Martha K. Huggins, Charles and Leo Favrot Professor Emerita (Sociology, 2012), continues to be recognized for her research on torture in Brazil, on racial injustice, and on police abuse of power. She is a regular plenary lecturer in Brazil’s “Truth Commission” congresses, where she speaks on torture (recent lectures in Mato Grosso do Sul, 2009; Porto Alegre, 2010, 2011, 2012, and Fortaleza, 2011, Recent articles include, “Uma Aliança Notória de Tortura.” 2012. Revista Anestia: Politica e Justiça de Transiçao, Vol. 5; Pp. 194-209. Ministério da Justiça Comissão de Anistia, Brazilian Government; “State Torture: Interviewing Perpetrators, Discovering Facilitators, Theorizing Cross-nationally.” 2012. State Crime Journal, V. 1 (1). Huggins’ forthcoming article, “Tortura em Dez Lições,” will be published in Spring 2013, in O legado da tortura para a democracia, Sergio Adorno, Ed. Sao Paulo, SP. Núcleo de Estudos da Violência. Huggins is a regular “expert witness” for LGBT Brazilians seeking asylum in the U.S. under the international law against torture. Huggins is a “Friend” of the International State Crimes Initiative, University of London, King’s College, the University of Hull (UK), and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

James D. Huck, Jr., rejoined the Center for Latin American Studies in January of 2001. He earned a BS in Foreign Service with a Certificate in Latin American Studies (1990) from Georgetown University, and both his MA (1993) and his Ph.D. (1997) in Latin American Studies from Tulane. Before rejoining the Center, he served as the founding Director of the Johnson Center for Latin American Studies at Albright College in Reading, PA (1998-2000). His responsibilities at the Stone Center include teaching core undergraduate LAS courses, advising graduate students, and monitoring and coordinating the LAS curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research interests include contemporary Mexican foreign policy and Interamerican Relations, as well as questions of citizenship and public service in institutions of higher education in the Americas.

Marina is a recent Master of Public Health graduate from the International Health & Development program at Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine who has returned to Tulane University in pursuit of a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies. She aims to build a more interdisciplinary approach to health inequities, complex social problems, and the decolonization of global health work.

She completed her undergraduate studies in public health and Spanish at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). As an undergraduate student, she engaged with local non-profits such as the YWCA of Oklahoma City and Infant Crisis Services. She also had the privilege of participating in numerous summer study trips and global health internships in Honduras, Spain, Panama, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Ecuador. The experiences she gained from working with community organizations and traveling abroad led her to Tulane University, where she would have the opportunity to study her interests from a global perspective.

Upon relocating to New Orleans, Marina began working with Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response (STAR), providing crisis intervention to survivors of sexual trauma, and NO/AIDS Task Force d.b.a. CrescentCare, assisting with the provision of community outreach services and the New Orleans Syringe Access Program. Her involvement with these organizations has inspired her to examine the relationship between sociopolitical factors, culture, and health equity. Currently, her research interests include community resilience in post-civil conflict areas, impact of out-migration on “left behind” communities, and indigenous resistance to neoliberal policies.