Faculty & Staff > M. A. Alumni in Latin American Studies
Class of 2008
Ikira Di Lorenzo, born in Caracas, Venezuela, moved to Los Angeles at 7 years of age. She moved to Miami, Florida two years later where she eventually pursued her degree in International Studies and a double minor in Latin American Studies and Political Science. In 2006 she had a summer abroad experience with the ACC accredited program through the University of Maryland. She traveled in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and studied social movements in these countries examining first-hand and from a comparative perspective the contemporary politics of globalization. This experience included investigations with the NGO Action Aid in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and an internship at the Instituto Nacional de
Administración. Her main focus is social movements and human rights and she is looking forward to an exciting year at Stanford. She loves to dance, read, travel, learn and have fun with friends.
Elizabeth Dumford graduated from Miami University of Ohio with a major in Zoology and minors in Neuroscience and Latin American Studies. After graduating, she worked with VIDA, an international healthcare nonprofit that sends medical supplies to clinics in Latin America. She later traveled to Ecuador to study Amazon community medicine. During the past year, she has spent much time in Ecuador living in Shuar and Kichwa communities while teaching various subjects and studying the Ecuadorian Kichwa language.
MaryKate Hanlon became enamored of Latin America while studying issues of Population and Environment as an undergraduate in Anthropological Sciences at Stanford (class of 2007). She spent two summers in social science and ecological research in a corner of the Peruvian Amazon called Tambopata. Her research interests include ecotourism as a land use strategy, ethnoprimatology, rights of Amazonian peoples, and indigenous natural resource management. She enjoys exploring the connections among biology, anthropology, and Latin America. MaryKate is excited to be returning to Stanford and joining the Bolivar House family.
Cristina Hung grew up mostly in Iquique and Santiago, Chile. She obtained her B.A. from New York University in 2006 with a double major in Spanish and French Literatures and Cultures. She is looking forward to the Latin American Studies program and learning more about Latin America’s culture through an interdisciplinary perspective. Her interests are national identity formation and individualism in the Southern Cone, and transatlantic studies. She plans on working in South America after completing the masters degree and then continuing on to a doctoral program in 2009.
Daniel Lasaga hails from New York, where he received a Bachelor's of Music Composition, with a minor in History, from NYU. Daniel has worked as an Internet Developer and Software Engineer for Barnes&Noble, Rockefeller University, and Genergy. Most recently, he worked for AOL Time Warner as a Systems Analyst. His interest in Latin America was reinforced during the summer of 2005 when he taught music and English classes to children in Puno, Peru. Now at Stanford, he hopes to deepen these interests by studying history and economics of South America.
Daniel Lopez is originally from Tacna, Peru. He graduated from the University of California - Los Angeles in 2006 with a degree in History. After graduation he traveled to Spain and France with a study abroad program. Afterwards he returned to his hometown of Napa and worked at the Napa Valley Adult School as an assistant teacher in the ESL department. He hopes to focus on education in Latin America while at Stanford. He enjoys running and watching movies during his spare time.
Nathan Lubetkin grew up in Woodinville, Washington. He completed his undergraduate work at Claremont, McKenna College where he graduated with a degree in International Relations in 2002. Nathan is very excited to be returning to school after spending the past three and a half years living and working in South America. He was a Peace Corps small business development volunteer in Paraguay from 2003-2005 and then worked in the technology industry in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His hobbies include reading, traveling, skiing, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Araceli Ortiz, originally from Chicago, IL, will receive her BA in International Relations with a minor in Portuguese from Stanford in June 2008. Her interest in Latin America began after she studied abroad in Santiago, Chile through Stanford's study abroad program and was reaffirmed when she returned to South America on her own to work at a non-profit in Sao Paulo, Brazil called Vida Jovem (associated with Boys Hope Girls Hope of the U.S.). Araceli is on the Women's Varsity Rowing team at Stanford and hopes to combine her interests of sports and Latin America by working in sports development in Latin America in the future. For the next two years Araceli will work for the United States Golf Association in Colorado Springs, after which she will return to Stanford to attend the GSB.
Alicia Riley graduated with a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford in June. As an undergrad, she conducted research and wrote a thesis focusing on tuberculosis in the San Diego-Tijuana border region. She also had a great time living in co-ops at Stanford which involved a lot of cooking, costume parties, and fountain-hopping. Alicia grew up in Chula Vista, California, and since leaving the area for college, has been able to appreciate the uniqueness of border culture and how it has influenced her. Alicia hopes to explore how economic and immigration policies which impact the Americas, in turn, affect community health.; She is especially interested in infectious disease and use of traditional medicine. Alicia enjoys live music, dancing, days at the beach, and warm weather.
Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Richard Welsh graduated from Stanford in June 2007 with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Spanish, with interdisciplinary honors in Latin American Studies. During his entire undergraduate experience, he has maintained a strong interest in the Caribbean and Latin America. This interest has manifested itself through participation in Overseas Studies in Santiago, Chile as well as continued involvement with the Caribbean Students Association. His honors thesis examined the impact of ethnic, linguistic and religious disparities on the success of economic policies in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Richard has also worked as a summer analyst in Latin American capital advisory for JP Morgan Chase and has returned to Stanford to explore Latin American history and culture. His interests include education, politics and economic development, especially in the developing world. In his spare time, Richard can be found making music in his home studio, reading, or watching sports.
Class of 2007
Sofia Castillo is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She graduated from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada in
2005 with a double major in Anthropology and International Development Studies. After taking a year off, she has come to Stanford for her MA in
Latin American Studies. She is interested in nationalism and how national identity is brought onto the political arena in contemporary
Venezuela. Her biggest hobby is photography.
Laura Duros is a first-year graduate student at Stanford, studying for her M.A. in Latin American Studies. She enjoys studying history and politics, and would love to travel to Peru to see Incan ruins. Laura received a degree in International Relations and Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was also a member of the gymnastics team. In her spare time, Laura likes to read, run, and shop for more shoes.
Alberto Garcia is a first generation American of Mexican descent. He grew up in Winters, California, a small farming community 30 miles west of Sacramento, with his parents and his two older siblings. He did his undergraduate work at the University of California, Davis, where he double majored in communication and history. He graduated from UC Davis in 2005. Since then, he's worked and done some travelling. He spent two weeks in Mexico last winter, and he recently spent three weeks in Europe. He likes to enjoy everything that life has to offer, and he's looking forward to an exciting year here at Stanford.
Fabiola Puerta is a native of Lima, Peru. She spent 1997 through 2005 working as a journalist for Agence France Presse in Uruguay, Peru, and Brazil. She also spent a year in Paris as a European Commission sponsored student at Foundation of Journalists in Europe. Fabiola is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. She is particularly interested in studying Latin American electoral politics, with a focus on the rise of left-wing political movements throughout the Americas.
Gillian Quandt is excited to be returning to Stanford to receive her Masters after completing her B.A. here last spring. Gillian is specializing in the political economy track of the Masters program, and she is particularly interested in human rights and Latin American markets. Gillian hopes that her classes will help focus her wide interests in Latin American developmental issues for a future career. After graduating in June of 2007, Gillian will begin her Fulbright grant in Talca, Chile where she will be teaching English at la Universidad Católica del Maule and doing a photographic project about vineyards workers in the Central Valley.
This page was last updated September 4, 2008