Message from the Director
Welcome Message from Director Dr. Anthony W. Pereira
Welcome to the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) at Florida International University. LACC is a large and dynamic regional studies center. Because we are part of a school of public and international affairs, we can approach the LAC region from a global perspective. It is my pleasure to invite you to this website to learn more about our research, teaching, partnerships, and events. Our Center is a place where we can showcase the intellectual work of our more than 300 affiliated faculty and offer new transdisciplinary perspectives on some of the most vital and pressing issues in the Western Hemisphere. Widely recognized as an Emerging Preeminent Program of Florida International University, LACC enjoys a well-earned reputation for its research on regional security, foreign policy, Haitian culture, Brazilian and Andean politics, history, biodiversity, public health, disaster risk management, political risk, and elections. Three of the most important themes in our research are democracy, sustainability, and state capacity. Leveraging its location in Miami, a dynamic global city that is the gateway to Latin America, LACC is uniquely placed to promote an understanding of the region’s place in the world. We value our partnerships with organizations and individuals in South Florida and beyond. Please feel free to sign up to attend our online and in-person events, and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.
Anthony W. Pereira is a Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations and the Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. From 2010 to 2020 he was the founding director of the Brazil Institute at King’s College London. Dr. Pereira’s research interests include authoritarianism and democracy, human rights, public security policy, environmental issues, and international relations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
He has a B.A. in Politics from Sussex University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University. He has held positions at the New School for Social Research, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Tulane University and the University of East Anglia. Dr. Pereira has also been a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science at the Federal University of Pernambuco and at the Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. He has been a Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays fellow and received grants from, amongst other funders, FAPESP, the Sao Paulo research council, the British Academy, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Organization of American States.
Dr. Pereira's books include Modern Brazil: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2020); (with Jeff Garmany) Understanding Contemporary Brazil (Routledge, 2018); and Political Injustice: Authoritarianism and the Rule of Law in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005). His articles have appeared in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Latin American Research Review, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Rising Powers Quarterly, the Bulletin of Latin American Research and the Journal of Latin American Studies. Dr. Pereira is a senior fellow at Canning House.