The Center of Latin American Studies extends a warm welcome to several new affiliate faculty members from the Rutgers Newark and Camden campuses. A brief biography of each faculty member is outlined below.
Juan Arredondo:
Juan Arredondo is a Colombian American documentary photographer who has chronicled human rights and conflict in Colombia, Venezuela, and Central America. Since 2014, he has been reporting on the use of child soldiers by illegal armed groups in Colombia, the peace agreement between the Colombian government and FARC, and the demobilization and reintegration of formers fighters into the Colombian society, for which he was awarded a World Press Photo award in 2018. Juan has taught photojournalism, multimedia, sound and video at Columbia and the University of Arizona. He’s a graduate of Rutgers-New Brunswick and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
Read more here
Marilisa Jiménez García:
Marilisa Jiménez García is an Associate Professor of Childhood Studies teaching courses in Children’s and Young Adult Literary Cultures. She is a specialist in Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latinx Studies. Her book Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture (UPMiss, 2021) won the 2023 Book Award from the Children’s Literature Association. She is also the co-author with National Ambassador for Children’s Literature, Meg Medina of She Persisted: Pura Belpré (Philomel, 2023) for young readers. Dr. J teaches courses on US Studies, youth media and television, fantasy and science fiction, youth literature and social justice, and Latinx literatures and media.
Read more here
Melanie Plasencia:
Melanie Plasencia is Assistant Professor of Sociology at RU-N. Her research examines how older immigrants in the U.S. negotiate the challenges of aging in the context of extreme poverty, deteriorating health and diminishing government support. Plasencia has taught courses on array of topics, including Latina/o/x ethnography, disability justice, and care work, at UC Berkeley, CUNY Brooklyn College, Rutgers-New Brunswick and Dartmouth. This year at RU-N, she’ll teach undergraduate courses on Latinx Sociology, Sociology of Aging, and Latino New Jersey, as well as an Introduction to Sociology class.
Read more here