manumission (pecúlio) within the process of gradual abolition in the province of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Article IV of the 1871 Rio Branco Law granted enslaved persons in Brazil the legal ownership of their savings and, with those savings, the right to purchase freedom. Article IV supplemented the “free womb” provision of the Rio Branco Law, which declared that all children henceforth born to enslaved mothers were free. In the Brazilian Parliament, the law’s proponents argued that the savings provision would help reduce the enslaved population by codifying long-standing …

Armed By Design: Posters And Publications Of Cuba's Organization Of Solidarity Of The Peoples Of Asia, Africa, And Latin America (Ospaaal), Jen Hoyer, Lani Hanna, Josh Macphee, Vero Ordaz, Sarah Seidman

Publications and Research

This book reflects on the intersection of graphic design and political solidarity work of OSPAAAL, the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Based in Havana, Cuba, OSPAAAL produced nearly 500 posters, magazines, and books beginning in the late sixties. Their output provides one of the most robust examples of political design ever seen; it offers a wealth of opportunities for thinking about how design is—and could be—deployed today in the search for more egalitarian social transformation.

Armed By Design brings together artists and thinkers from around the world whose work has been impacted by …

¿Qué Dijo El Médico?: Creating A Procedural Preparation Booklet For Spanish-Speaking Patients And Families In The Pediatric Hospital Setting, Caitlyn Bockbrader

Honors Projects

The purpose of my Honors Project is to demonstrate the need for and creation of a resource that supports Spanish-speaking children’s ability to cope through commonly stressful medical procedures. In developing this project, I conducted a literature review on the efficacy of preparation booklets in lessening pre-procedural anxiety, cultural considerations for the Hispanic community, and current barriers to equitable language access in healthcare settings. My final product was designed to answer the following question: How can the psychosocial outcomes of Spanish-speaking children in U.S. hospitals be improved through the use of Child Life procedural preparation materials? In answering this question, …

Perspectivas De Liderazgo En La Frontera: Un Anã¡Lisis De Las Experiencias De Los Presidentes Y Cónsules De El Paso Y Ciudad Juã¡Rez, Horacio Estavillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ciudad Juárez y El Paso son el reflejo de México y Estados Unidos a nivel municipal, sin embargo, esta unión de ciudades a nivel fronterizo abre las puertas a oportunidades únicas al igual que desafíos significativos, los cuales pueden ser el resultado de las relaciones macro de ambos países, pero también de ambas ciudades. Por lo tanto, las ciudades fronterizas son el ejemplo de una amalgama de representación local y binacional, ya que los líderes que se encuentran en estas ciudades; como cónsules generales, y presidentes municipales, reflejan no solo la personificación de la ciudad, sino también el símbolo e …

Racing Latinidad, Renee Hudson

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

This chapter argues that the terms “Latinx” and “latinidad” are messy signifiers that allow us to contend with Latinx’s complicated racial history. While the term Latinx continues to be controversial, and scholars such as Tatiana Flores have examined the case for cancelling latinidad, “Racing Latinidad” points to how latinidad can signify particular political commitments and affinities. Through readings of Manuel Muñoz’s What You See in the Dark (2011) and Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa’s Daughters of the Stone (2009), this chapter illuminates how excavating racial histories outside the logic of the state is a way to summon a politics to imagine a people. …

La Voz Fall 2024, El Instituto: Institute Of Latina/O, Caribbean, And Latin American Studies

La Voz

In this issue: 

• Welcome New Faculty
• A Profile of the Puerto Rican Studies Initiative
• In Memoriam, Willie Matos
• Seed Grant Lecture Series
• New Perspectives in Latin American and Latine studies Conference
• Spotlight:  Mark Overmyer‑Velázquez, in “Construyendo la ciudad disciplinada: Oaxaca de Juárez durante el Porfiriato” (2024)

El Único Pecado De Chepita Rodriguez, Maria G. Vielma

Regeneración: A Xicanacimiento Studies Journal

Cuento.

Burn The Sympathy, Gabino Noriega Iii

Regeneración: A Xicanacimiento Studies Journal

Poem

Curanderismo, Gabino Noriega Iii

Regeneración: A Xicanacimiento Studies Journal

N/A

Peace Bishops: Lessons From Dom Hélder Câmara In Brazil: Inquiry, Teaching, And Aesthetics, Louis Edgar Esparza

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay explains how Dom Hélder Câmara, archbishop of Olinda and Recife, used the traditions of critical inquiry, Catholic social teaching, and cultural aesthetics to advocate for the poor in the northeast of Brazil during the military dictatorship of 1964-1985. It details the adversity that Câmara and others in his position faced, providing some historical context for those events. Drawing from social movement and theological sources, the article then proceeds to highlight critical inquiry, Catholic social teaching, and cultural aesthetics as driving forces in Câmara’s work.

Border Soundscapes: Latinidad, Belonging, And Sense Of Place In The Paso Del Norte Region., Josã© Manuel Flores Fuentes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores the acoustic ecologies of the Juárez-El Paso border, investigating how soundscapes shape and reflect the cultural identity, sense of belonging, and sense of place within this unique transnational region. Guided by the theoretical lenses of belonging (Kohut, Tajfel, Turner, Hooks), sense of place (Feld & Basso), and habitus (Bourdieu), the research takes a phenomenological approach, informed by Merleau-Ponty's concepts of perception and Ceraso's notion of embodied listening. The study analyzes soundscape samples through Krause's categories of biophonies, geophonies, and anthropophonies, uncovering how these sounds contribute to the development of Latino identity and cultural cohesion in the borderlands.Focusing …

Carrying Meaning, Bridging Worlds: Indigenous Language Localization In Western Courts, Nora K. Rivera

English Faculty Articles and Research

This work examines the localization practices of Indigenous court interpreters through prototyping and analyzing legal glossaries in eight Indigenous languages from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. These languages are often needed in Mexican courts and immigration court hearings in the United States. Thus, examining the localization praxes of the court interpreters who use them can provide important intercultural technical and professional communication insights in global contexts. I compare the preliminary results of this ongoing study with the court interpreters' code of ethics from the State of California to demonstrate how Western court assumptions about language interpretation cause gaps between worldviews. …

“I Tell Them Generics, But Not The Specifics”: Exploring Tensions Underlying Familial Support For First-Generation Latinx Undergraduate Students, Stephany Cuevas

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Families continue to play an essential role in the experiences of first-generation Latinx undergraduate students and can serve as powerful partners to support student retention and socioemotional wellbeing. This qualitative phenomenological study uses the notion of emerging adulthood to explore how first-generation Latinx undergraduate students (n = 16) conceptualize their families’ role in their college education. Specifically, this study shows that while students describe feeling supported by their families, they also experience distinct and unique tensions tied to this support, which students associate with their first-generation student status. These tensions include (1) the family’s unfamiliarity with college culture; (2) bidirectional …

Replication And Growth In Cassava Cultivation And Uxorilocal Women’S Relations Among The Waiwai: A Mother's Reckoning With Death And Social Change, Laura H. Mentore

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

Through an ethnographic examination of the shared capacities of cassava and womanhood for what I term growth and replication, I argue that Waiwai sociality seeks to curtail the trajectory of life towards finite death through the intervening act of cutting and replanting or replicating life in a vegetatively inspired form of the “episodic present” (Strathern 2021). An extended vignette demonstrates how these features of Waiwai sociality take shape in mother-daughter and sister relations at the core of uxorilocal residential living, and in a senior woman’s reckonings with illness, death, and social change.

Food, Memory, And Cuban Society: Unraveling Trauma, Traditions, And Future Imaginaries In Havana, Mallory Cerkleski

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

This paper delves into the intricate interplay of food scarcity and memory in contemporary Havana, Cuba, drawing on a period of immersive fieldwork conducted in the summer of 2022. Situating itself amidst the lived experiences of diverse Cubans, the study examines the enduring impact of historical challenges, particularly the Special Period, on present-day perceptions and experiences. Employing an oral history methodology rooted in collective memory theory, the research explores how food serves as a potent medium for encapsulating past experiences and shaping future imaginaries. Through oral narratives spanning from 1941 to 2022, the paper uncovers diverse memories and emotions associated …

Du Undergraduate Showcase Abstracts: Research, Scholarship, And Creative Works, August Alexander, Kevin Summers, E. Paige Lloyd, Alyssa Aragon, Lauren Wols, Erica Larson, Colton Arciniaga, Lily Baeza, Ellie Barnett-Cashman, Sidney Barbier, Maverick Bartholomew, Ryan Bell, Trevor Briggs, Amanda Brown, Cory Marchi, Maddy Pontius, Jennifer Gallagher, Claire Kwok, Channing Bullock, Alex Mccollister, Kim Gorgens, Daniela Chavez, Yamilet Espinoza Nuñez, Giovanni Valladares Giron, William Christensen, Olivia Kachulis, Daniel Cierasynski, Brandon Cohen, Spenser Dobbs, Lindsay Goolsby, Noah Craver, Nyah Cubbison, Liam Doherty, Nicole Doris, Yan Qin, Alexander Nguyen, Lily Harmon, Shubh Todi, Naichen Zhao, Noah Fagello, Stacia Fritz, Paola Gascot-Chinea, Alex Volkova, Janelyn Geronimo, Elsie Harrington, Shane Simmons, Clarice Hise, Laura Moreno Palmer, Henry Xu, Yesu Leela Pasupula, Emily Fisher, Zachary Hogan, Colin Kleckner, Alyssa Knaus, Erin Kubat, Sam Werkema, Katie Lamberton, Lilliya Larson, Allie Leary, Vanessa Leon-Gamez, James H. Gallagher, E. Dale Broder, Robin M. Tinghitella, Emma Loeber, Alina Mali, Ixchel Marquez, Lauren Mcgrath, Ella Matthews, Grace Naegelen, Audrey Ng, Megan Lucyshyn, Rachel Brough, Alexandra Norman, Joe Ontiveros Rodriguez, Ben Dossett, Ori Miller, Janamejay Sharma, Christopher Reardon, Vincent Pandey, Regan Parish, Ren Pratt, Alisha Pravasi, Sanchari Das, Cari Reichel, Emma Robson, Victoria Rockwell, Jayce Rumsey, Steven Said, Norah Schroder, Alaina Smith, Shannon Murphy, Shujan A. Sharafeldeen, Stanley M. Kanai, James T. Nichols, David E. Clouthier, Macalia R. Augustus, Daniel Silva Rios, Scott Simpson, Anna Sparling, Chase Spurbeck, Kimberly Chiew, Christine Stadnik-Poteroba, Jacqueline Stephenson, Evelyn Stovin, Mia Supan, Lauren Tapper, Will Thrush, Anna Vogt, Michaela Walheim, Jon Weber, Hunter Whitehouse, Kansas Wood, Hayley Sayre, Lydia Mccann, Maread Mclaughlin, Kelly Krumrie, Olivia Wuttke

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Abstracts from the DU Undergraduate Research Showcase.

Taking The Bang Out Of The Gang: The Impact Of Catholic Schools On Gang Homicides In El Salvador, Ann Jillian Villanueva Adona

Master's Theses

This study explores the impact of Catholic presence on homicide rates in El Salvador, specifically focusing on the role of Catholic schools in reducing violence in gang-afflicted municipalities. Analyzing municipality-level data from various years, I used Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variable (IV) regressions to study the association between school enrollment and homicide rates. Results show that higher enrollment in Catholic schools is linked to a reduction in homicide rates in gang-affected areas, contrasting with an increase in homicides for non-religious schools. This research sheds light on the importance of investing in Catholic education as a strategy for violence …

Latinx Revolutionary Horizons: Form And Futurity In The Americas, Renee Hudson

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

In Latinx Revolutionary Horizons, Renee Hudson theorizes a liberatory latinidad that is not yet here and conceptualizes a hemispheric project in which contemporary Latinx authors return to earlier moments of revolution. Rather than viewing Latinx as solely a category of identification, she argues for an expansive, historicized sense of the term that illuminates its political potential.

Claiming the “x” in Latinx as marking the suspension and tension between how Latin American descended people identify and the future politics the “x” points us toward, Hudson contends that latinidad can signal a politics grounded in shared struggles and histories rather than …

Peace, Power, And Precarity: Examining Brazil’S Potential As An Emerging Global And Regional Leader, Mackenzie A. Berwick

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Brazil is poised to emerge as a critical player in the Southern Hemisphere. The nation’s economic success has been accompanied by efforts to play a prominent role in international peace and security. This financial dynamism has offered the country a degree of legitimacy on issues of global trade and energy. However, a protracted social conflict in Rio De Janeiro’s favelas threatens that status. Brazil cannot access international esteem and influence without addressing its domestic situation. This paper applies Edward Azar’s protracted social conflict theory to reveal an internal state of disorder in Brazilian favelas that impairs the nation’s ability to …

Lived Experiences, Migration Journey, Religiosity, And Spirituality Depicted In Drawings By Latino Children And Youth Crossing The U.S. Mexican Border: A Qualitative Study., Doroty Magalhaes Sato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Widespread violence forces thousands of Central American children to endure a hazardous journey toward the U.S. Border seeking refuge. In the Latino community, faith serves as a social movement of resistance against oppression, playing a vital role in migration. There is a paucity of research documenting this experience and children's overall journey. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the lived experience of crossing international borders, religiosity, and spirituality depicted in Latino children's drawings used as coping methods to endure the journey toward the U.S. southern border. This investigation employed Art-based approaches to give voices to children's experiences by analyzing 63 …