Instructors

Gabriel Aleman Rodriguez

Gabriel Aleman Rodriguez

Information
Gabriel.aleman1@Rutgers.edu
Adjunct Instructor
Department: Center for Latin American Studies
Research Interests: His academic interests have orbited around Intellectual History, Latin American and Caribbean Political Thought, and its relationship with US imperialism at the beginning of the 20th century. He has worked on the nationalist discourse and the construction of nation-states in the same geographic-cultural context. During the last three years, he has been interested in Economic History and History of Economic Thought to analyze the evolution of monopolistic-financial capital in the Caribbean and the political-economic domination resulting from the Debt regimes imposed to the countries of the region. He also has extended to a contemporary analysis on political-economy, technocratic culture, neoliberalism, and the idea of “Crisis” in a triangular comparative between Latin America (including the Caribbean), the United States, and Europe.
Background: Ph.D. in Culture and Society with a concentration in Latin-American History from the University of Barcelona, a Master’s degree in Latin-American Studies from the University of Barcelona, University Autonomic of Barcelona and Pompeu Fabra University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences with a concentration in Ibero-American Studies from the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. He has taught Social Sciences, History, and Latin American Studies at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras and Arecibo, where he also directs the Center for Ibero-American Studies.
Courses taught at Rutgers: Latin American Studies: An Introduction (interdisciplinary, core course)
Andres Gonzalez Saiz

Andres Gonzalez Saiz

Information
amg474@scarletmail.rutgers.edu
Adjunct Instructor
Research Interests: Mr González-Saiz is currently writing up his dissertation about the sociopolitical effects of military victimhood in transitional societies coping with the aftermath of past and present atrocities. His research interests involve contemporary military organizations, conflict resolution, the poetics of violence, in addition to magic and witchcraft.
Background: Colombian anthropologist with more than 10 years of experience in qualitative research. Mr. González-Saiz graduated from Los Andes University in Colombia with a bachelors’ degree in Anthropology, and from Goldsmiths, University of London with a master in research in Social Anthropology.
Sandra C. Medina

Sandra C. Medina

Information
Sandra.medina@rutgers.edu
Adjunct Instructor
Research Interests: Sandra Medina's dissertation studies the effects of violence as (re)presented by documentaries and fictional narratives of children’s enrollment in the armed groups, the beginning and expansion of violence in rural areas, and the displacement of the victims of the conflict. Her research shows how the bodily, physical legacies of violence— disappearance, torture and body mutilation, displacement and migration— transform traditional gender norms, and problematize the reintegration and rehabilitation of victims and victimizers.
Background: Ph.D. in Spanish from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers University. She holds an M.A. in Spanish Literature from the same institution and a B.A in Spanish and English from Montclair State University in New Jersey. She has taught Spanish, literature, and culture courses in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, the comparative literature program, and the English Writing program at Rutgers University since 2013.
Courses taught at Rutgers: Latin American Studies: An Introduction (interdisciplinary, core course)
Geisa Rocha

Geisa Rocha

Information
gerocha1@aol.com
Adjunct Instructor
Research Interests: The Political Economy of Latin American Development, emphases on theories and policies, neoliberal restructuring and state transformation, Brazil; International Political Economy, emphases on theories, international financial institutions, globalization.
Background: Ph.D., Political Science. The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY)
Courses taught at Rutgers: Latin America: An Introduction (interdisciplinary, core course), Topics in Latin American Studies: “Latin American Politics: Change in Historical Perspective”, Themes in Latin American Studies: “Unity in Diversity: A Brief Introduction to Latin America”, Seminar in Latin American Studies: “U.S.-Latin American Relations: From the Monroe Doctrine to the Globalization Era” Seminar in Latin American Studies: “Globalization and The Challenges of Latin American Development”
Jennifer Trowbridge

Jennifer Trowbridge

Information
Jennifer.trowbridge@rutgers.edu
Adjunct Instructor
Research Interests: Colombia, Guatemala, the Andes, violence, human rights, forensic science, medical anthropology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), memory, history, politics and US-Latin American relations, migration, LGBTQ studies.
Background: Jennifer Trowbridge (she/they) is a sociocultural and biological anthropologist whose writing and research centers on the intersections between political violence, justice and human rights, and medical anthropology. Her ethnographic research in Colombia focuses on sociopolitical dynamics of forensic scientific investigations to identify and return the bodies of people killed in human rights violations. Her approach emphasizes relationships between the living and the dead, especially with regards to the dead body within forensic scientific practices and funerary rituals. Jennifer’s ethnographic fieldwork in Colombia was inspired by her years of experience as a lab-based forensic anthropologist in Guatemala, and her time working at a human rights’ advocacy organization in Washington, DC on issues of US policy in Latin America. She also studied in Cuba.
Courses taught at Rutgers: Latin America: An Introduction Latin American Studies Topics: Central American Journeys, Seminar: LGBTQ Social Movements in the Americas