CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES

CLAS is in Session

January 9, 2023

Introducing CLAS Intern Ella Meyer

Our CLAS Student Intern for Spring 2023 will be Ella Meyer.

"Hi, everyone! My name is Ella Meyer. I am 20 years old, and I was born and raised in Powell, Ohio. I'm majoring in International Studies and Russian. I'm excited to be working for CLAS this semester!"

Throughout the semester, Ella will assist with CLAS programming and other Area Studies activities that align with her interests. Welcome, Ella!

2023 Global Teacher Seminar

The Area Studies Centers are excited to announce the next iteration of their annual Global Teacher Seminar, to be held July 17-21, 2023.

This free, 20-hour online seminar will inform K-12 teachers (including pre-service teachers) about the UN’s Sustainability Goal: Prosperity, focusing on the movement of goods and people in the regions of East Asia, Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The seminar will start by giving participants a solid foundation in the relevant political, social, and historical theories in order to ground their understanding of the movement of goods and people. Then throughout the seminar, guest experts will present regional case studies to provide comparative perspectives of what are prominent issues in their region, including the silk road and migration.

Additional benefits to teachers include 2 CEUs, a $100 lesson plan stipend, and educational materials.

Apply here by the priority deadline of April 30. Space is limited!

Email Janet Smith (smith.12674@osu.edu), Outreach Coordinator of the East Asian Studies Center, for questions.

De acá a la China Film Screening

Join CLAS and the East Asian Studies Center on Wed, Feb 22, 6 - 8:30 PM in Hagerty Hall 180 for a film screening of De acá a la China/From here to China (2019) by Argentine director Federico Marcello.

The event is free and open to the public and will feature a Q&A with film experts representing both Latin America and East Asia. Themed snacks will also be provided! Find additional details here.

Translingual:
The Journal of International Voices

Intercultural English Language Programs has released the first issue of Translingual: The Journal of International Voices. This issue featured contributions by Victor Vimos (SPPO) and Alice Yu-Chin Cheng (AAEP), who have worked as student curators with the Kawsay Ukhunchay: Andean & Amazonian Indigenous Art & Cultural Artifacts Research Collection.

All members of the international and non-native English-speaking community are welcome to submit to future issues of Translingual. This includes all students (undergraduate or graduate), faculty, staff, and employees whose first language is not English.

The editors will begin collecting submissions this month and will publish the second issue of the journal in May. Submissions may include a variety of genres or media, and anyone interested is encouraged to contact translingual@osu.edu with questions.

CLASP Faculty Research/
Professional Development Grant

The Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) is offering grants of up to $1,000 to support research or professional development by US-based faculty at all ranks (including non-tenure-track) during the 2023 calendar year.

CLASP will prioritize applications from faculty who demonstrate financial need, or who are affiliated with universities with limited research funding.

Apply here by the deadline of March 30, 2023.

2023 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad

The International and Foreign Language Education Team of the US Department of Education is accepting applications from K-16 teachers and school administrators for the 2023 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program.

Each thematic seminar features educational lectures and interactive, cultural activities specifically designed for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educators, including visits to local schools and organizations, and meetings with education administrators, government officials, policymakers, teachers, and students. Participants draw on their experiences during the program to create new or to enhance existing cross-cultural curricula for use in their U.S. classrooms and school systems. Sixteen educators participate in each seminar. The Seminars Abroad program covers airfare, room and board, and program costs. Participants are responsible for a seminar cost-share of $750.

View a full press kit about the program here.
Apply here by the deadline of February 9, 2023.

Tinker Field Research Highlight

Kyle Sozanski, PhD Candidate in the Adams Lab of the Department of Evolution, Ecology, & Organismal Biology, recently conducted field research in Gamboa, Panama, supported by a 2020 Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant awarded by CLAS.

Kyle's research aims to understand venom ecology and evolution in Megalomyrmex ants, a genus found only in the forests of Latin America. Specifically, he seeks to uncover the role of relatively rare alkaloid venoms in the evolutionary history of the genus. Kyle's fieldwork at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute consisted of locating, collecting, and caring for ant colonies; his analyses also included the construction of Megalomyrmex phylogenies and the measurement of the mortality of their venom to termites.

Kyle's fieldwork experience was not only invaluable to the development of his dissertation, it also contributed to his professional development as an international field biologist through networking with other researchers from around the world. Such collaboration is already yielding results, and Kyle's work with Brazilian researcher Lívia do Prado (now also part of the Adams Lab) has allowed them to identify previously undescribed venom compounds.

Please join us in congratulating Kyle on his excellent work and wishing him luck with the remaining stages of his doctoral studies.