Meet Us
Claire Stoscheck - CUSLAR Coordinator
Claire Stoscheck is from Van Etten and Ithaca, NY. She is a community organizer, and has recently returned to live in Ithaca after doing a 7 month bike tour in the Andes (www.movementporuncambio.blogspot.com) and living in Quito, Ecuador for several years. She has a B.A. in Community Organizing for Sustainable Living from Macalester College, St. Paul, MN. Her past activism includes trade justice, bicycle advocacy, anti-oppression work, accessible education, bicycle and gender research & activism, and struggles to defend the land from natural resource exploitation. She is excited to be working with CUSLAR and to make the connections between the struggles from all across the Americas, and finding new ways to work in solidarity with one another.
Patricia Rodriguez - Board Chair
Patricia Rodriguez is Assistant Professor of Politics at Ithaca College, and teaches courses in comparative politics, political sociology, social movements, and politics in Latin America. Her research ranges from the outcomes of protest and political interactions of land-related social movements in Latin America, to indigenous environmental struggles, to U.S. policy toward Latin America. She is currently doing a project that investigates the transnational efforts to change US-Colombia human rights policies. Email: prodriguez@ithaca.eduMary Jo Dudley- Board Member
Janice Gallagher - Board Member
Janice Gallagher is a PhD student in the Department of Government at Cornell, where she studies Latin American social movements, human rights and international law. Before coming to Cornell, Janice worked as a human rights accompanier in Colombia with the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Prior to this, she was a high school Spanish and Latin American politics teacher at a charter school outside of Boston, where she led students to Nicaragua and El Salvador. Janice has worked with labor movements in the US and Latin America, and is excited to continue to solidarity work here in Ithaca.
Alicia Swords - Board Member
Alicia Swords is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Ithaca College where she teaches in the areas of Public Sociology and Latin American studies. She has been engaged with grassroots struggles for social and economic justice in the U.S. and Latin America and brings this knowledge and commitment to her academic and movement-based research and teaching. She is especially interested in learning from political education among pro-Zapatista organizations in Chiapas, Mexico, and from processes of concientización in movement building. Each year, she co-leads with Justicia Global (www.justiciaglobal.com)an immersion program for Ithaca College and Cornell University students in the Dominican Republic, which focuses on leadership for transformative social change.
Sally Wessels - Board Member
Sally is the coordinator of the BOCES Adult English as a Second Language Program, where she works with immigrants to the U.S. from many countries. Her first brush with CUSLAR was in 1977 when she worked with Action for Women in Chile, led by Cindy Crowner, then CUSLAR coordinator. In January of 1982 she joined the first solidarity brigade to Nicaragua, led by then CUSLAR coordinator, Mary Jo Dudley. During the U.S.- supported Central American wars in the '80s, she worked with others to promote resistance to American foreign policy. The group, which was allied with CUSLAR, was The Tompkins County Campaign for Peace with Justice in Central America. Before that, Sally helped found the housing cooperative where she still lives. From 1974 to 1989 she worked as a carpenter in two different worker-owned businesses.
Gemma Tamariz - Program Assistant
Currently, I am a freshman in the college of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. As of now, I am undecided but looking into a major in Psychology or Business. I am a member of Sabor Latino, a Latin dance team that promotes culture through dancing, and CUSLAR. My interest in Latin American politics/issues has always been present due to my culture. Both of my parents were born in Mexico and my environment back home relates to Latin American issues we continue to face today. Through CUSLAR, I continue my interest in Latin American issues and act to make a difference!
Emma Banks- Program Assistant
Emma Banks is a senior at Cornell in the College of Arts and Sciences. She enjoys working with various student groups on campus to organize Latin American related events including the film series and teach-ins. She is originally from Toronto, Canada and will be relocating to Cochabamba, Bolivia after graduation to work for an NGO.
Sarah Stapperfenne- Intern
Sarah is a sophomore Writing and Politics major at Ithaca College. She is currently interning at CUSLAR and primarily helping to plan this year's Spanish for Activist Camp. Sarah's interest in US-Latin American issues began once she entered college and working at CUSLAR has helped further both that interest and her knowledge of Latin American politics.
Daniel Duque- Spanish Teacher
Hi! My name is Daniel, and I was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. I am here at Cornell finishing my PHD in Spanish literature my area of studies is Early Modern Spanish literature and Colonial Latin American Literature. I am particularly interested in the study of the literature of the conquest of America, the relations between the New World and the Metropolis, and the chronicles related to the history of the Spanish Empire in Europe. I’ve been teaching at Cornell Spanish and Spanish literature for four years, and at CUSLAR for two years. I love the teaching experience of Spanish language that gives me also the opportunity to teach about Latin America literature, geography, history, etc. Music and movies from Latin America are always part of my classes.
