Resources

The Peter T. Johnson Fund for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

ABOUT THE PETER T. JOHNSON FUND FOR LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES

History

The Peter T. Johnson Endowed Fund in Latin America and Caribbean Studies was established December 5, 2016 to provide broad-based direct financial support to undergraduate students affiliated with the University of Washington’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies program in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. The funds will support undergraduate students with research, travel and/or other costs related to attending scholarly or professional conference to present research findings. Awards will range from $500 to $1,000.

Eligibility

The Peter T. Johnson Fund for Latin American and Caribbean Studies is open to undergraduate students registered at the University of Washington in any Latin America and Caribbean related courses, with priority given to LACS majors or minors.
The funds will be used to support costs related to travel, research and scholarly or conference presentations related to Latin America and/or the Caribbean

NEXT DEADLINE: SPRING 2025

Instructions for submitting application materials:

A) Submit the following documents to lasuw@uw.edu

Most current resume or CV
An ‘unofficial’ UW transcript
A statement of purpose – (500 words maximum). This is a brief statement describing the activity being funded and its significance for advancing student’s academic and/or professional goals.
One reference – We are not asking for letters of recommendation. However, please, include the name and contact of one reference. This reference does NOT have to be from a UW faculty member, but it should be from someone who can speak to the quality of your work, and especially the research you are applying for. You can ask an adviser, a TA, a supervisor, or anyone else familiar with your work.

B) The subject of your email should include: your last name – PTJ 2024 (for example: Smith – PTJ 2023)

Awarded students will be asked to submit a photo and a short description of the project to be featured on our African Studies website.

A selection committee comprised of the LACS chair, a LACS faculty member, and a LACS student will select the Peter T. Johnson Fund awardees. The committee will base their decision on the scholarly merit, feasibility, and fit of the project with the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program’s mission. The committee will determine the number of awardees and the amount of individual awards.

Questions? Please contact lasuw@uw.edu.

Congratulations to our 2024 Peter T. Johnson Fund Recipients!

Kati Sosa-Valle (JSIS, Latin American and Caribbean Studies)

I am so excited and grateful to receive the PTJ Fund for Latin American & Caribbean Studies! I plan to use this award towards my upcoming CHID study abroad program in Quito, Ecuador. There, fellow cohort members and I will engage with indigenous farmers from the Andean and Amazonian region to gain a deeper understanding of traditional agroecological methods and the global Food as a Right movement.

Laura Schladetzky- (JSIS, Global and Regional Studies and Economics)

With the generous support of the Peter T. Johnson Fund, I hope to continue a research project I began developing through the JSIS departmental honors program on indigenous truth-telling and networking in Peru. Throughout the program, I’ve explored the trauma associated with forced sterilization during Peru’s internal conflict and examined digital networking and testimonial giving as a method of repair. With the help of the fund, I hope to travel to Peru and make connections with indigenous groups and those affected by the forced sterilization regime to gain a firsthand understanding of how testimonial projects affect participants. Through the support of the fund, I am excited to continue developing an understanding of the complexity of Latin American culture, politics, and social structures in my post-grad career.

Congratulations to our 2023 Peter T. Johnson Fund Recipients!

Kat Camero-Rios – Senior, LACS

“I will be using this money to travel to Peru for my last summer quarter. Through this study I am hopeful that I will learn more about Peruvian culture, politics, and community resilience. Community struggles, resurgence, and resilience have been a core part of my studies at UW. This is an incredible opportunity to understand how art, traditions, epistemologies, and more shape the political and societal landscape from artists, activists, and community leaders. I hope to bring this experience, and other university experiences, to my Latinx community in Eastern Washington.”

Anna Feit – Senior, Global and Regional Studies

“The Peter T. Johnson Fund will go towards my travel to Brazil during this summer’s Early Fall Start program. In three and a half weeks, we will travel to four different cities in Brazil to learn about how activism, race, and art intersect, through music, film, and fine arts. This trip will let me practice and improve my Portuguese language skills. I am also excited to learn from a diverse range of artists and students in Brazil. Throughout, I hope to build a community to aid in future research and travel opportunities.”

Guadalupe Guadarrama – Senor, Biology

“Thanks to the generous support of the Peter T. Johnson Fund for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, I will be traveling to Brazil to learn about Brazilian culture through film, music, art, and activism. I’m excited to see Brazilian perspectives in films and hear directly from producers and directors. As an active Salsa and Bachata dancer, I’m eager to learn Capoeira from Brazilian dance instructors. Additionally, I am eager to become more conversational in Portuguese because my hope for future research is to work with minoritized communities, and therefore, learning Portuguese may help me reach more of these populations. Additionally, I am looking forward to partaking in discussions where I can further broaden my perspective on current and historically prevalent societal topics. I hope to develop an understanding of cultural differences and similarities to further enrich my global perspective.”

Laila Markland – Freshman pre-major, UW Tacoma

For my project, I will be spending 3 weeks in Brazil to study art, music, and activism within local Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Indigenous communities. This award will help cover part of the cost of my plane ticket- one of the most important parts of this trip. During my studies as a guest in Brazil, I hope to gain an understanding of the history of the people and culture, as well as how their art and activism is important to preserving their communities. As a psychology major, I hope to learn about mental health in Brazil and how various intersections of identity interact with their well-being. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to travel to Brazil and connect with the world outside of myself. This award is an important tool in helping me pursue this opportunity. Thank you.

Kylie Malyon – Junior, Medical Anthropology and Global Health

“I am extremely excited to use the money I was awarded from the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program this summer as I travel to Brazil. My career goal is to become a Nurse Midwife, so I plan to visit hospitals in Brasília and Salvador to talk to doctors, midwives and other workers in the labor and delivery field to compare the process of childbirth in Brazil with that of the United States. I chose Brasília and Salvador because they are very different cities in Brazil. Brasília is the capital and a wealthy area, whereas Salvador has a long history of slavery and the largest population of Afro-descendants outside of Africa. My hopes are that I will get a better idea of the diversity of customs in this country regarding my topic of study by visiting both places. I look forward to reporting my findings after I return!”

Milan Suarez – Junior, Global and Regional Studies

“Thank you to the Peter T. Johnson Fund for supporting my studies in South America! I am a third-year undergraduate and maintain a cross-disciplinary approach to my Global & Regional Studies major. My regional concentration in the Americas pertains to the cultural resilience of Latine/Hispanic-Indigenous societies during European hegemony and U.S. globalization. My first languages are English and Spanish and I’ve been learning Portuguese to support my understanding of Brazilian cultural affairs. This summer, I’ll be using this award to study abroad in four Brazilian state capitals. I’ll be composing an investigative research project regarding Brazil’s art, activism, and politics. This multi-lingual research paper aims to recognize the lack of support for indigenous people in areas surrounding the Amazon.”

Wendi Zhou – Senior, History: War & Society Philosophy

“I am grateful for the funding provided by the Johnson Fund, which will support my participation in CHID/Honors Peru and my research on the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, or CVR). I hope to explore how truth-seeking initiatives and reparations programs in Peru have addressed (or failed to address) structural injustice. As someone who has never been to Peru, I am eager to refine and complicate my knowledge of the CVR through discussions with my faculty mentors, artists, activists, museum staff, and potentially CVR archivists as well. On-the-ground reflection in community will strengthen my understanding of the complexity of Peruvian politics as opposed to remote research.”

Congratulations to our 2022 Peter T. Johnson Fund Recipient!

Davis Massey – Department of History
“I will be using the support of the Peter T. Johnson Fund to fund the travel I will conduct as part of my research on Mexicano racial politics in the US-Mexico Borderlands in the late 19th and early 20th century. I am planning to visit the archives at UCLA in order to research the everyday racial identifications and positionings of Mexicano newspapers. I am especially interested in the rhetoric of Regeneración, which was a point of contact with the Mexican Revolution for many Mexicanos in the region. I am very grateful to have received the award from the Peter T. Johnson Fund which will enable me to travel to engage in more extensive research. ”

Read here how the Peter T. Johson award supported Davis Massey’s research!

Congratulations to our 2019 Peter T. Johnson Fund Recipients!

Alexandra Blakely – Pre-Social Science

“I will be using the 2019 Dr. Clyde Snow Fund for LACS for meals whiles traveling and a trip to Machupicchu! I look forward to eating nutritious meals in Lima and Cusco and learning the history of the Inca and the history of the Sacred Valley. I would not be able to travel to Machupicchu without the support of LACS as the travel to and cost to enter the park is extremely out of my budget. I feel very privileged, humbled and grateful to be able to have an experiential learning adventure.”

Billy Millie – History

“When I transferred to the University of Washington in the autumn of 2018, I underwent a period of change in my life. A big part in helping ease my transition was being able to move into a comfortable new place I could call home. However, one of the expenses included in traveling abroad is maintaining the place you live while away, which these funds awarded to me will help me do. I will be using the scholarship funds I was awarded through the Peter T. Johnson funds to secure my home in Seattle while I travel abroad in Peru.”

Ximena Perez – International Studies | Spanish

“With the support of the Peter T. Johnson Fund, I propose to travel and research the Yakima Valley labor system focusing on the personal experiences of women and the labor problems they continually encounter at the fruit processing facilities and in the fields. Even though suffering has no gender, I will focus on interviewing women because they are the easiest targets in these work environments. The women I will interview are not only undocumented but also single mothers; they are in a vulnerable status in this country, but I believe that telling their stories is crucial and should have happened a long time ago. With this research project, I hope to have a better understanding of these issues in a more personal way through the workers’ and hopefully, the owner’s perspectives. The problems I will research will demonstrate the need for community engagement in our state.”

Caitlin Quirk – International Studies: Europe

“In July, I will travel to Costa Rica to work at the Arias Foundation, an organization that promotes human progress and peace in Central America. For two months I will be a research intern, exploring the intersectionalities of gender inequality in Latin America through social, political, economic, and cultural lenses. Specifically, my research will focus on sexual violence in the workplace and the impacts of income inequality on women. I will conduct field work in multiple neighborhoods throughout the capital city of San José. I am very thankful to receive an award from the Peter T. Johnson Fund which will support my travel expenses.”