Stone Center for Latin American Studies - Tulane University

05/29/2026

Tulane sophomores Juliana Abeid (Political Science, International Relations, and Philosophy) and Sailor Whatley (Sociology and Latin American Studies on the pre-medical track) were part of the course LAST 4960-01 "Model OAS," which concluded with a trip to Washington, D.C., for the Model OAS simulation exercise.

They wrote about their experience for our website:

The Roger Thayer Stone Center For Latin American Studies News

05/28/2026

A special shoutout to PhD Candidate Isdanny Morales and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication and core Stone Center faculty member, LZ Humphreys, for a successful session at LASA2026.

Dr. Morales co-organized the roundtable "Entangled Temporalities: Memory and Revolution in Contemporary Cuban Film and Digital Media," where she also presented alongside Dr. Humphreys.

05/27/2026

Last month we celebrated the Stone Center Spring Awards Ceremony, where we recognized the best paper prizes, teaching prizes and LAGO awards.

Swipe through the images to see some snippets of such an amazing day.

✨ Isdanny Morales, William J. Griffith Award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant in Latin American Studies
✨ Watufani Poe, Maureen E. Shea Award for Best Undergraduate Teaching and Mentorship
✨ Clare Gucwa, Stone Center Award for Best Campus-Wide Latin Americanist Graduate Paper
✨ Avery Edwards, Stone Center Award for Best Campus-Wide Latin Americanist Undergraduate Paper
✨ Ava Gutierrez, Harvey & Victoria Bricker Award for the Best Undergraduate Paper in Social Science by a Latin American Studies Major
✨ Ana Luyanda (not pictured), Nora Lustig Award for the Best Graduate Paper in the Social Sciences by a Latin American Graduate Student
✨ Brenda Borges Aguiar (not pictured), Donald Robertson Award for the Best Graduate paper in Humanities by a Latin American Graduate Student
✨ Kaylin Jury, Guillermo Náñez-Falcón Prize for the Best Latin Americanist Student Paper Incorporating Primary Sources and Rare Materials Holdings of the Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center
✨ Watufani Poe & Claudia Chávez-Argüelles, LAGO Outstanding Faculty Service Award
✨ Carolina Sánchez, LAGO Outstanding Staff Service Award
✨ Sebastián Amaya Palacios, LAGO Outstanding Graduate Student Service Award

05/18/2026

A look back at Pachanga on April 29 ✨ Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the end of the Academic Year and enjoy the evening with us. See you next semester!

05/16/2026

Last March, we had the pleasure of hosting the 2026 Latinx Voices Author Series featuring Cristina Rivera Garza. The conversation, guided by our departing Zemurray-Stone Post-Doctoral Fellow Carolina Sánchez, was an in-depth reflection on memory, the role of archives, and the creative process behind shaping a narrative that honors the story at the heart of her Pulitzer Prize-winning work, “ Liliana’s Invincible Summer.” Swipe through the images and relive the incredible evening we shared!

04/24/2026

Mark your calendars and join us next week for Pachanga! We’ll kick things off with the Spring Awards Ceremony at 4:00 p.m.

Each year, we recognize outstanding undergraduate and graduate student papers across various fields of Latin American Studies. This year, the ceremony will take place right before Pachanga—so come early to celebrate and support our students.

📆 Wednesday, April 29, 2026
🕓 4:00 p.m. – Stone Center Spring Awards Ceremony
📍 100A Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall

🕟 4:30 p.m. – Pachanga
📍 Cassat Courtyard, Jones Hall

04/24/2026

Join us tomorrow, Friday the 24th, at noon for the book presentation "Lula! The Man, the Myth and a Dream of Latin America" with author Richard Lapper.

📆 Friday, April 24, 2026
🕚 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
📍 100A Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s extraordinary political career spans five decades. Lula has become one of the most fascinating political operators of our young century. He unsuccessfully ran for the presidency of Brazil in 1989, 1994, and 1988 before winning in 2002. He served two terms as President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, ending his second mandate as one of the most popular politicians in the world. In 2017 he was convicted of corruption-related charges and in 2018 he began serving his sentence in prison in Curitiba, remaining incarcerated for 580 days until his conviction was dismissed by the Supreme Court on jurisdictional grounds. In October 2022 Lula was elected President of Brazil for a third time, replacing the right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). He is on course to run for president for an unprecedented fourth time in the October 2026 election.

This event is sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research, and the World Affairs Council of New Orleans.

04/13/2026

✨ Kudos to PhD student Ezra Remer, who presented his work, “Dominica Coffee Revitalization Initiative,” today as part of his Center of Climate Change and Urbanism Fellowship.

04/10/2026

Tulane students shine at the Washington Model OAS!

All five committees from the Tulane Delegation successfully passed their Proposed Draft Resolutions (PDRs) with overwhelming support! A culmination of the students’ hard work over the semester, they gained the support of their fellow delegates to institute meaningful resolutions on behalf of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

[1] Students visited the US Department of State, where they were hosted by the Office of Caribbean Affairs. They had the opportunity to learn about the office’s work in the region and ask questions about careers in foreign service.

[2-3] Juliana Abeid and Paolo Freccia in General Committee passing their PDR entitled “Actionable Approaches for Safeguarding the Individual Sovereignty of Western Hemisphere Countries”

[4] Soraya Prieto-Rios and Josh Breer on First Committee (Juridical and Political Affairs) passing their PDR “Promoting Climate Resiliency among Indigenous and Afro-Descendent Communities in the Americas.”

[5-6] Kyla McClary and Sophie Slade in Second Committee (Security) passing their PDR “ Promote Peace and Security in the Hemisphere Through Solutions to
Environmental Displacement.”

[7-8] Sailor Whatley and Jonathan Lalli in Third Committee (Integral Development) passing their PDR “Promotion of Sustainable and Equitable Land-use Practices to Address Gentrification in the Americas.”

[9-10] Tanya Garcia and Liam Amorosi in Special Committee (Addressing Challenges and Opportunities in Haiti) presenting their PDR: “Facilitating a Caribbean-led Effort for Post-conflict Reconstruction in Haiti.”

04/08/2026

After a semester working in the course LAST 4960: Model OAS, students began their experience representing the Commonwealth of Dominica at the Washington Model OAS at the Organization of American States’ “House of the Americas,” where they received a tour of the historic site before beginning proceedings in First Committee: Juridicial and Political Affairs (3rd picture), integrated by students Soraya Prieto Rios and Josh Breer. The Tulane delegation also had an opportunity to visit the Washington National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial.

Stay tuned for more updates from the Washington Model OAS ✨