Opinion and Interviews

Naming Controversy Surrounding Parran Hall

By Mallory Perillo
May 28, 2018

In light of the developing national debate on whether or not we should celebrate historical figures with problematic pasts, Parran Hall, the main building for the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, has recently come under scrutiny due to the legacy of the man it is named after. Thomas Parran Jr, the former U.S. Surgeon General and Founding Dean of the school, played an active role in drafting the Social Security Act and founding the World Health Organization and advocated for universal healthcare. However, he was also the U.S.

What can we learn from Lula’s trial in Brazil

By Valesca Lima
February 1, 2018

Despite the prospects of former Brazil’s president Lula da Silva re-election this year, the result of his trial shows a worrying trend towards politicisation of the judiciary power. Their actions plays a vital role in shaping democratic politics in the country. On January 24th, an appeals court in Brazil upheld Lula’s the conviction on charges of corruption. The most controversial point of the prosecutors’ case is that accused Lula of having accepted a bribe from a construction company named “OAS”, which is currently under prosecution in Brazil’s “Carwash” corruption scheme.

Nada en el aire. Una conversación con Román de la Campa.

By Roberto Rodríguez
January 22, 2018

En su más reciente libro, Rumbos sin Telos (Rialta Ediciones, 2017), el ensayista, catedrático y profesor universitario cubano Román de la Campa examina diacrónica y críticamente algunas de las corrientes de pensamiento y paradigmas teóricos de la segunda mitad del siglo pasado y lo que va del presente (deconstrucción, poscolonialidad, subalternidad, neoliberalismo, estudios culturales, estudios trasatlánticos).

University of Pittsburgh Hillman Library houses Thomas Walker Collection: A lifetime of scholarly work in Latin America

By Rosa De Ferrari
November 8, 2017

Caridad was a woman of great endurance. Rising at 4am and retiring at midnight, she spent her long days cooking and selling mondongo, or tripe soup, to the men returning from the brothels in a small town in Colombia. With her sparse earnings, she supported her six children and was able to send her eldest, a son, to school. He went on to become a university professor and in turn provided education for his younger siblings. Not unlike mothers around the world, Caridad fought for her children’s survival with resilience and strength.

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