Research
Conducting and supporting scholarly research are among the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center's core missions. Affiliated centers, faculty and Ph.D. and M.A. students at FIU all contribute original research in politics, economics, religion, education, history, international relations and culture. Historically, LACC has competed successfully for state and federal research funding and has received major support from organizations such as the Ford and Mellon foundations. Major LACC projects and proposals have addressed such topics as development prospects in Central America and southern Mexico, immigration and diaspora communities, and the success of alternative development plans in drug-producing regions. LACC has received significant funding for projects designed to increase the quality of education on Latin America and the Caribbean and to introduce curriculum reform. Through its Institute for International Professional Services, LACC also has led and commissioned studies of Florida’s services economy and its links to the region.
LACC and its affiliated centers and institutes support faculty and student field research, administer faculty research grants, and host visiting researchers. LACC depends upon its associated faculty for research expertise and to assume the responsibilities of research project principal investigators. LACC’s grant writing gives priority to proposals that provide maximum opportunities for research participation by graduate students. Research collaboration with LACC’s many university and overseas partners is a high priority.
Cutting Edge Research Projects
Research Network for Health and Society - REACH
The Research Network for Health and Society (REACH) aims to create opportunities for holistic social science perspectives on health, culture and policy. The mission is to advance interdisciplinary social science research and training on health and society in the Global South, and to develop and disseminate evidence-based and policy relevant knowledge and solutions to address health concerns in the region. The vision of REACH is to transform “health and society” scholarship in the broadest terms, advancing policy relevant social science research collaboration and engagement to ensure that Florida International University is at the forefront of interdisciplinary efforts in the Global South.+More Info
The Street Gangs in Central America Research Initiative (SCARIN)
LACC, in partnership with several institutions, has been awarded several research grants to study street gangs in the northern countries of Central America. These research projects are based on surveys and in-depth interviews with people with a history of gang membership in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Research projects under this initiative focus on the reasons why Central American youth decide to join a gang and the conditions that lead many to disengage after spending more than five years in the gang. The Street Gangs in Central America Research Initiative has been funded by different organizations, including the Bueau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), USAID, and others. Find the English version of the report of El Salvador here and the Spanish version here. +More Info
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Minority Institutions Building Resources to Ignite Development and Growth in Education (MI-BRIDGE) is a program founded by FIU’s Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center in partnership with Florida Memorial University. Its mission is to team up with other Minority Serving Institutions and work together to maximize Minority Serving Institutions’ student success in foreign language and area studies and increase their competitiveness in global marketplace. MI-BRIDGE Phase I features three components: (1) post-secondary faculty training workshops, (2) an online educator toolkit, and (3) research. MI-BRIDGE Phase II is in partnership with Broward College and Miami Dade College and focuses on (1) international learning opportunities for MSI students, (2) University/Community College Study Abroad Collaboration, (3) funding for students to participate in short- and long-term applied learning programs in Latin America and the Caribbean to enhance their job-preparedness. +More Info
Observatory of Justice for Afrodescendants in Latin America - OJALA
OJALA's comprehensive objective is to contribute to, and facilitate the creation of, comparative and critical knowledge about Afrodescendants' interactions with Latin American justice systems, as these deal with Afrodescendants' collective rights, and their right to live lives free from racial discrimination. That comprehensive objective is grounded on the fundamental premise that any production and accumulation of knowledge about Afrodescendants and Latin American justice systems cannot be but beneficial for the recognition, promotion, and defense of Afrodescendants' rights across the region. OJALA’s comparative research projects and its targeted production of knowledge will be of use to community-based and/or national activist organizations, policy makers, law practitioners, scholars, government organizations, and others. +More Info
Tinker Field Research Collaborative Grant
The Tinker Foundation has approved a 5 year Field Research Collaborative grant of $75,000 for LACC. The grant provides graduate students with funds for travel to and within any Spanish and Portuguese-speaking country in Latin America to conduct research and develop contacts with scholars and institutions in their areas of study. LACC’s Director of Research, Dr. Jose Miguel Cruz, leads the grant and has been working with the support of the Tinker Foundation since 2014 to enhance graduate student research in the region.+More Info
The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC)
Founded by LACC, University of Florida (UF) Center for Latin American Studies, and FIU and UF Libraries, The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative of partners within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that will provide users with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. dLOC comprises collections that speak to the similarities and differences in histories, cultures, languages and governmental systems. Types of collections include but are not limited to: newspapers, archives of Caribbean leaders and governments, official documents, documentation and numeric data for ecosystems, scientific scholarship, historic and contemporary maps, oral and popular histories, travel accounts, literature and poetry, musical expressions, and artifacts. dLOC is administered by Florida International University (FIU) in partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and the University of Florida (UF), dLOC's technical infrastructure is provided by the University of Florida (UF) in association with the Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA). +More Info
The Haitian Art Digital Archive (HADA)
LACC's Haitian Art Digital Archive (HADA) contributes to LACC's ongoing efforts to help preserve Haitian cultural patrimony, highlight the work of Haiti's cultural leaders, scholars and artists, and promote broad access to discussions about the Arts through the use of Haitian Creole. More specifically, HADA boasts content from Nobel Prize Nominee, author, and painter, Franketienne; leading art historian, Michel Philippe Lerebours; renowned songstress and folklorist, Emerante des Pradines; and popular drapo beading artist, Mireille Delisme, among others. All content is available for free through the Digital Library of the Caribbean and may be accessed from across the globe. HADA is made possible through partial support from the US Department of Education Title VI Grant. +More Info
Interdisciplinary Faculty Colloquia
The Interdisciplinary Faculty Colloquia series aims to provide a space where FIU faculty and advanced graduate students have the opportunity to present their research, exchange ideas with researchers in different disciplines, and nurture new projects. It is, primarily, a resource to promote FIU’s academic dialogue and research on Latin America and the Caribbean. Recent colloquia events have examined conservation efforts in the Amazon with a specific focus on Brazil. +More Info