Faculty Voices

Faculty Voices

Author: David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Language: English Episodes: 78
What happens when some of the world's most curious minds turn their attention to a single, dynamic region? Faculty Voices, from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, offers a direct line into those conversations. This podcast moves beyond headlines to explore the deep currents shaping life across the Americas. Each episode features scholars unpacking the complexities of culture, belief systems, social movements, and educational shifts, revealing how these forces intertwine. You'll hear nuanced discussions on everything from religious expression and indigenous spirituality to political change and artistic innovation, all grounded in rigorous study and personal insight. The goal isn't to provide simple answers, but to share the questions and perspectives that fuel academic exploration. Tuning in means listening as experts connect historical patterns to contemporary realities, offering a richer understanding of a region in constant dialogue with itself and the world. It’s an opportunity to engage with the ideas and research that define current scholarship, presented in a thoughtful, accessible format. Join us for these substantive dialogues that honor the profound diversity and ongoing narratives of Latin America.
Episodes
Episode 28: The Situation in Cuba [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:10
Alejandro de la Fuente, Director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, brings us up to date on the situation in Cuba, looking at human right…
Episode 27: Latin America's Path to Economic Recovery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:21
Ricardo Hausmann, the founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab and the Rafik Hariri Professor of the Practice of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School, talks about Latin America’s path to economic…
Episode 25: Ancient Art and the Dumbarton Oaks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:41
Thomas B. F. Cummins is the new director of Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard-owned research institution in Washington, D.C. A Harvard History of Art and Architecture professor and an expert on pre-Columbian and Latin American c…
Episode 24: Promoting Quechua and Latinx Studies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:19
Américo Mendoza–Mori, an interdisciplinary scholar trained in literary, linguistic and cultural studies who teaches in Harvard’s Committee on Ethnicity, Migration and Rights, discusses his plans to promote Quechua, as we…
Episode 23: Latin America and Human Rights [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:50
Kathryn Sikkink, the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, discusses how Latin America has been a protagonist in the development of human rights law, not just a victim of global politics…
Episode 22: The Decriminalization of Abortion in Colombia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:44
Abortion is no longer a crime in Colombia. Alicia Yamin, who heads up Harvard’s Global Health and Rights Project, discusses the hemispheric impact of the recent Colombian Constitutional Court decision to decriminalize ab…
Episode 21: Building Medical Collaborations [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:28
Michael Starnbach, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School and member of the DRCLAS Executive Committee, works on the very timely subject of infectious diseases. He has fostered medical collaborations with…
Episode 20: Reflections on Costa Rica’s Upcoming Election [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:29
Laura Alfaro, the Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, served as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in Costa Rica from 2010-2012. She reflects on the upcoming…
Episode 19: Chilean Elections: Going Forward [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:01
Steven Levitsky, director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and the co-author of How Democracies Die, discusses what the election of leftist Gabriel Boric means for Chile and democracy.