The LAC Cities Initiatives is led by two cutting-edge, urban scholars of Latin America, both of whom bring expertise along with tireless enthusiasm and energy to this project.
Co-Director Nikolai Alvarado (pictured left) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography & Geographic Information Science. His research lies at the intersection of urban politics, environmental racism, and South-South migration and focuses on migrant-led urbanization in the Global South through examining everyday political strategies that migrants use to acquire urban rights and navigate exclusionary migration regimes.
Co-Director Magdalena Novoa (pictured right) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning. Her work focuses on the intersections of historic preservation and social justice, the politics of cultural heritage and memory, gender and deindustrialization, grassroots organizing and alternative planning approaches in the Americas.
Graduate Students
Marina Moscoso Arabía (pictured left) is a graduate student in Geography & Geographic Information Science. Her background is in Social Sciences and Urban Studies, and she now focuses on urban history and geographies, land-use policies, displacing forces, housing, gender, decolonial studies, and collaborative and interdisciplinary research.
Daniela Morales Fredes (pictured right) is a graduate student in Urban & Regional Planning. She studies environmental and historic preservation and cultural heritage as a resource for community development. She is currently serving as a Mellon Interseminars Graduate Fellow through the Humanities Research Institute.