February 2025 Newsletter

Dear Latin Americanist Community,

   The start of the year brought terrible disruption to Los Angeles and to many of our friends and family members. The wildfires which ravaged Altadena and Pacific Palisades, where colleagues and current and former students reside, destroyed lives and property. Many livelihoods were lost or significantly altered, at least temporarily. Our hearts go to all who were affected by these disasters.

The fires also disrupted our teaching and the programming at the Latin American Institute. The good news is that we are back on track. Graduate and undergraduate students interested in the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships (summer and academic year) now have until February 14 to submit their applications. Graduate students applying to the LAI’s summer research grants have until March 28 to turn in their application materials.

We also have good news to share and celebrate. Congratulations to our colleague, historian Fernando Pérez Montesinos, whose book Landscaping Indigenous Mexico: The Liberal State and the Purépecha Highlands will be published next month by University of Texas Press. Stay tuned for an author-meets-critics panel on Fernando’s new book. ¡Felicidades, Fer! I’m pleased to report that Adela Arriola, student in the Latin American Studies MA Program, has been chosen as a fellow in the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) Digitalization Project. The LAI is part of a consortium of higher education institutions in Southern California supporting MOLAA’s involvement in the American Latino Museum Internship & Fellowship Initiative. Congratulations and best of luck, Adela!

We have a packed events calendar this month, covering countries from Mexico to Haiti, to Brazil and Chile, and topics as diverse as indigenous cultures and languages, Afro-diasporic art and music, the environment, migration and more. Please visit the LAI events calendar for details.

I started my message referencing the disruptions produced by the wildfires in our city. Disruption is also coming from Washington, D.C., threatening the future of international education and research. Please consider donating to the mission of the UCLA Latin American Institute and its centers, programs, and working groups, by contributing to our general fund. Your generous donations support the lively intellectual life of the institute and will make sure that we continue training the next generation of Latin Americanists. Thanks!

Rubén Hernández-León,
Director of the UCLA Latin American Institute