Americas

Speaker at podium

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 麻豆精品视频 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 麻豆精品视频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

Dorothy F. Schmidt College Of Arts And Letters words on green graphic

Study of the Americas Initiative

麻豆精品视频鈥檚 Study of the Americas Initiative foregrounds an interdisciplinary approach to research, discuss and engage the histories, cultures, societies, politics, languages, literatures,听media, music, and arts of the western hemisphere. The nations of North,听Central, and South America and the Caribbean share many cultural and historical interrelations that bind them through the legacies of听colonialism, slavery, political movements and revolution. The Initiative promotes conversation on the intersections of spaces in the Americas by providing fora for discussion among scholars in all听disciplines in the humanities.

Features of the Americas Initiative include:

  • FAU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 麻豆精品视频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 FAU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 FAU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.

Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles, PhD.

Dr. Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles is the Director of the Study of the Americas Initiative. She is also is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American studies in the Department of Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature (LLCL). Her teaching and research interests include Caribbean literature, Brazilian literature, and Afro-Latin American Diaspora.

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:

Dr. Maria Aguilar Dornelles

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

location_on

Boca Raton Campus | CU 286

Dr. Daniel Auguste

Dr. Daniel Auguste

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

Dr. Candace Cunningham

Dr. Candace Cunningham

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

espinozaa

Dr. Andr茅s Espinoza Agurto, Ph.D.

Associate Professor | DAA Committee

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

Music

location_on

Boca Raton Campus | AL 349

foxr

Regis M. Fox, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of English

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

English

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

Dr. Lindsay Harroff

Dr. Lindsay Harroff

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

Dr. Gonzalo Aguiar Malosetti

Dr. Gonzalo Aguiar Malosetti

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

mcferguson

Marquese McFerguson, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

School of Communication and Multimedia Studies

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

Dr. Stephanie M. Ortiz

Dr. Stephanie M. Ortiz

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

weinberg

Eyal Weinberg, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

History

location_on

Boca Raton Campus

Affiliated Faculty

Anthropology

English

History

Languages, Linguistics & Comparative Literature

Music

Philosophy

Political Science

School of Communication & Multimedia Studies

Sociology

Theatre and Dance

Visual Arts & Art History

Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

  • NA
Marvin & Sybil Weiner

The Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection

The Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection at 麻豆精品视频 offers a wide variety of primary source materials suitable for research in the disciplines of history, political science, philosophy,听pre-law and linguistics. With more than 13,000 items, the collection consists of printed and manuscript materials dating from the fifteenth century to the modern era.听

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.

Address:

Study of the Americas, FAU
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL听33431

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

The College of Arts & Letters offers degree programs and certificates in the performing arts, fine arts, languages and social sciences.