Staff
Dain Borges, Director and Associate Professor of History
The Director of CLAS, Professor Dain Borges, leads the Center in coordinating University interests in research and teaching on Latin America. His work centers on nineteenth- and twentieth-century Latin American culture and ideas, with a particular focus on Brazilian social thought, 1880-1920. His current research project, "Races, Crowds, and Souls in Brazilian Social Thought, 1880-1920," centers on the ways in which Brazilian intellectuals used race sociology and social psychology to understand popular religion and politics. Borges teaches graduate seminars and classes for the doctoral program on Latin America in the History Department.
Joshua Beck, Associate Director
The Associate Director is responsible for managing the operations of the
Center for Latin American Studies, fostering linkages with other
academic units on campus, community organizations, and the Center's
professional associations, and developing new funding opportunities for
the Center's research and outreach programming. Josh Beck manages
program planning and design, policy-making, budget, and supervision of
administrative staff. He is also responsible for managing the Center's
external grants and fellowships, including a US Department of Education
National Resource Center grant and Foreign Language and Area Studies
Fellowships, the Tinker Visiting Professorship, a US Department of
Education International Research and Studies grant, and the Tinker Field
Research Grant. Josh also manages the Center's indigenous languages
programming. Josh currently serves as Vice President/President Elect of the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs. An alumnus of the CLAS MA Program, Josh is always happy to speak to prospective students interested in Latin American Studies.
Luis Fernando Granados, Lecturer in Latin American Studies
Luis Fernando Granados is a historian of "Neoclassic" Mexico City-which in his view spans from the late-eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. He received his licenciatura en historia (the equivalent of a B.A. in history) from the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (1999) and his Ph.D. in history from Georgetown University (2008). He is the author of Sueñan las piedras: Alzamiento occurrido en la ciudad de México, 14, 15 y 16 de septiembre, 1847 (Mexico: Ediciones Era, 2003), a monograph on the popular uprising against the U.S. occupation of Mexico City, which is in the process of being translated into English, and will be published by Texas University Press. His dissertation is a study on Mexico City's barrios de indios; it is based on a tribute roll prepared for the indigenous municipality of San Juan Tenochtitlan in 1800. He has also been involved in the Mexican publishing scene, first as the managing editor of Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas (1994-1999) and more recently in various capacities with Hoja por Hoja: Suplemento de Libros, the monthly book review that appears in nine Mexican newspapers (1997-2006).
Frutuoso Santana, Office Manager/Program Advisor
As Office Manager and Program Advisor, Frutuoso Santana
provides general logistical support for CLAS operations, manages
records and communications related to CLAS degree programs and
courses, and supports the Associate Director with grant proposal
development and reporting requirements. Frutuoso is an alumnus of the
Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago
where he wrote his MA thesis on regional integration in Latin America.
He received his BA in Music History from Roosevelt University.
Julene Iriarte, Program Manager
Julene Iriarte received her B.A. in International Relations from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City and a Master's in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. She joined the Katz Center in 2009, where she is responsible for the organization of conferences, symposiums, and outreach programming.
Benjamin Johnson, B.A. Preceptor
