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LatinAmericanist_Fall08.qxp:LatinAmericanist_Fall08 12/24/08 1:54 PM Page 1 e h t LATI NA MERICANIST University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies | Volume 39, Number 2 | Fall 2008 Dr. Terry McCoy Retires After Distinguished Career at Center erry McCoy, Professor Emeritus of Latin American Studies and committees throughout Political Science and a former director of the Center for Latin campus. He regularly TAmerican Studies, retired in spring 2007 after 32 years at UF. taught Latin American To celebrate McCoy’s service and commitment to the field of Latin Politics, International Dr. Terry L. McCoy. American Studies and to the University, the Center hosted his Politics of Latin America, L retirement party in early November 2008. The party was held in and a graduate seminar on Inter–American Relations in the conjunction with the 2008 Latin American Business Symposium and Department of Political Science. At the Center, he developed the Career Workshop, which marked the 10th anniversary of the Latin curriculum for and designed and implemented the student training American Business Environment (LABE) program, which McCoy components of the LABE program. This included two new courses; founded. Many of his former students returned to Gainesville for this graduate concentrations for students in the MALAS, MBA and MSF celebration and also participated in the Career Workshop. In degree programs; study abroad opportunities; paid internships; and a retirement, he continues to serve as Director of the LABE program student–oriented biannual business symposium and career workshop. and also as Associate Director of CIBER (Center for International He also developed the joint MALAS–JD program with the UF Levin Business and Education Research) in the Warrington College of College of Law. Business Administration on a part-time basis. McCoy also has considerable international teaching experience, McCoy came to UF in 1975 and served first as Assistant Director having taught short courses and seminars in Uruguay, Colombia, and then Associate Director of the Center, with an affiliation in the Ecuador, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Among Department of Political Science. He was the eighth Director of the his awards have been Fulbright fellowships to Brazil and Chile. Center, serving from 1985 to 1996. McCoy was an innovator with respect to study abroad. In 1978, he McCoy’s area of research specialization is the political economy of developed UF’s Brazilian Portuguese Language and Culture summer Latin America. In the 1970s his research focused on Latin American program in Rio de Janeiro. This program is the oldest and most population policies, a topic on which he published an edited volume successful summer overseas program in Brazil, having trained around and a co–authored book. In the 1980s his focus shifted to Caribbean 500 students. In 1999 he developed — and he continues to direct — migration. With Charles Wood (LAS), he conducted a study of West the summer Business in Brazil program at the Catholic University in Indian seasonal workers in the Florida sugar industry. On stepping Rio. In its eight years this program has attracted and trained over 70 down as Center director, McCoy created the LABE program under students. McCoy was a co–founder of the one–week Business Study which his research has dealt with the region’s business environment Tour, which rotates between Brazil, Chile and Argentina. In and trade negotiations in the Americas. Funded principally through recognition of his many contributions to internationalizing the CIBER, this research has been intimately tied with McCoy’s teaching, University, McCoy was named UF’s 2006 International Educator of training, and outreach activities. The main output has been an annual the Year. publication distributed widely, The Latin American Business Colleagues and former students have established The Terry McCoy Environment Report , now in its tenth year. Over the past decade he Latin American Travel Scholarship as a show of appreciation and in also participated in research projects on the Gulf of Mexico region. honor of his many years of service to the Center and the University. For three decades, McCoy was the pillar of the Center’s MALAS The income from the fund will be used to support graduate student (Master of Arts in Latin American Studies) program, supervising more travel grants for short-term study abroad courses in Latin America, than 70 theses. He also chaired five PhD dissertations in Political such as those that McCoy developed and promoted. Science and served as a member of many other theses and dissertation Director’s Ricardo Faculty News Alumni News p2 Corner p3 Rodriguez p7 & Publications p16 inside: Keynote Speaker LatinAmericanist_Fall08.qxp:LatinAmericanist_Fall08 12/24/08 1:54 PM Page 2 e h Director’s Corner t LATINAMERICANIST Volume 39, Number 2 All Department of Education Title VI National Resource Centers are encouraged to Fall 2008 undergo an external evaluation during each grant cycle. These evaluations may be all encompassing or focused on a particular area of activities. The Center opted to focus Center for Latin American Studies our 2008 evaluation on our foreign language programs and study abroad activities. The 319 Grinter Hall foreign language programs at UF were reorganized during the summer, partly as a cost PO Box 115530 A reducing measure. The former Department of Romance Languages and Literatures was L U A Gainesville, FL 32611–5530 C split up, resulting in a new, stand-alone Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies. E I L A T All other languages, including Haitian Creole, were reorganized into a new Department 352–392-0375 NA Dr. Carmen Diana Deere of World Languages and Cultures. www.latam.ufl.edu Our external evaluator was Dr. John M. Lipski, the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Spanish and Linguistics at Penn State University. As expected, he found that we had far fewer faculty than needed in Spanish given the size of both the undergraduate and graduate programs and the importance of Spanish to the State of Florida. Partly as a result of his visit, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies has been allocated 2008–2009 Faculty Advisory Council two positions from the State’s Tuition Differential moneys and searches to fill these positions are currently Carmen Diana Deere (LAS/FRE). Chair underway. Grenville Barnes (SFRC) With respect to study abroad, enrollments for summer and other short–term study abroad programs continue to Richmond Brown (LAS) be good, but we have had difficulties increasing the number of students enrolled in semester–length study abroad Hannah Covert (LAS) programs. For the second time we were forced to cancel plans for a UF–sponsored semester–length program at the Elizabeth Ginway (Spanish & Portuguese) University of Costa Rica due to insufficient enrollments. Lipski recommended that we continue to focus on Eric Keys (Geography) short–term study abroad opportunities as a stepping stone to developing greater student interest in longer term study in Latin America, and offer more entry–level courses on Latin America. Gerald Murray (Anthropology) Lipski also recommended that we proceed to offer a proposed Garifuna Language and Culture Summer Institute, Richard Phillips (UF Libraries) holding the program in Honduras rather than at UF. Garifuna is the language of the “Black Caribs” of Belize, Maria Rogal (Art & Art History) Guatemala and Honduras, and is of significant interest to anthropologists, linguists and scholars of the African Marianne Schmink (LAS/Anthropology) Diaspora, besides to Caribbeanists (see p. 11). Pliar Useche (LAS/FRE) The program highlights of the fall 2008 semester were a Film and Lecture Series on the Caribbean and the Latin Philip Williams (Political Science) American Business Environment Program’s Latin American Business Symposium and Career Workshop. The Florida Humanities Council–funded lecture and film series, “Through the Camera’s Eye: Caribbean Migration to Florida” brought three noted Caribbean specialists to campus, Karen Richman of Notre Dame University; historian Frank Editor: Hannah Covert, LAS Moya Pons of the Dominican Republic; and Pedro Sarduy, a Cuban writer and poet residing in London. All three Graphic Designer: Susan Duser, UF NAPA events drew packed audiences at the Hippodrome State Theater in downtown Gainesville. Each speaker also participated in other events either on campus or in the community. The series continues into the spring semester (see p. 12). The Business Symposium and Career Workshop were a great success, with over 100 students attending the November events (see pp. 3 & 11). Some 20 UF alumni participated on the panels during the two days. The weekend concluded with Terry McCoy’s retirement celebration, a very special event attended by many of his former students, colleagues and friends. We took advantage of the weekend events to hold our fourth LAS Alumni Board meeting. At the meeting, it was decided to expand membership in the advisory board to include both alumni who have graduated with a specialization in Latin American Studies and those whose careers have focused on Latin America. We generated ideas on how to expand our fundraising activities and began planning for the celebration of the Center’s 80th anniversary, to take place in spring 2011 in conjunction with the Center’s 60th Annual Conference. I urge alumni to contact me if they are interested in participating in any of the activities of the Alumni Board (see p. 19). S 1 Dr. Terry McCoy