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.
Please join us in congratulating the 2025 Center for the Americas Latin America and Caribbean Best Paper Award winners.
Congratulations to the 1st Prize winner, Mikayla Taylor, with her winning paper "Maria Izquierdo and the Woman's Role in Mexico"
Congratulations to the 2nd Place winners, Luis Eduardo Castro and Natalia Fabry Lochmatter, "Development as a form of violence: locals' response to tourisfication in El Zonte, El Salvador."
A reminder that papers written in 2025, both Spring and Fall 2025, will be eligible for next year!
Lunch and Panel: Bolivia's Elections: What Happened and What Comes Next?
Join the Center for the Americas and David L. Boren College of International Studies for lunch and a panel about Bolivia’s recent elections and what it means for the future. The panel features Dr. Vladimir Díaz-Cuéllar, from Trent University, and Dr. Sarah Hines, from The University of Oklahoma.
Thursday, November 6th, 12:00 - 1:30 pm
Farzaneh Hall, Room 145
Please RSVP by Tuesday, November 4th for lunch.
Director, Center for the Americas
Assistant Professor, International & Area Studies
Research Focus: Legacies of armed conflict, corruption and anti-corruption, statebuilding, democratic erosion, and human rights in Latin America.
Office: 317 Farzaneh Hall
Email: rachel.schwartz@ou.edu
On March 24, 2023, the the OU Center for the Americas and the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR) at Tulane University hosted this panel discussion with: José Miguel Cruz, Director of Research, Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University Michael Paarlberg, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University Sonja Wolf Researcher, Drug Policy Programme, CIDE
On October 21, 2022, the OU Center for the Americas hosted a Latin American Lunch talk with IAS Professor Rachel Schwartz, "Why Do Corrupt Governments Invite International Anti-Corruption Commissions? Experiences from Central America." The event was held in person and also on Zoom.
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 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 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 9, 2023, the OU Center for the Americas hosted a Latin American Lunch panel discussion, "Recent Political Protests in Peru and Brazil." Speakers included Víctor Maqque (LASI and History), Fabio Costa Morais de Sa e Silva (International and Area Studies), Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva (International and Area Studies) and Charlie Kenney (Political Science).
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 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).
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.
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.
