CLACS funds 26 UWM students and faculty during 2025-26

As the academic year draws to a close, UWM’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies celebrates the many research initiatives and academic undertakings we have supported during 2025-26. This academic year, we supported 26 UWM faculty and students across 17 departments with $24,000 in financial support. Funding allowed faculty and students to travel for conference presentations, field research, and study abroad.

Congratulations to all of our awardees!

Faculty Awards

Faculty Fellows

  • Susana Antunes (World Languages & Cultures), “Resisting Erasure, Reclaiming Futures: Indigenous Cultures of Mato Grosso do Sul and the Tensions of ‘Progress’”
  • Gilberto Blasini (English/Film Studies), Research on Cinematic and televisual construction of cultural identities in Latin America
  • Susi Gómez Kennedy (Center for Student Experience & Talent), “Illegible Writing, Embodied Reading: Mirtha Dermisache and the Aesthetics of Cognitive Resistance”
  • Gabriela Nagy (Psychology), Research on acculturative stress and resilience factors in immigrants from Latin America

Faculty Research-Conference Award

Faculty RecipientUWM DepartmentConference or Research Location
SusanaAntunesWorld Languages & CulturesBrazil
GilbertoBlasiniFilm StudiesIllinois
CesarFerreiraWorld Languages & CulturesPeru and Spain
SimoneFerroDanceFrance
JonKahlFreshwater ScienceMexico
AshleyLemkeAnthropologyBolivia
BrianMuellerHistoryCalifornia
JessicaNelsonHistoryMexico
DavidPacificoArt HistoryCalifornia
ErmitteSaint JacquesAfrican & African Diaspora StudiesPennsylvania

Student Funding

Graduate Research-Conference Award

Student RecipientUWM DepartmentConference or Research Location
MonicaCabria ZambranoMathematical SciencesMexico
RivkaComrovSociologyWisconsin
MerGarciaArtMexico
BillieHarrisonBiological SciencesGrenada
AmyKlemmerAnthropologyEcuador
KimathiMutheeEnglishTexas
AngelaParedesClinical PsychologyBolivia
PauletteWinkelsAnthropologyMexico
IsabellaWyattBiological SciencesCosta Rica

Ruggiero-Handelman Field Research Award

Student RecipientUWM DepartmentResearch Location
KellyOttoGeosciencesArgentina
EricSchmittElectrical EngineeringBrazil
PauletteWinkelsAnthropologyMexico

Donald R. Shea Study Abroad Scholarship

Student RecipientProgram of StudyStudy Abroad Destination and Program
BrandonCheesemanFreshwater SciencesMexico: Atmospheric Science: Air Pollution and Ancient Cultures
ElizabethEnochBusinessArgentina: Business in Latin America
EllaWiedlBusinessArgentina: Business in Latin America