Tinker-Nave Summer Field Research Panel #2

Tinker-Nave Summer Field Research Grant Recipients Alec Armon, Christian Fidel Revilla Arizaca, and Jacob Sorrells

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206 Ingraham Hall | Virtual
@ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
ZOOM REGISTRATION

Presented by Tinker-Nave Summer Field Research Grant Recipients Alec Armon, Christian Fidel Revilla Arizaca, and Jacob Sorrells

Alec Armon

Presentation #1: “Chile’s Water Market and the Politics of Drought in the Coquimbo Region” presented by Alec Armon.

About the presentation: The Coquimbo Region of Chile is undergoing a historic “mega-drought” against a policy backdrop often referred to as the most marketized water code in the world, under which water rights are bought and sold like commodities. Both the region’s main population center and its export-oriented agriculture industry face growing water demands while the primary freshwater reservoirs near total depletion. My thesis research therefore examines how water shortages have impacted coastal communities and campesinos through two case studies involving a forthcoming desalination plant in the seaside city of Coquimbo and local water management organizations in the fertile agricultural interior respectively. Both examples shed light on the consequences of water scarcity for democratic decision making amidst the intensifying climate crisis.

About the presenter: Alec is a second-year Master’s student in the Department of Geography and focuses the subfields of environmental justice, political ecology, and economic geography. His research interests center broadly on the enduring influence of US policy and institutions in Latin America, analyzed through themes like environmental governance, land tenure, and policy knowledge production. He graduated in 2018 from UW-Madison with bachelor’s degrees in International Studies and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies. Before entering graduate school, Alec worked at a Saint Paul, MN district council coordinating community development projects and conducting community engagement on City policy.

CHRISTIAN REVILLA ARIZACA

Presentation #2: “Education Under Attack: History, evolution, and crisis in the higher education system in Peru” presented by Fidel Revilla Arizaca.

About the presentation: About the presentation: The university in Peru has become one of the most valuable commodities during the last decades, their number has mushroomed reaching the amount of 143 in 2014, originating a university reform that closed a bunch of those institutions that have not achieved the minimum standards of quality and that continuously scam to the young Peruvians. Nevertheless, the new political parties that ruled the country, started to disambled that reform and pervert and commodity higher education again. This research focuses on the history of the university and its changes, especially during the last decades, trying to analyze how these changes affected higher education in Peru, especially in the 90s when the neoliberal project massified access to the university, but in the detriment of education quality.

About the presenter: Historian dedicated to studying the development and crisis of higher education in Peru through the LACIS program. He received his BA in History in 2015, and an MA in Superior Education in 2021, both from the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA). Likewise, he has been dedicated to teaching for almost seven years, teaching in schools, pre-college centers and in the Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohman. He is the recipient of several academic awards, including those resulting through his work advising students. Previously, he traveled throughout Latin America as an exchange student and participated in many academic events. Through UNSA, he was awarded funding to study mining communities, and develop research projects.

Jacob Sorrells

Presentation #3: “Sanctuary or Segunda Selva? Engaging Migrant Experiences in Denver, CO” presented by Jacob Sorrells.

About the presentation: Jacob will be discussing his research this summer working closely with Venezuelan newcomers in Denver, CO — a city which, over the last year and a half, has taken in more migrants per capita than any other major U.S. metropolitan area. By spotlighting some of the wide-ranging experiences of the migrant families he interviewed, this presentation hopes to complicate official narratives that portray the Mile High City as a great bastion for asylum seekers. In doing so, we can observe the enormous possibility of progressive local policies, alongside their devastating limitations in the context of persistent material, cultural, and legal barriers.

About the presenter: Jacob is completing his M.A. in Latin American Studies with a focus on refugee and migration issues. Prior to Madison, he spent four years as a bilingual case manager in Denver, where he worked primarily with refugees experiencing homelessness. He’s also lived in Ecuador, Argentina, and Colombia, engaged in various odd jobs and educational endeavors.