The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) at University of Oregon fosters student and faculty research initiatives that focus on Latinx and Latin American issues across Oregon, the U.S., Latin America, and beyond.
Meet our 2025-2026 Research Grantees
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:
Giovanni Francischelli
PhD Student
Communication and Media Studies
Giovanni 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.
With 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.
Janette Avelar
PhD Student
Quantitative Research Methods in Education
Janette’s 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.
With 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.
Alejandro Marín
PhD Student
Romance Languages
Alejandro’s research explores 21st-century migration narratives from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Equatorial Guinea. Through a framework he terms “The New Errancy,” he investigates how contemporary authors portray themes of transnational identity, diasporic belonging, and redefinitions of home.
With 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.
Moe Gámez
PhD Student
English
Moe’s 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’s work contributes to the growing subfield of queer Latinx environmentalisms.
With support from CLLAS, Moe will travel to UCLA’s Chicana/o Studies Research Center to explore Laura Aguilar’s photographic archives and visit desert landscapes featured in Aguilar’s work—key steps in developing their first dissertation chapter.
Omar Barahona
PhD Student
Spanish
Omar’s 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.
With support from CLLAS, Omar will spend time at Mexico City’s Filmoteca UNAM, accessing rare documentaries and archival materials that will anchor his chapter on Mexico’s Third Cinema movement.
Guillem Belmar Viernes
Assistant Professor
Linguistics
Dr. Belmar Viernes’ project expands on a long-standing collaboration with speakers of Sa’an Savi ñu Ñuu Xnuviko (Mixtepec Mixtec), an Indigenous language of Oaxaca, Mexico. Working closely with community member and co-researcher Jeremías 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.
With 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–Spanish–English) platform with accompanying audiobooks and pedagogical materials. Funding will also support Salazar’s 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.
Salvador Herrera
Assistant Professor
Latinx Literature and Cultural Production
Dr. Herrera’s 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 “womb” as a queer feminist site of creativity that challenges biological essentialism, racial purity, and gender normativity. Drawing from Gloria Anzaldúa’s writings and archival materials at UT-Austin, his work highlights how Latinx aesthetics envision care, community, and transformation as foundations for social reorganization.
With support from CLLAS, Dr. Herrera will conduct archival research in the Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa 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
