Activities: Latin America
I led two study abroad programs during the 2006-2007 academic year. The first took the Honors Think Tank on Immigration students to Mexico to examine migration issues from the Mexico perspective. We were in Michoacan and the Distrito Federal December 27-January 6, 2007. The second was in Costa Rica from May 6 to May 30, 2007, where I taught a course on "Sustainable Development" as part of an extensive program on the environment in Costa Rica.
During the last two summers and In March 2008, I traveled to Ecuador for work with a number of Ecuadorians, some of whom are currently in Ministerial positions. In June, 2006, I presented a paper entitled “ Dimensions of State Failure: A Comparison of the US, Ecuador and Papua New Guinea,” at the Tercer Encuentro de la Sección de Estudios Ecuatorianos de la LASA, Quito, Ecuador( June 29, 2006). A copy of the paper is available at ENCUENTRO PAPER
I also worked with Economists and Educators in Peru in 2006 and participated in the inauguration of a storage facility for native potatoes with representatives of the NGO "Yanapai" and the community of Quilcas in the Mantaro Valley of Huancayo. The facility is at roughly 13,500 feet and thus should prevent many infestations of potato pests. The seed potatoes represent biodiversity (there are 120 varieties in the community) and thus a guarantee against eventual loss of the potato.
With the grant from the Department of Education for a Group
Project Abroad, Professor Isabel Dulfano and I took a group
totaling seventeen to Ecuador from June 14-July 11, 2004.
There are a variety of useful outcomes of the project. Some of that information
is available at the UEN website and at the Group Project
site, www.ugs.utah.edu/is/GPA/Home.htm
View a Slideshow
I also participated with the Carter Center in observing
three elections in Venezuela, culminating in the recall referendum
of President Hugo Chavez on August 15, 2004. This was not
only an exceptional experience but the presence of the Carter
Center observers was central to realizing the recall and
ensuring that it was conducted fairly. While it has not calmed
the country, the results suggest that there may be a possibility
for peaceful and democratic problem solving in the country.
Richard Fowles looked at some of the claims
of fraud and presented a workshop on that issue in the Economics
Department. The Carter Center issued a report based on
his work, and that of several other statisticians.
During early May, 2004, I spent ten days in Paraguay delivering
a set of lectures on the Challenges of Globalization. I spoke
with groups ranging from the trade commission of the Congress
and the Senate to the American Paraguayan Chamber of Commerce
to the Economics faculty and the Catholic University of Concepcion.
While in Paraguay, I was also able to visit the Jesuit Guarani
mission ruins, made famous in the movie "The Mission." I
also went over the border to Brazil and visited the Iguazu
Falls on the Brazil-Argentina border.
View my Latin
American Activities Curriculum Vitae (12KB PDF file)
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