Vierelina Fernández joined Rutgers University as a Postdoctoral Scholar and Instructor in the Fall of 2024. She obtained her Ph.D. in International Relations from Florida International University in Miami (a city often referred to as the “gateway to Latin America”) shortly before arriving in New Jersey. Her doctoral dissertation was titled “Insurgent Feminism: An Empirical Comparative Analysis of the Colombian FARC and Kurdish PKK-YPG’s Guerrillas’ Contributions to Gender Equality”. Currently, Vierelina is focused on converting her dissertation into a book project. She also teaches two undergraduate courses at Rutgers: Introduction to Latin America (Fall/Spring) and Latin American Feminisms (Spring).

Read on to get to know Vierelina Fernandez a little better, and to get a deeper insight into her research interests, academic goals, and more.

What are your research interests?
Broadly speaking, I am interested in international or global studies, development, political economy, war/violence, and feminism. My area of expertise is Latin America (Mexico and Colombia in particular), but I also have a secondary interest in the Middle East (the Kurdish Middle East in particular). My doctoral dissertation, which I completed just this past summer at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, was an empirical comparative analysis of two guerrillas: the Colombian FARC and Kurdish PKK-YPG.

What will you be doing while at Rutgers?
Over the course of my two (2) year tenure here at Rutgers I intend to first and foremost begin the transition from dissertation to book project. My book project is tentatively titled "Insurgent Feminism" and delves into the feminist contributions, ideologies, and politics of the aforementioned revolutionary fighters from the global south - the contributions of their women fighters in particular. In terms of teaching, I am excited to teach two distinct courses during my time here: Introduction to Latin America and Latin American Feminisms (available Spring only).

What topic are you most looking forward to teaching?
I am actually equally excited for both my courses! Despite my passion for all things feminism, I actually find that teaching the much more varied "Introduction to Latin America" course is a welcome change of pace because it covers a wide range of topics I am equally passionate about. These include: the political economy of Latin America, environmental politics of the region, migration flows, foreign relations of LA countries with other global regions, and much more.

What do you want to accomplish during your postdoctoral appointment?
Aside from making great headway into my book project, I would also like to publish two independent (though related) research articles in high-impact journals. I am excited about the unique data I was able to gather over and the larger theoretical implications of my findings. I think it's time I shared those with the wider academic community.

Have you learned anything interesting or surprising about Rutgers? Anything you're looking forward to exploring?
Before coming here, I had no idea that Rutgers was one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States! I was pleasantly surprised to discover that our university was founded in 1766 and is 1 of only 9 colonial colleges (i.e. colleges founded prior to the American Revolution). I am most looking forward to exploring all of the Northeastern and New England regions. Having spent the last eight years in Miami, this is definitely quite the change. And of course, I love having New York City within commuting distance!

What have you enjoyed so far about New Brunswick or New Jersey overall?
The weather and the seasons! Unlike Miami's eternal summer (which is splendid, don't get me wrong), I have really enjoyed the chilly mornings and evenings here. I love watching the trees slowly turn from forest green into vibrant shades of red, yellow, and orange. I'm a big fan of autumn foliage (and all things autumn in general), so that's something I'm looking forward to for sure.

Sincere thanks to Vierelina Fernandez for participating in this interview. The CLAS community extends a heartfelt welcome and we look forward to reading her work in the future. Vierelina can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and Lucy Stone Hall, Room B-212.

Pictured: Activists, including ​​María Herrera Magdaleno at the mic, on the panel about forced disappearance in Latin America

Every year, the Latin American Studies Association, also known as LASA, hosts a conference in which presenters and academics from all over the world come together to discuss important topics regarding Latin America and the Caribbean. According to LASA, it is the “largest professional association in the world for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America” (lasaweb.org). This year, they hosted a conference in Bogotá, Colombia from June 12 to June 15 titled “Reaction and Resistance: Imagining Possible Futures in the Americas”.

Many Rutgers professors, post-docs, and grad students from New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden had the privilege of being part of this conference. Read on to see the enormous contributions of our Rutgers community to this event.

Involvement in LASA Committees:

• Janice K. Gallagher of Rutgers University - Newark was part of the 2023-2024 Civil Societies and Social Movements Committee.
• Robert Kaufman of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was part of the 2023-2024 Guillermo O’Donnell Democracy Award and Lectureship Committee.

Tuesday, June 11 (Pre-Conference Workshops):

• Marcy E. Schwartz of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the session organizer for the workshop titled “Educación para la construcción de paz en contextos con conflictividad: Dos caras de la moneda” and a presenter for the workshop titled “Presentación de los proyectos públicos ganadores del premio de la Sección”.

Wednesday, June 12:

• Marcy E. Schwartz of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Chair of the Archives, Libraries, and Digital Scholarships Panel titled “Preservando tradición, cultura y memoria en la comunidad”.
• Janice K. Gallagher of Rutgers University - Newark was the Session Organizer and a presenter of the Civil Societies and Social Movements panel titled “Forced Disappearances in Mexico: Collective Responses & the Paradox of State Involvement”. Gallagher’s presentation was Sub-National State-Building & Security in Latin America: The Potential and Power of Victims’ Colectivos. Gallagher was also the Chair for the Law and Justice panel titled “Un diálogo sobre tribunales, constitución, política y movilización”.
• Jennifer Vilchez of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Latinx Studies panel titled “Latinx Trauma, Migration, and Immigrant Experience”. Vilchez’ presentation was Paradoxical Data on Latinas and Immigrant Women.
• Henry M. Maquera Colque of Rutgers University - Division of Global Affairs was a presenter for the Literature and Culture panel titled “Historias que desentrañan historias: Bolivias indígenas en movimientos y narraciones que ponen en crisis la memoria oficial”. Colque’s presentation was State and Indigenous Peoples Relations: The Case of Indigenous Armies in 19TH Century Bolivia.

Pictured: Jennifer Vilchez during her presentation of Paradoxical Data on Latinas and Immigrant Women

Thursday, June 13:

• Ariela Parisi of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Session Organizer and a presenter of the Resistencias colectivas, futuros imaginados en las Américas panel titled “Multitemporalidades en la ficción especulativa latinoamericana - Parte 1” and the Chair of Parte 2. Parisi’s presentation was Un futuro de muchos futuros: Futurismos indígenas en el fin del mundo.
• Ana I. Llurba of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Chair and a presenter of the Resistencias colectivas, futuros imaginados en las Américas panel titled “Multitemporalidades en la ficción especulativa latinoamericana - Parte 1” and the Session Organizer of Parte 2. Llurba’s presentation was La literatura como antropología especulativa: Historia profunda e imaginación geofísica en "Plop", de Rafael Pinedo.
• Maureen M. Donaghy of Rutgers University - Camden was the Chair and a presenter of the Urban Studies panel titled “Participación, agencia y ciudad”. Donaghy’s presentation was More Than a Roof and Four Walls: Participatory Housing Programs in Comparative Perspective.
• Johana Londoño of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Session Organizer and a presenter of the Latinx Studies roundtable titled “Editing U.S. Colombianx Studies”. 
• Ulla D. Berg of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Authors(s) and Books Presentation titled “Antropologías visuales latinoamericanas: Genealogías, investigación y enseñanza".

Pictured: Johana Londoño in the background as a virtual presenter; other presenters in foreground

Friday, June 14:

• Carolina Sánchez of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Chair and a presenter of the Section Sessions roundtable titled “¿Derechos de la naturaleza?: Límites, posibilidades y alternativas de la justicia ambiental en Colombia”.
• Maria Clara B. Machado Campello of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Literature and Culture panel titled “Otros acercamientos a la literatura latinoamericana”. Campello’s presentation was The Decolonial Perspectives of Carolina Maria de Jesus and Françoise Ega.
• Camila Belliard of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Section Sessions panel titled “Gendered and Linguistic Violence and Resistance in the Dominican Republic”. Belliard’s presentation was Black and Trans Women Embodying Resistance in the Dominican Republic: Lived Experience and Tactics of Getting By from the Margins.
• Ulla D. Berg of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Invited Speakers roundtable titled “Migraciones forzadas y desplazamiento en las Américas”.
• Andrea Marston of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Author(s) and Books Presentation titled "The Labor of Extraction in Latin America".

Saturday, June 15:

• Andrea Restrepo-Mieth of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Session Organizer and a presenter for the Urban Studies panel titled “Ciudades, derechos y reclamos”. Restrepo-Mieth’s presentation was Subnational Water and Sanitation Initiatives: An Analysis of the Emergence of Lifeline Programs in Colombia.
• Dario H. Vasquez Padilla of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Chair and a presenter for the Race and Ethnicities panel titled “Debates en torno a las reparaciones históricas para pueblos afrodescendientes hacia un nuevo orden global”. Padilla’s presentation was Historical Reparations for African Descent in Latin America: Toward a New Racial Contract?
• Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn of Rutgers University - Camden was a presenter for the Colombia: desafíos actuales y futuros posibles panel titled “Transiciones políticas, democracia y corrupción en Colombia”. Okulicz-Kozaryn’s presentation was Colombia: Unlivable but Happy. Fool’s Paradise?
• Ryan B. Pinchot of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants Epistemologies and Knowledge panel titled “Ecologías y resistencias amazónicas: Una mirada de las producciones culturales indígenas”. Pinchot’s presentation was La palabra, la cosa y la Gente de Centro: Hacia un cine amazónico de ensamblaje.
• Daniela Mosquera of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Environment, Nature, and Climate Change panel titled “Ecología política de las transiciones: ¿Es posible pensar una implantación justa de la transición energética en América Latina? - Parte 1”. Mosquera’s presentation was Complejidades y aprendizajes de la Transición Energética (Justa) en Colombia en el marco del posacuerdo de Paz:.
• Emma Oslé of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Latinx Studies panel titled “Latinx Art, Media, and Music”. Oslé’s presentation was After-Birth: Picturing Other Mothers and Separations in Latinx Art.
• Alexander Liebman of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was a presenter for the Feminism and Gender Studies panel titled “Medioambiente, resistencias indígenas y territorialidades feministas - Parte II”. Liebman’s presentation was Comité de Mujeres, Queer Space, and Gendered Politics of Land, Memory, and Conflict beyond the Campesina Woman.
• Clive Echague of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Session Organizer, Chair, and a presenter for the Migration and Refugees panel titled “Migration and Transnationalism - Part I”. Echague’s presentation was The “Migration Crisis” in Chile: Between Border Anxieties and the Authority Restitution.
• Alberto E. Sosa-Cabanas of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Chair and a presenter for the Race and Ethnicities panel titled “Pensamientos emancipatorios, imaginarios y representaciones raciales en Cuba y Colombia”. Sosa-Cabanas’ presentation was Lachatañaré en las fronteras del imaginario insular.
• Diana A. Iturralde of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Session Organizer and a presenter for the Arts, Music, and Performance Studies panel titled “Descentrar el canon: Perspectivas críticas sobre el modernismo artístico en el área andina”. Iturralde’s presentation was Visualizar el “país amazónico:” La pintura de Gustavo Toaquiza Ugsha como herramienta de resistencia ambiental andinoamazónica.
• Marcy E. Schwartz of Rutgers University - New Brunswick was the Session Organizer and a presenter for the Literature Studies 20th/21st Centuries roundtable titled “Leer en los tiempos de medios desbordantes”.

In addition to the panels, LASA handed out awards to several academics, one of them being our very own Janice K. Gallagher of Rutgers University Newark. Gallagher won the award “Premio al Mejor Libro en Ciencias Sociales” for her book Bootstrap Justice: The Search for Mexico's Disappeared.

Pictured: Janice K. Gallagher accepting her LASA award for her book Bootstrap Justice

The Conference of Latin American Geography (CLAG) was held from May 22-26 in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Several Rutgers academics were in attendance as panelists, organizers, and presenters. Below you’ll find more details about these professors, as well as the titles of their presentations, if applicable. 

Wednesday, May 22:

• Daniela Mosquera was a presenter for the panel titled “Environmental Justice”. Mosquera’s presentation was Lessons and Complexities of a (Just) Energy Transition in Post-Peace-Agreement Colombia.
• Andrea Marston was an organizer and a presenter for the panel titled “Mining and Extractivism in Latin America I”. Mason’s presentation was Real Money: Geopolitics, Monetary Policy, and Gold Rushes in the Bolivian Amazon. Marston was also an organizer and discussant for the panel titled “Mining and Extractivism in Latin America II”.

Thursday, May 23:

• Andrea Marston was a discussant for the Book Review Panel titled “Andrea Marston’s Subterranean Matters: Cooperative Mining and Resource Nationalism in Plurinational Bolivia”. Marston was also the organizer and chair of the panel titled “Mining and Extractivism in Latin America III”.
• Nia Cambridge was a presenter for the panel titled “Climate Change: Perceptions and Actions”. Cambridge’s presentation was Pirates of the Caribbean?: The Financialization of Ocean Conservation in the Caribbean.
• Daniela Mosquera was a presenter for the panel titled “Geographies of Amazonia: Dynamism in Landscapes & Livelihoods IV”. Mosguera’s presentation, alongside other non-Rutgers affiliated scholars, was Political Economy of Land and Green Grabbing in the ‘Aftermatch’ of Armed Conflicts: Insights from the Colombian Amazon.

Friday, May 24:

• Laurian Rosa was a presenter for the panel titled “Urbanization”. Rosa’s presentation was Decadencia Y Desarrollo: Los Legados Coloniales en Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.
• Andrea Marston was an organizer for the panel titled “Author meets critics and compañer@s. Disrupting the patrón: Indigenous land rights and the fight for environmental justice in Paraguay’s Chaco”. Marston was also an organizer, chair, and panelist for the panel titled “Book Series Launch: Critical Geographies of Latin American and the Caribbean”.
• Jamie C. Gagliano was a presenter for the panel titled “Political Ecologies of Agriculture in Latin America II”. Gagliano’s presentation was Greening the Paramilitary Zone: The Pursuit of “Sustainable Development” in Concepción, Paraguay.

From left to right: Laurian Rosa, Jamie Gagliano, Daniela Mosquera-Camacho, Nia Cambridge, Andrea Marston

The Rutgers/Puerto Rico Archival Collaboration Receives Major Funding from the Mellon Foundation

The Rutgers/Puerto Rico Archival Collaboration, Directed by Prof. Aldo Lauria Santiago, is proud to announce that the Mellon Foundation, (Mellon.org) through its Presidential Initiatives, has awarded a million dollar grant to support the work of the PRAC over the next three years. This funding will enhance the ongoing efforts to preserve and make accessible important archival collections and periodical publications from Puerto Rico. The Grant also provides support for the training of young scholars in the humanities.

Project Overview

In March 2022, Professor Aldo Lauria-Santiago, Director of the Rutgers University Center for Latin American Studies, began a major collaboration with sister institutions in Puerto Rico. This project aims to preserve crucial historical materials and facilitate research on Puerto Rico’s history. The PRAC began with the Colección Puertorriqueña of the University of Puerto Rico Library, its Digital Collections held at the Colección Digital Puertorriqueña, and the General Archive and National Library of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña.

Expanding Partnerships and Funding

Since its inception, the PRAC has attracted numerous partners, significantly bolstering its impact:

• Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades: Extended digitization work at the General Archive of Puerto Rico (AGPR).
• Arte Público Press’s Latino Digital Humanities Program: Supported the inclusion of migration-related materials in the digitization efforts at the AGPR.
• Collaborations: Partnerships with the Yale Program in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration, the University of Connecticut’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative, and contributions from Professors Zaire Dinzey Flores and Ismael Garcia Colon.

Mellon Foundation Grant

The Mellon Foundation’s generous grant will further advance these efforts, supporting the preservation and accessibility of Puerto Rican archival materials. This funding will enable PRAC to:

• Create and make accessible guides, finding aids and catalogs.
• Expand the sites of collaborations beyond the AGPR and Colección Puertorriqueña of the UPR Library
• Enhance digitization of valuable collections.
• Train and assign over thirty interns and support their professional goals.
• Provide opportunities for interpretive essays on the collections and archival materials shared in the process, both by interns and established scholars.
• Facilitate research by providing greater access to these invaluable resources.
• Develop interpretive frameworks for the study of Puerto Rico’s state-generated public records of the 20th Century.

The grant will fund interns, workshops, and publishing for three years, and will support a major conference on the history of Puerto Rico in three years.

Sofia Feliciano will serve as PRAC Manager in Puerto Rico, while the Department of Latino & Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University will receive support to enhance administration of the grant.

The PRAC will continue to work intensely with the Archivo General de Puerto Rico and the Colección Puetorriqueña of the UPR Library, but its efforts will now include a dozen new archival sites.

Stay Informed

For those interested in receiving updates on the progress of our projects, including archival work, please sign up for our email newsletter at sites.rutgers.edu/prac or contact us directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Quotes

“This support from the Mellon Foundation is a testament to the importance of preserving and interpreting Puerto Rico’s rich history,” said Professor Aldo Lauria-Santiago. “We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with our partners and expand the accessibility of these invaluable archives.”

About Rutgers University Center for Latin American Studies

The Rutgers PRAC was developed by Professor Lauria Santiago with the support of the Rutgers University Center for Latin American Studies. The CLAS is dedicated to fostering understanding and scholarship on Latin America through research, education, and collaboration. For more information about the CLAS please visit CLAS.Rutgters.edu.

For information on the Mellon Foundation’s Presidential Initiatives visit: https://www.mellon.org/grant-programs/presidential-initiatives

For more information on the PRAC and to join our email list: http://sites.rutgers.edu/prac