Center for the Americas

Over the past year, the Center for the Americas has sponsored events that contribute to changing the way people think about global problems and prospects. These include seminars on elections and democracy in Peru; archeoastronomy of the Inca Empire; literature and politics in Chile and Cuba; Caribbean studies in the areas of history, African and African American studies, literature, and politics; neo-slavery and environmental exploitation in Brazil; the incarceration and sterilization of Mexican immigrants in California; the politics of tourism and culture in Belize; and indigenous struggles for autonomy in Bolivia and Peru.

As part of the University of Oklahoma’s effort to prepare students for a life of success, meaning, service and positive impact, the Center for the Americas contributes to cultivating global perspectives and engagement as an integral part of the OU experience, enhancing the global awareness of all students, faculty and staff. T

he Center for the Americas has strongly promoted the participation of students and faculty in programs that help to cultivate global fluency, collaborating with the Center for Brazil Studies, World Literature Today/Neustadt, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the Schusterman Center for Judaic and Israeli Studies, and the Linguistics Program.

The Center for the Americas has contributed to the development and retention of outstanding students, faculty and staff by building a community of Latin American and Caribbean scholars and students. The Center for the Americas this year also revived the Latin America and Caribbean Paper Award, with prizes given to the two best papers written for an undergraduate course on Latin America and the Caribbean, to promote undergraduate research and scholarship.

The Center for the Americas has been involved in University of Oklahoma research programs, such as the collaborative research being done with the the Global Change and Human Health Institute at the University of San Agustín of Arequipa in Peru, and it has been coordinating with the new Latin American Sustainability Initiative (LASI), which is part of the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Resilient Environmental and Energy Systems (IREES).

Over the next year, we look forward over the next year to continuing our work of supporting faculty and students studying the peoples, cultures, histories, economies, politics, communities, societies, health, resources, environment, energy, climate and international relations of the Americas, with special emphasis on Latin America and the Caribbean. We expect to continue to collaborate with our University of Oklahoma partners, and with other organizations in Oklahoma, the United States, and abroad.

Photo: Director Charlie Kenney, associate professor, Department of Political Science