Undergraduate Research on Latin America Thrives at UWM

Every year, UWM’s Office for Undergraduate Research (OUR) hosts a spring symposium to recognize and celebrate undergraduate students’ contributions to the research enterprise here at UWM. This year’s symposium took place on Friday April 25, and featured over 275 student presenters representing nearly all of UWM’s Schools and Colleges. The research completed during the 2024-25 academic year included compelling projects related to Latin America and the Caribbean, spanning disciplines from music to public health to cultural studies.

The majority of these projects benefited from the support of OUR’s Support for Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, which accepts proposals from all UWM faculty and academic staff who apply jointly with a student about the work to be undertaken. Read on to learn about these exciting projects and how they have advanced our understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean!

Devin Grabowski won an outstanding presentation award for the project “Puerto Rican Bomba Music: Analyzing and Transcribing Drum and Vocal Elements” with Professor Alex Wier (Percussion, Peck School of the Arts)

 

2024-25 Undergraduate Research Projects on Latin America and the Caribbean

 

Archiving Cultural Heritage: Creation of a Digital Repository for Decades of Fieldwork Materials on Brazilian Folk Dances, Afro-Brazilian Rituals, and Popular Culture of Maranhão

Lucca Marcello

Mentors: Simone Ferro (emerita), Dance, Peck School of the Arts; Meredith Watts (emeritus), Political Science, College of Letters and Science

Bumba meu boi is a practice of folk cultural heritage in Maranhão (a northeastern state of Brazil) that combines ritual, music, choreography, and performance. Over the past 18 years, UWM Professors Ferro and Watts have compiled a vast quantity of ethnographic materials documenting and preserving this piece of folk and popular culture. Lucca Marcello collaborated with the professors to develop a digital repository for these materials, which will be housed at the University of Florida Libraries’ Latin America & Caribbean Collection. The team organized over 15 terabytes of research material, including still images, video, audio, and transcriptions in Portuguese. Key learning outcomes included gaining expertise in digital archival procedures, metadata management, and repository structuring within a digital humanities framework. Marcello also developed independent research strategies, applied archival tools, and engaged with the materials to support his academic development in film arts and Portuguese. The project is nearing completion with over 1,000 curated entries in the repository, marking a significant milestone in preserving and making accessible cultural heritage materials from Maranhão.

 

Crossing Borders to Connect Routes: Higher Education, Immigration, and the Pandemic in the Midwest

Rivka Comrov

Mentor: Dante Salto, Administrative Leadership, School of Education

This research aims to understand how immigrant populations were affected post the Covid-19 pandemic in higher education. The focus specifically surrounds students in higher education who are undocumented or who are a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient (DACA).  This is a qualitative study that includes primary and secondary studies. The primary studies include interviews with higher education administration. The secondary studies include archival texts and legislation regarding undocumented and DACAmented students, as well as the COVID-19 Pandemic. The most important findings thus far have been in connection to the primary data collected. These findings have demonstrated that undocumented and DACAmented students during the COVID-19 Pandemic were confronted with financial stress and a mental health decline due to federal immigration policies changing in a way that causes potential risk for deportation, thereby negatively impacting their educational opportunities. Higher education institutions during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic have created legal support centers and a variety of economic opportunities (in regards to tuition and program required fieldwork) on campus for DACAmented and undocumented students in order to encourage enrollment and retention in higher education. The findings additionally noted how institutions and students within this population were able to navigate the changing political climate via discretion. An annotated bibliography has been built and categorized regarding the archival texts in connection to DACAmented and undocumented students in higher education, before, during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic. This study will continue to analyze the primary source data in a theoretical framework in regards to street-level bureaucrats. (Lipsky, 2010) This study intends to further impact higher education institutional policies by creating a toolkit that could potentially support undocumented and DACAmented students in higher education based on the data gathered. 

 

Cultural Tapestry: Weaving the Threads of Hispanic / Latine Identities

Salvador Prado

Mentor: Nancy Bird-Soto, Spanish & Portuguese, College of Letters & Science

This project resulted in the creation of instructional resources for educators and facilitators to use when having conversations about hispano/Latinx identities. The five materials are: (1) social media source survey, in which students gather posts about Latine identities and/or inclusive language in Spanish and then curate them by writing a short reflection for each; (2) navigating identity self-reflection essay, in which Hispanic/Latinx students write an essay to reflect on the categories or labels they are familiar with and the ones that feel closer to personal and cultural affinities; (3) class discussions with high school students, including facilitated reflections on bilingual poetry and name stories; (4) college-level advanced conversation (in Spanish) for undergraduates and graduates, including scholarly publications on the bilingual history of the “x” in Latinx; and (5) indigenous identities and the Latine category, a resource that prepares students to pose questions about the limits of Hispanic/Latino/Latine when it comes to indigenous, Black, and other minoritized communities. Items 1 and 2 can be modified for groups as young as middle school.

The researchers have generously made their resources publicly available here!

 

Frames of Resistance: The Role of Cinema in Brazilian Social Movements

Jack Williams

Mentor: Susana Antunes, Spanish & Portuguese, College of Letters & Science

This project explores the intersection of Brazilian cinema and social movements, focusing on how films serve as tools for resistance, awareness, and advocacy. It examines historical contexts in which Brazilian cinema aligned with social movements, such as the Cinema Novo movement, resistance against the military dictatorship (1964–1985), and contemporary struggles addressing racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, and indigenous issues. Further, it analyzes the role of the new generation of filmmakers and their artistic choices in shaping narratives of resistance and fostering collective identity and action, and assesses the impact of these films on Brazilian society by exploring their reception, cultural influence, and contribution to social change. Finally, the study examines how digital filmmaking and streaming platforms transform the role of cinema in today’s social movements.

 

Library Storytime for Sexual Violence Prevention: Books, Songs, and Activities to Teach Consent and Promote Prevention

Kimberly Bahena and Yaritza Garcia

Mentor: Rose Hennessy Garza, Public Health, Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health

Sexual violence comprises a range of sexual actions and behaviors that occur without the consent of a victim. Vulnerable populations, such as children and individuals with disabilities, are particularly at risk. Advocates and scholars have called for earlier prevention, as addressing risk and protective factors beginning in early childhood can promote healthy behaviors and reduce future risk of sexual violence. However, few sexual violence primary prevention programs exist for young children, and none have been found for children under three years old. This formative assessment aims to create a sexual violence prevention program for children’s librarians to use during Storytime sessions with young children and their caregivers. The program centers around four established risk and protective factors to prevent sexual violence perpetration in adolescence and adulthood including: 1) social and emotional health, 2) gender socialization, 3) healthy sexuality, and 4) aggression and nonviolence. Formal and grey literature will be reviewed for resources within the four categories to identify suitable materials that can be adapted for Storytime. Materials include books, songs, activities, crafts, and caregiver resources. For materials that cannot be obtained, new materials will be developed. The program will be created in English and Spanish to improve inclusivity in violence prevention. Informal interviews will be conducted with children’s librarians to obtain feedback on materials, request additional resources, and to understand the feasibility of incorporating sexual violence prevention into Storytime sessions. Children’s librarians will be recruited from interviews to participate in an advisory committee and to help pilot test the future program. Providing sexual assault prevention education in library Storytime can infuse prevention in a low-cost manner within an environment where young children and caregivers already gather, potentially contributing to less sexual violence and promoting healthier communities. 

 

Puerto Rican Bomba Music: Analyzing and Transcribing Drum and Vocal Elements

Devin Grabowski – 2025 Symposium Outstanding Presentation Award

Mentor: Alex Wier, Music, Peck School of the Arts

Puerto Rican Bomba has served as a vital form of musical expression, resistance, and cultural identity in Puerto Rico for over 400 hundred years. This project seeks to create a comprehensive educational resource that introduces both the historical context and practical techniques of Bomba music for educators and learners. The resource will focus on the rhythmic foundations, drumming patterns, vocal elements, and cultural significance of the tradition, while emphasizing the possible role of studying Bomba in the world of music education. The pedagogical resource is designed to make it adaptable for various learning environments, including schools and community centers, while addressing different levels of prior musical knowledge. It will incorporate transcriptions of the rhythms and patterns on the various instruments as well as transcriptions of all vocal elements (rhythms, melodies, and lyrics). This research, which includes studies with renowned musician Alberto Torrens, seeks to support educators with the tools to effectively teach Bomba music while promoting cultural appreciation and preservation. The resource will contribute to the broader effort to sustain Puerto Rican heritage and provide a dynamic way for students to engage with this style of music, ensuring that future generations can continue to learn from and participate in this unique cultural tradition.