SAR launches Latino Studies Initiative
The president of the School for Advanced Research (SAR), Michael F. Brown, is pleased to announce the launch of a new program focused on Latino studies.
In 2015 the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded SAR a $350,000, three-year grant to add two fellowships in Latino studies to SAR’s resident scholar program, which has funded advanced research in anthropology and related fields for more than four decades. The first SAR Mellon fellow, David Romo, began his fellowship term in September 2016. Next fall the program will expand to include to two Mellon fellows, one a doctoral candidate and the second a postdoctoral scholar.
Although the Mellon-funded program is the first SAR initiative explicitly focused on study of the nation’s Hispanic history and culture, the School has a well established record of supporting Latino studies scholarship. Former SAR resident fellows include such prominent scholars as Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Jason de León, Ana Celia Zentella, Robert Alvarez, and Laura Gómez, among others.
In December 2016 SAR brought together a dozen Latino studies experts from the northern New Mexico area to discuss the new program and solicit their advice on its future direction. This outreach effort was sponsored by Charles L. Padilla and Northwestern Mutual. Padilla and Northwestern Mutual are also sponsoring a lecture by noted Latino studies scholar John Nieto-Phillips of Indiana University on April 27. The lecture is free and open to the public.
SAR is now offering two annual fellowships focused on Latino studies. In the fall of each term, SAR’s Mellon fellows will present noontime talks that are free and open to the public. Dates of the talks will be posted in the calendar section of our website. Winners of Mellon fellowships for 2017-2018 will be announced in April.
Related news stories:
KOB.com, January 31, 2017, “Highlands Professor Helps to Create Latino Scholar Pipeline.”
Albuquerque Journal, January 31, 2017, “Highlands Professor Helps to Create Latino Scholar Pipeline.”