More than 80 researchers and instructors at AU focus their work in large measure on Latin America and/or Latino populations residing in the United States, and President Sylvia Burwell and Provost Peter Starr have identified Latin American and Latino Studies as a top priority for expansion during the years ahead. As a campus-wide Center, CLALS draws on scholarship and training activities undertaken in all of the university's Schools and Colleges. Please explore the profiles of our affiliate faculty; affiliates in the Washington College of Law are listed separately.
Trained in sociocultural anthropology, Dr. Robert Albro has maintained a long-term ethnographic focus on urban and indigenous politics in Bolivia. He is also an expert on Latin American social and ind…
Patricia Aufderheide is University Professor of Communication Studies in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C. She founded the School's Center for Media & Social Impac…
Horace A. Bartilow is Professor of International Political Economy and American Foreign Policy. He is a Jamaican born social scientist who received his Ph.D. in 1994 from the State University of New Y…
I am a composer and music theorist originally from Buenos Aires. Currently I am working on a book about harmonic progressions and compositional process in Quiet Storm music. I have released two albums…
Professor Bennett's research interests include comparative criminology and criminal justice as well as police organization and procedures. He has published extensively in the area of cross-national cr…
Kim M. Blankenship, PhD, is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Sociology, Founding Director of the Center on Health, Risk and Society (housed in the department of sociology), Associate Dean …
Professor Blecker’s research interests include international trade, open economy macroeconomics, global trade imbalances, economic integration in North America, the Mexican economy, the limits to expo…
Dr. Philip Brenner has published widely on U.S./Cuba relations, U.S./Latin American relations, contemporary U.S. foreign policy, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. His most recent book is Cuba Libre: A …
Dr. Robin Broad, Professor of International Development, established and heads SIS’s International Development Program’s two unique professional tracks: Rethinking Globalization & Development, and Env…
Marcy Fink Campos joined AU’s Center for Community Engagement & Service in 2004. As Director, she oversees all office programs and serves as the liaison to the Office of Campus Life, Academic Affairs,…
Dr. Cárdenas is a microbial ecologist interested in microbiome research. Her research has focused on understanding the diversity and function of microbial communities associated with corals and other …
Dr. Elizabeth Cohn is an Assistant Professor specializing in U.S. foreign policy and Latin America. Her research interests include the U.S. promotion of democracy and Latin America. She is also deeply…
Dr. Ken Conca’s research and teaching focus on global environmental governance, environmental peacebuilding in war-torn societies, environmental politics and policy in the United Nations system, water…
Dr. Maria De Jesus brings to AU a wealth of research and teaching experience in global health and migration, with an emphasis on im/migrant and marginalized communities. Her research examines the soci…
Molly Dondero is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. Her research focuses on how immigration, race/ethnicity, social class, and place contribute to population-level inequality in he…
Professor DuBois is Associate Professor of International Business and Chair of the International Business Department. His research focus is in global supply chain management, customs facilitation, cou…
Pending final approvals in early 2025, Eisenstadt hopes to be co-principal investigator of the National Science Foundation 2025-2028 grant "Evaluating Climate Laws, Institutions, Policies and Practice…
Heather Elms, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Management at the Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, DC. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in business ethics, busine…
Dr. Enchautegui-de-Jesus received her MA and PhD in Community Psychology from New York University. She was a postdoctoral fellow with the NIMH’s Family Research Consortium III at the University of Mic…
With nearly 50 years of teaching and filmmaking, and 350 projects, his documentaries appear on PBS, the Discovery Channels, and National Geographic, among many other outlets. Awards include a Daytime …
Eileen Findlay graduated from Oberlin College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she held a Jacob Javits fellowship. Both her books, 'We Are Left Without a Father Here': Masculinity, Dome…
Anthony W. Fontes, geographer and ethnographer, writes and teaches about violence, migration and forced displacement, transnational illicit economies, mass incarceration, and the politics of security …
Dr. Scott Freeman is an anthropologist whose work is at the intersection of the anthropology of the environment, critical development studies, and the anthropology of labor in Haiti and the Dominican …
Max Paul Friedman joined the History Department at American University in 2007 and holds a joint appointment as Professor of International Relations in the School of International Service. From July 2…
I do research in two distinct areas—organized violence by non-state actors and urban politicsIn the first area, on which I have spent more time, I examine the politics, internal dynamics, and patterns…
Bill Gentile is the author of, “Wait for Me: True Stories of War, Love and Rock & Roll,” his memoir and crown jewel of a career as independent journalist and documentary filmmaker whose work spans fou…
Dr. Gilbert is the inaugural Kogod Regional Innovation Chair and associate professor (with tenure). Her research spans economic geography, internationalization and performance streams of literature. C…
Professor Giraudy's book, Democrats and Autocrats (Oxford University Press, 2015), explores the multiple pathways towards subnational undemocratic regime continuity within democratized countrie…
Louis Goodman carries out research on social change and politics in Latin America and in Asia. His current research focuses on public goods, regional alliances and development. He has published widely…
Garrett Graddy-Lovelace researches and teaches agricultural policy and agrarian geography. Her work focuses on domestic and international contexts and impacts of US food and farm policy--from critical…
Ludy Grandas’ research interests include issues of national identity in Latin America and in the Hispanic communities in the U.S. Her teaching interests include the Studies of Culture in Latin America…
Professor Grier is an interdisciplinary scholar with diverse expertise across private, government, and non-profit sectors. Her research examines marketplace topics related to race, with a focus on enh…
Austin Hart is a political scientist who studies democratic accountability through the lens of voting behavior. He is especially interested in how our attitudes about politics form and change over …
Eric Hershberg is a professor of government at American University, where he served as Founding Director of the university-wide Center for Latin American and Latino Studies from 2010-2022. From 2007-2…
Dr. Janice Iwama is an Associate Professor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology at American University in Washington, D.C. She received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Justice Policy from Nort…
My research is centered around two main themes: (1) understanding how human activities like oil and gas extraction, mining, agriculture, and urban development affect water quality, and (2) using the n…
Alan M. Kraut is University Professor of History at American University and a non-resident fellow of the Migration Policy Institute. Specializing in immigration and ethnic history and the history of m…
Professor of Government and a specialist in Latin American politics and U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America, Professor LeoGrande has been …
Eric Macias (He/Him/El) is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work focuses on minoritized and illegalized youth who have been pushed-out of the educational pipeline. Dr. Macias received his PhD from t…
Professor Martínez focuses on the intersection of violence and body politics in Latin America. Her two main areas of research are: representation of historical violence recent cultural production; and…
Sarah Menke-Fish is a full-time professor of Film and Media Arts. She serves as Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning and Associate Director for the Center for Environmental Filmmaking. Menke-Fish l…
Professor Oliver's teaching and research on Latin America explore philosophical topics such as marginality, feminism, nepantlismo, and transfronterismo. She works on the Hispanic ess…
Randolph B. Persaud is Associate Professor of International Relations at American University in Washington D.C. He specializes in the areas of race and international relations, globalization, human se…
Professor Poole’s research and teaching interests fall at the intersection of international trade, labor economics, and development economics. With an emphasis on Brazil, her broad research agenda con…
Jeffrey Romero Middents studies and teaches film and world literature at American University in Washington, DC, specifically focusing on Latin American narratives from the 1960s to the present. His sc…
Professor Schneider teaches and writes on democracy, dictatorship and resistance; comparative social movements; collective violence; racial profiling, police violence and racial and ethnic discriminat…
Chuck Sturtevant is a political anthropolgist with research and teaching experience in indigenous studies, Latin American studies, and Latina/o/ studies. Filmmaking was my gateway to academic research…
Matthew Taylor is Professor of International Studies at the School of International Service.Taylor is the author or editor of five books and more than fifty articles on Latin America. His most recent …
Dr. Amelia Tseng is Assistant Professor in Spanish and Linguistics. Her research addresses how language shapes and is shaped by identity across immigrant generations in Latinx diasporic contexts, focu…
Ali is an expert on American politics, with a focus on Latino/a/x attitudes and voting behavior, demographic change and its political consequences, race and racism in politics, voter turnout, and surv…
Ximena Varela is a distinguished researcher, educator, and consultant with over 25 years of experience in arts management curricular design, museum management, international cultural policy, managemen…
David J. Vázquez is Associate Professor of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies and Director of the Latina/o/x Studies Program. He teaches courses on comparative Latina/o/x literature and cultur…
Charly Verstraet's research and teaching interests include Caribbean and Indian Ocean Studies, Environmental Studies, Graphic Novels, Soccer and Politics, and Translation. His co-translation of award-…
Dr. Vidal-Ortiz's scholarship cuts across racialization, sexuality, gender, migration and religion; his work is interdisciplinary. He coedited two award winning books: …
In addition to his role at AU, Wayne is a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Co-Chair of its Mexico Institute Advisory Board. He is a member of the Board …
Brenda Werth’s research interests include Latin American theater, performance, documentary film, memory studies, human rights, gender, social movements, and translation. She teaches courses on Latin A…
Dr. Nina Yamanis studies how social and structural determinants are linked to health disparities globally and locally, and designs community-based interventions to reduce these disparities. She has wo…
(Gloria A.) Gay Young has a longstanding focus on gender and development (GAD) which has led her to study a range of issues, including the nature and consequences of women’s labor force participation …