The Center for the Americas is dedicated to enhancing programming at the University of Oklahoma in several areas of the Western Hemisphere. Its major focus in Latin America, but it also promotes activities on the Caribbean, Canada, and global U.S. foreign policy. The Center for the Americas is sponsored by the ConocoPhillips Fund and the Canadian Studies Fund.
Among the Center for the Americas activities are monthly lunches for those in the OU community who are interested in Latin America; guest speakers; mini-conferences; film showings; musical concerts; the management of the oulatinamerica-L listserv at lists.ou.edu; a research essay competition; and more. Students or faculty interested in sponsorship from the Center for the Americas for their relevant activities should contact its director. For the moment, the Center does not offer research or travel grants to students or faculty.
Director, Center for the Americas
ConocoPhillips Chair in Latin American Studies
Research Fields: Politics in Latin America; Democracies and Democratization; History and Philosophy of Democracy; Political Institutions, Political Violence
Office: 222 Dale Hall Tower
Phone: (405) 325-3735
Email: ckenney@ou.edu
1st Prize ($250): Lilly Amechi, "A Case of Mistaken Identity: State and Cultural Constructions of Mapuche Womanhood Through Activism"
Written for the fall 2021 course ANTH 4843: Cross Cultural Study of Sex, Sexuality
2nd Prize ($100): Gant Roberson, "Revolutionary Solidarity and Ideological Reference in the Global South: The FMLN and Revolution in El Salvador 1970-1992"
Written for the spring 2021 course HIST 3573: Latin American Refugees 1970-Present
On March 25, 2022, the OU Center for the Americas hosted a talk, "Struggles for Autonomy in Bolivia and Peru at the Time of Independence from Spain," with Victor Maqque, Managing Director for the Latin American Sustainability Initiative (LASI) and Affiliate Faculty, OU Department of History.
On January 28, 2022, the OU Center for the Americas and OU Center for Brazil Studies hosted Ian Carrillo of the OU Department of Sociology for a talk, "Dislodging Authoritarianism: The Brazilian Labor Ministry’s Fight Against Neo-Slavery and Environmental Exploitation."
On November 12, 2021, the OU Center for the Americas hosted this panel discussion on Caribbean Studies at the University of Oklahoma, with panelists Jennifer Davis Cline (history), Greg Graham (AFAM), Rita Keresztesi (English), and Lewis Eliot (history).
On October 15, 2021, the OU Center for the Americas welcomed Steven Gullberg, Associate Professor, OU Extended Campus School of Integrative and Cultural Studies, for this Zoom webinar.
A conversation with Krista Brune, Assistant Professor of Portuguese and Spanish, Penn State University. Presented by the OU Center for the Americas, Center for Brazil Studies and Department of Modern Languages, Literature and Linguistics on April 30, 2021. Respondent is Paulo Moreira, MLLL.
A talk presented by the OU Center for the Americas as part of the OU Tulsa Race Massacre centennial commemoration on April 16, 2021, with guest speaker Luis Rodrigo Salvadó, Analyst for the Public Prosecutor for Human Rights of Guatemala and Professor of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation, Universidad de Occidente de Guatemala.
On February 5, 2021, The OU Center for the Americas welcomed Sarah Hines from the OU Dept. of History, Diego Escobari from the Dept. of Economics and Finance at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Ainara Moreno Mejía from the OU Dept. of Economics for this Zoom webinar.
