Meet our 2025-2026 Research Grantees<\/b><\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Every year, CLLAS invests $35,000 in innovative student and faculty research projects that shed light on critical social, cultural, and political issues within Latinx and Latin American communities. Congratulations to this year’s research grantees:<\/i><\/span><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Giovanni Francischelli <\/h1>

PhD Student
\nCommunication and Media Studies \n
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\nGiovanni Francischelli studies the influence of right-wing media in Brazil through the lens of documentary film. His research analyzes how the company Brasil Paralelo spreads misinformation and political ideology via YouTube and other platforms, contributing to cultural polarization.\n\n
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\nWith support from CLLAS, Giovanni will deepen his discourse analysis by gaining access to Brazilian media archives and collecting digital content critical to his study of online political ecosystems.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Janette Avelar<\/h1>

PhD Student
Quantitative Research Methods in Education\n
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\nJanette\u2019s research explores how schools serving predominantly Latinx student populations design learning experiences and respond to shifts in the political landscape. Her mixed-methods study leverages data from over 100 schools to analyze equity-related practices and surface promising strategies.\n\n
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\nWith support from CLLAS, Janette will conduct interviews with school leaders and analyze survey data to better understand how educational equity efforts are evolving in the current climate and what this means for Latinx students across diverse school settings.\n\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Alejandro Mar\u00edn<\/h1>

PhD Student
\nRomance Languages \n
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\nAlejandro\u2019s research explores 21st-century migration narratives from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Equatorial Guinea. Through a framework he terms \u201cThe New Errancy,\u201d he investigates how contemporary authors portray themes of transnational identity, diasporic belonging, and redefinitions of home.\n\n
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\nWith support from CLLAS, Alejandro will travel to the Dominican Republic this summer to conduct archival research, observe key border regions, and interview authors whose work is central to his dissertation.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Moe G\u00e1mez<\/h1>

PhD Student
\nEnglish\n
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\nMoe\u2019s research explores the intersection of Latinx literature, environmental justice, and queer\/trans theory. Their dissertation examines how queer Latinx authors and artists represent ecologies through embodied, speculative, and political narratives. Through archival and literary analysis, Moe\u2019s work contributes to the growing subfield of queer Latinx environmentalisms.\n\n
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\nWith support from CLLAS, Moe will travel to UCLA\u2019s Chicana\/o Studies Research Center to explore Laura Aguilar\u2019s photographic archives and visit desert landscapes featured in Aguilar\u2019s work\u2014key steps in developing their first dissertation chapter.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Omar Barahona<\/h1>

PhD Student
\nSpanish \n
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\nOmar\u2019s research explores how land, community, and sovereignty are represented in 60's and 70's Latin American non-fiction film. By emphasizing collaborative processes in representation, his study focuses on how peasant and indigenous communities asserted their resistance within these cinematic works, particularly in relation to the agrarian question and its intersections with class, race, and gender. \n\n
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\nWith support from CLLAS, Omar will spend time at Mexico City\u2019s Filmoteca UNAM, accessing rare documentaries and archival materials that will anchor his chapter on Mexico\u2019s Third Cinema movement.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Guillem Belmar Viernes<\/h1>

Assistant Professor
\nLinguistics\n
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\nDr. Belmar Viernes\u2019 project expands on a long-standing collaboration with speakers of Sa\u2019an Savi \u00f1u \u00d1uu Xnuviko (Mixtepec Mixtec), an Indigenous language of Oaxaca, Mexico. Working closely with community member and co-researcher Jerem\u00edas Salazar, the project transforms recorded oral narratives into an illustrated storybook and audiobooks, fostering language maintenance and cultural transmission both in Mixtepec and in diaspora communities across the U.S.\n
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\nWith support from CLLAS, Dr. Belmar Viernes will complete the illustration of the final two stories, print and distribute 1,000 copies of the storybook, and develop an online trilingual (Mixtec\u2013Spanish\u2013English) platform with accompanying audiobooks and pedagogical materials. Funding will also support Salazar\u2019s participation in the International Conference on the Revitalization of Indigenous and Minoritized Languages in Kyoto, where the team will share their work and exchange ideas with other practitioners.\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Salom\u00e9 Herrera<\/h1>

Assistant Professor
\nLatinx Literature and Cultural Production\n
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\nDr. Herrera\u2019s research explores the intersections of Latinx literature, performance, and cultural production with borders, transgender identity, and reproductive freedom. His project examines how Latinx artists reimagine the \u201cwomb\u201d as a queer feminist site of creativity that challenges biological essentialism, racial purity, and gender normativity. Drawing from Gloria Anzald\u00faa\u2019s writings and archival materials at UT-Austin, his work highlights how Latinx aesthetics envision care, community, and transformation as foundations for social reorganization.\n

\nWith support from CLLAS, Dr. Herrera will conduct archival research in the Gloria Evangelina Anzald\u00faa Papers, shaping the theoretical framework for his first book manuscript. This project will lead to a public community talk, scholarly publications, and future collaborations that connect Latinx cultural production with activism and community engagement<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chanel Meyers<\/h1>

Assistant Professor
\nPsychology\n
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\nDr. Meyers\u2019 research investigates how Latine individuals perceive corporate workplaces and assess organizational commitments to diversity. Her work demonstrates that Latine individuals often view companies with racially heterogeneous workforces as more welcoming and trustworthy than those with higher ingroup representation alone. By expanding on these findings, her project explores how identity, representation, and workplace culture influence the experiences of Latine professionals navigating corporate organizations.\n
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\nWith support from CLLAS, Dr. Meyers will conduct a second experimental studywith help from an undergraduate research assistant. This work will advance understanding of diversity signals in workplace settings, contribute to peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, and strengthen pathways for emerging Latine scholars in psychology.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet our 2025-2026 Research Grantees Every year, CLLAS invests $35,000 in innovative student and faculty research projects that shed light […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15411","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n