University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies

It's not every day you get to meet up with colleagues in Paris! We had an amazing time in «Le quartier Latin... American Studies» at this year's LASA conference 🤓😁 It was a joy to convene with compis, reconnect with our alumni, and toast to another amazing year of the Latin American Research Review with the LARR editorial board, led by our own Carmen Martínez Novo. 🥰

How it started ⏩ how it's going 🥹 It's always amazing to see the changes between MALAS orientation and graduation day! What an honor to witness the intellectual and personal development of our students, and the special bonds they create within our community over the course of two years 💙🧡

Our own Drs. Rick Stepp and Luis Felipe Lomelí are featured in this article that digs deeper into the popularity of Cinco de Mayo in the U.S., thanks to our friends at The Alligator!

How do Mexicans celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Most don’t - The Independent Florida Alligator Frequently misunderstood as Mexico’s Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo actually commemorates an entirely different victory — and it’s not a major national holiday in Mexico.

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to affiliate faculty Max Deardorff (History) for being awarded fellowships from the Gulbenkian Institute for Advanced Study (GIAS) and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)! 👏🎉

Both grants support the development of Dr. Deardorff's forthcoming book, "At Sea and Ashore: Convicts, Slaves, and the Galleys of the Spanish Global Monarchy," a social and cultural history of the military penal institution in Spain’s American and Asian colonies.

Congratulations to all our graduates celebrating this weekend! 🎓🐊🎉 Thank you for choosing Latin American Studies and being a part of our community. We can't wait to see what's next for you! 🌎🩷

Alumni: we'd love to connect with you! If you have any updates to share, ways you'd like to get involved with the Center, or even just want to say 'hi' — you can fill out the form here 😊 http://bit.ly/3s5H2KA

Our 2026 cohort of MALAS students graduates this weekend! 🎓🎉👏 Enhorabuena, parabéns, and congratulations to Elaine, Salenka, Artis, Isa, Ivonne, Jonny, Nicolle, Melisa, Caroline, and Gigi on completing your master's degrees. Thank you for making the Center part of your journey. 🐊🌎 We're so proud of everything you've accomplished! 🧡💙

FELICITACIONES to MALAS '26 Salenka Chinchin for successfully completing her capstone, “I Have Learned to Be Like This: Adolescent Identity Expression as an Analytical Lens of Ecuadorian Education — a Participatory Experience in Quito.” ¡Bravo, Salenka! 🎉