Faculty Associates

The Elliott School boasts a diverse faculty representing seven Latin American countries, alongside a substantial presence of Latinx faculty and students. Their varied perspectives and experiences enrich our academic community profoundly.

Our faculty associates form a distinguished community dedicated to exploring the multifaceted dimensions of the region through their teaching and research.

Director

Diego Abente-Brun (Ph.D., The University of New Mexico)
Director, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Initiative 
Concentrations: International relations of Latin America, governance, comparative democratization.
dabentegwu [dot] edu (dabente[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Affiliated Faculty

Herman Aguinis (Ph.D., University at Albany, State University of New York)
Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar & Professor of Management
Concentrations: Diverse workforce, Sustainable and responsible organizations, Human capital development
haguinisgwu [dot] edu (haguinis[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Paula Alonso (Ph.D., Oxford University)
Associate Professor of History and International Affairs
Concentrations: Latin America, Argentina, Political History, Cultural History
palonsogwu [dot] edu (palonso[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Barbara von Barghahn (Ph.D., New York University)
Professor of Art History, Art History Program
bvbgwu [dot] edu (bvb[at]gwu[dot]edu)  

Kelly Bauer (Ph.D., George Washington University)
Associate Professor of Political Science
kbauer2gwu [dot] edu (kbauer2[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Christopher Britt (Ph.D., Princeton University)
Professor of Spanish, Director of Spanish Literature 
Concentrations: Post-imperial Spain, Post-colonial Latin America
cbrittgwu [dot] edu (cbritt[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Otaviano Canuto (Ph.D., University of Campinas)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: International Economics, Development Economics
ocanutogwu [dot] edu (ocanuto[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Yvonne Captain (Ph.D., Stanford University)
Associate Professor of Latin American Film and Literature and International Affairs
Concentrations: Africa and Diaspora, Film Industries in Latin American and Africa, South-south Relations
ycaptaingwu [dot] edu (ycaptain[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Alicia Cooperman (Ph.D., Columbia University)
Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Concentrations: Local Politics, Environmental Politics, Social Movements, Quantitative Methods, Brazil
acoopermangwu [dot] edu (acooperman[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Robert Cottrol (Ph.D., Yale University; J.D. Georgetown University)
Harold Paul Green Research Professor of Law, Professor of History and Sociology
Concentrations: Legal Institutions, Race Relations in the U.S. and Latin America
bcottrollaw [dot] gwu [dot] edu (bcottrol[at]law[dot]gwu[dot]edu) 

Manuel Cuellar (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley)
Associate Professor of Latin American and Latinx Studies; Director of the Micro-Minor in Immigration and Migration Studies
Concentrations: Mexican Literary and Cultural Studies; Performance, Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in the Américas
cuellargwu [dot] edu (cuellar[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Alex Dent (Ph.D., University of Chicago)
Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs
Concentrations: Brazil, Latin America and North America; Public Culture, Language and the Media; Ethnography of performance
asdentgwu [dot] edu (asdent[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Rodimiro Rodrigo Flores 
Assistant Professor of International Business
rodimiro [dot] rodrigogwu [dot] edu (rodimiro.rodrigo@gwu.edu)

Omar Garcia-Ponce (Ph.D., New York University)
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Concentrations: Political Economy of Development, Political Violence; Organized Crime, Latin American Politics 
garciaponceemail [dot] gwu [dot] edu (garciaponce[at]email[dot]gwu[dot]edu) 

Renata Avelar Giannini (Ph.D., Old Dominion University)
Associate Professor of Practice of International Affairs, and Assistant Dean for Executive Education and Special Initiatives
Concentrations: gender studies; international security; climate and environmental change
renatagianninigmail [dot] com (renatagiannini[at]gmail[dot]com) 

Graciela Kaminsky (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Professor of Economics and International Affairs
Concentrations: Macroeconomics, International Finance, and Monetary Policy
gracielagwu [dot] edu (graciela[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Stephen B. Kaplan (Ph.D., Yale University)
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Concentrations: International and Comparative Political Economy, Chinese Foreign Investment and Development Finance; and Latin American Political Economics
kaplangwu [dot] edu (kaplan[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Antonio Lopez (Ph.D., Rutgers University)
Department Chair; Associate Professor of English
Concentrations: U.S. Latinx, African Diaspora, Hemispheric American, Literary and Cultural Theory
amlopezgwu [dot] edu (amlopez[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Rafael Lopez-Monti (Ph.D., George Washington University)
Assistant Professor of Economics and International Affairs; Director, M.A. International Economic Policy (MIEP)
Concentrations: Microfinance, Macroeconomics
rlopezmontiemail [dot] gwu [dot] edu (rlopezmonti[at]email[dot]gwu[dot]edu) 

Karina Lora (Ph.D., University of Nebraska)
Associate Professor, Director of the Public Health Nutrition MPH Program
Concentrations: Nutrition, Obesity, Underserved Populations, Program Evaluation, Health Disparities
kloragwu [dot] edu (klora[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Ronald Luna (Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park)
Lecturer
Concentrations: Migration, transnationalism, culture space.
ronaldlgwu [dot] edu (ronaldl[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Carla Maenza (Ph.D., Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: Gender Theory, Feminism, Latin American Feminism, Equality Policies  
carlamaenzaemail [dot] gwu [dot] edu (carlamaenza[at]email[dot]gwu[dot]edu)

Jason Marczak (M.A., Johns Hopkins University)
Professorial Lecturer, Director, Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council
Concentrations: Central America, Immigration Policy
jmarczakgwu [dot] edu (jmarczak[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Elvira-Maria Restrepo (Ph.D., Oxford University)
Interim Director (2019), Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program
Associate Professor of International Studies University Honors Program & Elliott School of International Affairs
Concentrations: Peacebuilding, Cybercrime and online behavior and deliberation, Colombia
emrestrepogwu [dot] edu (emrestrepo[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Noel Maurer (Ph.D., Stanford University)
Associate Professor of International Affairs and International Business
Concentrations: Private property rights, Mexico.
nmaurergwu [dot] edu (nmaurer[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Michael McCarthy (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: U.S. Foreign Policy, Latin America, Democratization, Populism, Illiberalism
michaelmmccgwu [dot] edu (michaelmmcc[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Cynthia McClintock (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Concentration: Latin American politics, Electoral Processes, Peru
mcclingwu [dot] edu (mcclin[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Hilen Meirovich (Ph.D., Georgetown University)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: Climate Change, Climate Policy, Latin America
hilen [dot] meirovichgwu [dot] edu (hilen[dot]meirovich[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Wolfgang Munar (Sc. M., Harvard University)
Associate Professor & Director, Gill-Lebovic Center for the Caribbean and Latin America
Concentrations: Global Health, Health Policy, Maternal and Child Health, Program Evaluation, Health Services Delivery
wolfgangmunargwu [dot] edu (wolfgangmunar[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Carmen Ortega-Santos (Ph.D., Arizona State University)
Assistant Professor, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health
Concentrations: Nutrition, Dietetics, Obesity and Metabolic Disorders, Gut Health, Metabolism
carmen [dot] ortegasantosgwu [dot] edu (carmen[dot]ortegasantos[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Diana Pardo Pedraza (Ph.D., University of California, Davis)
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs
Concentrations: Anthropology of Violence & Peace, Feminist theory, Colombia and Latin American Studies 
diana_pardogwu [dot] edu (diana_pardo[at]gwu[dot]edu)

Marie Price (Ph.D., Syracuse University)
Professor of Geography and International Affairs
Concentrations: Political and Cultural Geography, Latin America, Immigration
mpricegwu [dot] edu (mprice[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Logan Puck (Ph.D., University of California)
Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science
Concentrations: Mexico; Policing, Politics and Society
logan [dot] puckemail [dot] gwu [dot] edu (logan[dot]puck[at]email[dot]gwu[dot]edu) 

Kylie Quave (Ph.D., 2012, Southern Methodist University)
Associate Professor of Writing and Anthropology
Concentrations: Household archaeology, ethnohistory and archival research, identity, political economy, Inca empire, Colonial Peru, museum studies, quantitative social science, transliteracy
kquavegwu [dot] edu (kquave[at]gwu[dot]edu)  

Jorge Rivera (Ph.D. Duke University)
Professor of Strategic Management, Public Policy, and International Affairs
Concentrations: Environmental Policy, Environmental Management, Business and Public Policy
jriveragwu [dot] edu (jrivera[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Michael Shifter (MA, Harvard University)
Professorial Lecturer 
Concentrations: U.S.-Latin America Relations, Governance and Democracy 
m [dot] shiftergwu [dot] edu (m[dot]shifter[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Victor Valdivia (Ph.D., University of New Mexico )
Assistant Professor of Spanish, Director of Spanish Language 
Concentrations: Spanish as a heritage language, Language and dialect contact, Hispanic, Sociolinguistics, Functional Syntax, Discourse analysis
vvaldiviaemail [dot] gwu [dot] edu (vvaldivia[at]email[dot]gwu[dot]edu) 

Elizabeth Vaquera (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania)
Executive Director of Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy & Public Administration
Concentrations: Immigration, Latino/a Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, Children and Youth
evaqueragwu [dot] edu (evaquera[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Leniqueca Welcome (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) 
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs
Concentration: Postcolonial Statecraft, Racialization, Gender, Caribbean Studies
leniqueca [dot] welcomegwu [dot] edu (leniqueca[dot]welcome[at]gwu[dot]edu) 

Erica Wortham (Ph.D., New York University) 
Professorial Lecturer of Anthropology
Concentration: Media and culture, indigenous media, visual heritage, archiving, nationalism/ethnicity, Mexico
eworthamgwu [dot] edu (ewortham[at]gwu[dot]edu)