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.
dabente@gwu.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
haguinis@gwu.edu
Paula Alonso (Ph.D., Oxford University)
Associate Professor of History and International Affairs
Concentrations: Latin America, Argentina, Political History, Cultural History
palonso@gwu.edu
Barbara von Barghahn (Ph.D., New York University)
Professor of Art History, Art History Program
bvb@gwu.edu
Kelly Bauer (Ph.D., George Washington University)
Associate Professor of Political Science
kbauer2@gwu.edu
Christopher Britt (Ph.D., Princeton University)
Professor of Spanish, Director of Spanish Literature
Concentrations: Post-imperial Spain, Post-colonial Latin America
cbritt@gwu.edu
Otaviano Canuto (Ph.D., University of Campinas)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: International Economics, Development Economics
ocanuto@gwu.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
ycaptain@gwu.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
acooperman@gwu.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
bcottrol@law.gwu.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
cuellar@gwu.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
asdent@gwu.edu
Rodimiro Rodrigo Flores
Assistant Professor of International Business
rodimiro.rodrigo@gwu.
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
garciaponce@email.gwu.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
renatagiannini@gmail.com
Graciela Kaminsky (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Professor of Economics and International Affairs
Concentrations: Macroeconomics, International Finance, and Monetary Policy
graciela@gwu.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
kaplan@gwu.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
amlopez@gwu.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
rlopezmonti@email.gwu.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
klora@gwu.edu
Ronald Luna (Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park)
Lecturer
Concentrations: Migration, transnationalism, culture space.
ronaldl@gwu.edu
Carla Maenza (Ph.D., Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: Gender Theory, Feminism, Latin American Feminism, Equality Policies
carlamaenza@email.gwu.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
jmarczak@gwu.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
emrestrepo@gwu.edu
Noel Maurer (Ph.D., Stanford University)
Associate Professor of International Affairs and International Business
Concentrations: Private property rights, Mexico.
nmaurer@gwu.edu
Michael McCarthy (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: U.S. Foreign Policy, Latin America, Democratization, Populism, Illiberalism
michaelmmcc@gwu.edu
Cynthia McClintock (Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Concentration: Latin American politics, Electoral Processes, Peru
mcclin@gwu.edu
Hilen Meirovich (Ph.D., Georgetown University)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: Climate Change, Climate Policy, Latin America
hilen.meirovich@gwu.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
wolfgangmunar@gwu.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.ortegasantos@gwu.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_pardo@gwu.edu
Marie Price (Ph.D., Syracuse University)
Professor of Geography and International Affairs
Concentrations: Political and Cultural Geography, Latin America, Immigration
mprice@gwu.edu
Logan Puck (Ph.D., University of California)
Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science
Concentrations: Mexico; Policing, Politics and Society
logan.puck@email.gwu.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
kquave@gwu.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
jrivera@gwu.edu
Michael Shifter (MA, Harvard University)
Professorial Lecturer
Concentrations: U.S.-Latin America Relations, Governance and Democracy
m.shifter@gwu.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
vvaldivia@email.gwu.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
evaquera@gwu.edu
Leniqueca Welcome (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania)
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs
Concentration: Postcolonial Statecraft, Racialization, Gender, Caribbean Studies
leniqueca.welcome@gwu.edu
Erica Wortham (Ph.D., New York University)
Professorial Lecturer of Anthropology
Concentration: Media and culture, indigenous media, visual heritage, archiving, nationalism/ethnicity, Mexico
ewortham@gwu.edu