The LASA Research Grants Program aims to support research with focus on Latin American studies in all disciplines. Restricted to LASA members who are enrolled in doctoral programs in Latin American institutions of higher education, these grants assist grantees with research expenses, including travel and per diem expenses, access to archives, supplies, research assistance, administration and coding of instruments, or purchase of datasets.
Selected Projects
Victória Monteiro da Silva Santos
International Relations, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Criminal/political violence in Latin America and the politics of drawing lines
This project inquires into how the lines between criminal and political violence are drawn in the arena of public policy by activists, researchers, and government officials in the context of the "war on drugs." Using interview and documentary sources, she looks at how such decisions influence distinctions made between the military and the police, between international and public security, and between international and domestic law in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.
Manuel Vladimir Caraballo Acuña
Social Anthropology, El Colegio de Michoacán, Mexico
Evaluando esmeraldas en la formalización minera colombiana: Hacia una economía cultural de cualidades
This project examines how the economic formalization of the mining economy in Colombia is implemented through an ethnographic study of transformations in emerald mining. Examining practices in mines, commercial centers, and laboratories, he inquires into how an informal economy is being transformed into a formal one through the redefinition of the quality of emeralds, as well as the practices and actors involved in the emerald economy.
Selection Committee
The selection committee was made up of four members: Cristián Opazo (Letras, Universidad Católica de Chile), Joanne Rappaport (Spanish and Portuguese, Georgetown University), Wagner Romão (Political Science, Universidade Estadual de Campinas), and Gabriela Vargas-Cetina (Anthropology, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán). The committee considered eighteen proposals from students enrolled in universities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico.
About LASA
The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) is the largest professional association in the world for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America. With over 13,000 members, over 60% of whom reside outside the United States, LASA is the one association that brings together experts on Latin America from all disciplines and diverse occupational endeavors, across the globe. LASA's mission is to foster intellectual discussion, research, and teaching on Latin America, the Caribbean, and its people throughout the Americas, promote the interests of its diverse membership, and encourage civic engagement through network building and public debate.
If you wish to interview a LASA Executive Council member, you can contact the LASA communications office at (412) 648-7929 or send an email to lasa@lasaweb.org.