Americas
Studies of the Americas Initiative

Welcome to the Study of the Americas Initiative
Study Of The Americas Initiative
With a fully hemispherical focus, the Study of the Americas Initiative supports interdisciplinary research engaging in comparative analysis of culture, history, society, politics, music, art, media, language and literature of the Americas as it explores the interconnections between North, South, Central America and the Caribbean.
The Study of the Americas Initiative takes full advantage of our amazing strategic location in Florida, at the nexus of South, North, Central America and the Caribbean to bring different spaces of the western hemisphere into conversation by providing fora for scholars to come together and share knowledge.
Our Core Objectives
The Study of the Americas Initiative听at 糖心Vlog brings multiple disciplines within the humanities together to research and discuss the history, culture, society, politics, languages, literature, media, music, and arts of the western hemisphere in an effort to foster dialogue and promote understanding and appreciation of the multiple connections, influences and confluences of our common historical and geographical background.听
To accomplish these objectives,听the Study of the Americas Initiative maintains the unique听Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of听America Collection organizes lectures, symposia, workshops and other events that听support our hemispheric, interdisciplinary and comparative approach to the study of the Americas. The initiative,听in coordination with the academic programs in the 糖心Vlog Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and听Collection听Letters, awards a Fellowship.
We invite you to explore our website and find out more about our initiative and events.听

Study of the Americas Initiative
Features of the Americas Initiative include:
- 糖心Vlog鈥檚 unique geographic, demographic and cultural relation to the Americas and Caribbean
- Specialized resources for research including The Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection which contains more than 13,000 publications and artifacts including rare works from the 16th century.
- Substantial number of interdisciplinary faculty with extensive specializations on topics throughout the Americas
- The听College鈥檚 Ph.D. Program in Comparative Studies and the Caribbean and Latin American Studies听Certificate especially encourage an extensive and interdisciplinary hemispherical focus.
- A unique intellectual hub featuring lecture series from 糖心Vlog and distinguished international scholars, an annual conference dedicated to Americas study, publication opportunities and affiliation with Americas-centered research centers around the globe.
- The Americas Initiative aligns with 糖心Vlog鈥檚 university-wide strategic plan platforms on Diversity,听Community Engagement, Globalization, South Florida Culture and the Peace, Justice and Human Rights Initiative.
- The听Initiative听showcases draws on 糖心Vlog鈥檚 strengths as a minority serving institution where more than half the student population represent racial or ethnic difference and/or our robust international student body.
听

Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles, PhD.
She is the author of Entre el bronce y el olvido: hero铆smo y afrodescendencia en Colombia, Brasil y Cuba / Between Bronze and Oblivion: Heroism and Afro-descendants in Colombia, Brazil and Cuba (2023) published by Iberoamericana- Vervuert. She has published articles on Latin American poetry, narrative and theater in journals such as Latin American Research Review, Afro-Hispanic Review, and Latin American Theatre Review. Her article, 鈥淗ero铆smo y conciencia racial en la poeta afrocubana Cristina Ayala,鈥� was awarded the 2017 Ibero-American Prize for an Academic Article on the Nineteenth Century (LASA) as well as the Harold Eugene Davis Prize by the Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies (MACLAS). Feministas Unidas awarded the Adela Zamudio Prize (2019) to her article 鈥淎ctivismo, literatura y cambio social en el Caribe hispano: aproximaci贸n en tres movimientos.鈥� In 2022, her project 鈥淓n nombre de la madre: el valor pol铆tico del hero铆smo en la narrativa de Maria Firmina dos Reis鈥� was awarded the Marielle Franco Prize by the Gender and Feminist Studies section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). For more information, please visit her website:听 /artsandletters/about/directory/dornelles
New Faculty Introductions
We are proud to introduce our new faculty colleagues specializing in this cluster. They include:

Mar铆a Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles, Ph.D, Prof.
Associate Professor | Director of the Americas Initiative
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature

Dr. Andr茅s Espinoza Agurto, Ph.D.
Associate Professor | DAA Committee
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
Music

Regis M. Fox, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
English
Boca Raton Campus

Dr. Lindsay Harroff
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
Boca Raton Campus

Dr. Gonzalo Aguiar Malosetti
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
Boca Raton Campus

Marquese McFerguson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
School of Communication and Multimedia Studies

Dr. Stephanie M. Ortiz
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
Boca Raton Campus

Eyal Weinberg, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters
History
Affiliated Faculty
- Cliff Brown *on sabbatical until January (ctbrown@fau.edu)
- Meredith Ellis (ellism@fau.edu)
- Michael Harris (mharris@fau.edu)
- Valentine Martinez (vmartine@fau.edu)
- Eric Berlatsky (eberlats@fau.edu)
- RJ Boutelle (rboutelle@fau.edu)
- Sika Dagbovie-Mullins (sdagbovi@fau.edu)
- Regis Fox (mannr@fau.edu)
- Andrew Furman (afurman@fau.edu)
- Stacey Lettman (slettman@fau.edu)
- Evan Bennett (ebennett@fau.edu)
- Candace Cunningham (ccunningham@fau.edu)
- Adrian Funicane (afinucane@fau.edu)
- Barbara Ganson (cruz@fau.edu)
- Ben Lowe (bplowe@fau.edu)
- Jermaine Scott (scottj@fau.edu)
- Kelly Shannon (shannonk@fau.edu)
- Jason Sharples (jsharples@fau.edu)
- Eyal Weinberg (eweinberg@fau.edu)
Languages, Linguistics & Comparative Literature
- Carla Calarg茅 (ccalarge@fau.edu)听
- Fr茅d茅ric Conrod (fconrod@fau.edu)
- Mar铆a Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles (maguilardornelle@fau.edu)
- Yolanda Gamboa (ygamboa@fau.edu)
- Nuria God贸n (ngodon@fau.edu)
- Mary Ann Gosser (gosser@fau.edu)
- Mike Hamilton (mhamilton@fau.edu)
- Michael J. Horswell (horswell@fau.edu)
- Viktor Kharlamov (vkharlamov@fau.edu)
- Gonzalo Aguiar Malosetti (gaguiarmalosetti@fau.edu)
- Martha Mendoza (mmendoza@fau.edu)
- Nancy Paulson (npaulson@fau.edu)
- Nora Erro Peralta听 (peralta@fau.edu)
- Ilaria Serra (iserra1@fau.edu)
- Andr茅s Espinoza Agurto (espinozaa@fau.edu)
- Patricia P. Fleitas (pfleitas@fau.edu)
- Clevis Headley (headley@fau.edu)
- Richard Shusterman (shuster1@fau.edu)
- Aimee Arias (akanner2@fau.edu)
- Angela Nichols (nicholsa@fau.edu)
School of Communication & Multimedia Studies
- Anthony Guneratne (guneratn@fau.edu)
- Lindsay Harroff (lharroff@fau.edu)
- Marquese McFerguson (mmcferguson@fau.edu)
- Deandre Poole (dpoole3@fau.edu)
- Christopher Robe (crobe@fau.edu)
- William Trapani (wtrapan1@fau.edu)
- David Williams (dcwill@fau.edu)
- Daniel Auguste (augusted@fau.edu)
- Phillip Hough (phough2@fau.edu)
- Carter Koppleman (ckoppelman@fau.edu)
- Stephanie M. Ortiz (ortizs@fau.edu)
- Desmond Gallant (dgallant@fau.edu)
- Camila Afanador-Llach (cafanadorllach@fau.edu)
- Emily Fenichel (efenichel@fau.edu)
- Joseph Velazquez (jvelasquez@fau.edu)
Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
- NA

The Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection
Materials include rare books, pamphlets, historical newspapers and journals, broadsides and cartoons, and documents.This collection consists of over xxx publications of British pamphlets published throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The pamphlets in this collection are mostly concerned with politics, legislation, religion, and revolution within Great Britain and the American colonies.
Get in Touch!
For more information about the Study of the Americas Initiative and our events, please contact us.
Study of the Americas, 糖心Vlog
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL听33431

