Ortiz Center Fellows

Louise Lamphere Public Policy Fellowship

Valerio Di Fonzo

Valerio Di Fonzo is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology. He received a Master in Public Administration from the University of New Mexico in 2014. He also holds a dual Master and Bachelor degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs from the University of Bologna (Italy). He recently completed fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, focusing on eco-theology and examining the relationship between the Catholic Church, environmentalism, and the Awajún and Wampis Indigenous peoples.

His dissertation explores "ecotheology," a movement within the Catholic Church that seeks to guide human relationships with nature in an ethical manner. This philosophy, inspired by the ecological practices of Amazonian peoples, is being integrated into Church teachings. Valerio's research investigates how this new ecological ethic is applied in lowland Peru: how it is embraced by clergy trained in traditional pastoral paradigms, how it is taught to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and how these communities accept, modify, or reject aspects of the philosophy.

During his two years of fieldwork, Valerio has interviewed individuals involved in Catholic agricultural projects and has worked with 11 Awajún and Wampis communities to explore how these ecological teachings resonate with Indigenous perspectives.

Cameron Zarrabzadeh

Cameron Zarrabzadeh is a PhD student in the Ethnology subfield of the Anthropology department at UNM. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2010 with a dual degree in English Literature and Studio Art and completed an MA in Ethnology at UNM in 2021. For his PhD research, he seeks to interrogate human rights issues and conflicts that emerge between the interests of different groups in the context of environmental degradation and its impacts on human health in the American Southwest.

He intends to center his research on exploitative environmental and social interactions driven by extractive resource industries in the region. One potential dissertation topic concerns the issue of uranium tailings seeping into water supplies and affecting the human health of a particular Navajo community in New Mexico.

Research interests: semiotics, discourse, science & technology studies, political ecology, social and environmental conflict in the American Southwest

María del Pilar File-Muriel

María del Pilar File-Muriel is a PhD candidate studying Ethnology in the Department of Anthropology. She holds an MA in Anthropology from UNM, an MA in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management, and a BA in Folklore from Indiana University. An activist anthropologist interested in the dynamics of peace building, her dissertation centers on peace practices and the multi-scalar relationships that sustain peace in Colombia, specifically in territories of peace and humanitarian zones. Pilar’s research has been supported by the LAII PhD Fellowship, the Tinker Foundation, the UNM Department of Anthropology, and the Graduate and Professional Student Association. For several years, she has held an Interdepartmental Fellowship through the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, where she has taught introductory language courses as well as upper level topics classes related to her dissertation research. She co-directs the Study Abroad Colombia program and is founder of the Interdisciplinary Colombian Studies Group at UNM. Pilar currently serves as the secretary for the Colombia Section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), and as an advisor to the the NGO Witness for Peace Solidarity Committee.

Sarah Leiter

Sarah Leiter is a PhD student in the Ethnology subfield of the University of New Mexico Anthropology Department. She holds an MA in Anthropology from UNM, an MA in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a BA (summa cum laude) in Linguistics and Religion from Emory University. Her research interests center around social identification through religion, language use, and citizenship/nationality in Brazil and the United States. Her current research explores the ways in which New Mexicans of Spanish descent are claiming Jewish heritage in pursuit of citizenship in Spain. Her research has been supported by the UNM Department of Anthropology, the UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute, the Tinker Foundation, UNM Graduate Studies, and the UNM Graduate and Professional Student Association.

Daniel Shattuck

Daniel Shattuck is a PhD candidate in the Ethnology subfield of the University of New Mexico Anthropology Department. He holds a BA in Anthropology (concentration in applied anthropology) from North Carolina State University, and a MA in Anthropology from UNM. His research interests include the anthropology of food, Italy/Europe, and the construction of connoisseurship and knowledge. His dissertation research focuses on the assemblage of taste and taste communities around extra virgin olive oil in Italy. His research has been supported by the UNM Department of Anthropology and the Graduate and Professional Student Association. Daniel also currently works as a Research Associate and Implementation Coach with the Behavioral Research Center of the Southwest, a center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. He is charged with data collection, analysis, and project management as well as working closely with sites in implementing strategies to address structural vulnerabilities and health disparities faced by sexual and gender minority populations.

Holly Brause

Profile information: “Holly Brause is a PhD student in the Ethnology subfield of the University of New Mexico Anthropology Department. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Linfield College in Oregon, and a MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida. Her research interests include political economy, neoliberalism, trade and border policy, food and agriculture, the U.S./Mexico border, and Latin America. Her current research is based on the ethnographic investigation of the chile industry in southern New Mexico and northern Chihuahua. Holly was raised on a small farm in Oregon, and enjoys using her agricultural expertise in service of her intellectual pursuits. Her research has been supported by the UNM Department of Anthropology, the UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute, the Graduate and Professional Student Association, and the Office of Graduate Studies.”

Olga Glinskii

Olga Glinskii is a PhD Candidate in Ethnology. She has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Missouri, and MA in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico. Olga’s research interests include post-Soviet language ideologies, Ukrainian diaspora communities, historical representations of identity, voice and indexicality, semiotics of ritual performance, multiculturalism, transnationalism, Canada and Eastern Europe. Her research examines the semiotic processes involved in politically-vested representations of Ukrainian subjectivities at the Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival within the context of the transnational negotiations of the on-going political crisis in Ukraine. The dissertation engages with the key issues raised by members of the Ukrainian-Canadian communities and Canadians of non-Ukrainian descent as they engage with transnational publics. In close collaboration with the festival organizers and attendees, the research foregrounds the nuanced yet powerful role of the festival as a platform in both Canadian and transnational politics of representation.

Jagna Cyganik

The Alfonso Ortiz fellow for the academic year 2015-2016, Jagna Cyganik, is a doctoral candidate in the Anthropology Department at UNM. With research interests in Native American Southwest, indigeneity, and popular music, Jagna’s dissertation project explores the Dine (Navajo) metal music scene and community in New Mexico and Arizona. Born and raised in Poland, Jagna enjoys New Mexican sun and spending time outdoors, hiking in the Sandias with her children and dog.

Jennifer Cardinal

Jennifer Cardinal is a PhD Candidate in the University of New Mexico Anthropology Department. She has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Kansas (2003), and MA in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico (2009). Jennifer’s areas of investigation include anthropology of place, mobilities, community development, tourism, and lifestyle migration. Her dissertation research considers community development in the context of the shifting social and physical landscape of the southern Jalisco coast. Jennifer conducted ethnographic research in the coastal Mexican community of La Manzanilla investigating the relationships between lifestyle migrant participation in community development, and how young Mexican entrepreneurs are positioning themselves as agents of tourism and community development. Her research has been supported by research grants from the University of New Mexico Anthropology Department, Office of Graduate Studies, Graduate Professional Student Association, and the Tinker Foundation and Latin American and Iberian Institute. Cardinal will assist the Anthropology Department Colloquium Committee and facilitate two projects, the Ortiz Center sponsored research paper awards in the spring and present a public anthropology project TBA.

Elise Trott

Elise Trott is an Ethnology PhD student at the University of New Mexico. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Chicago in 2007 and her MA in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico in 2012. Elise is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her research interests include the ethnography of New Mexico, activism and social movements, political ecology, and the anthropology of the environment. Her dissertation research focuses on environmental and community activism in the Española Valley of northern New Mexico and the South Valley of Albuquerque. Since 2010, Elise has also been involved with a long-term community-based participatory research project supported by the Ortiz Center and the New Mexico Acequia Association that focuses on documenting the traditional knowledge of New Mexico’s mayordomos, or irrigation ditch bosses. As part of that project, she developed and edited an educational film entitled “The Art of Mayordomía.” Her education and research has been supported by the University of New Mexico’s Binford Scholarship, the New Mexico Folklore Award, and the Alfonso Ortiz Public Policy Fellowship.

Sean E. Gantt, Ph.D.

Department of Anthropology, UNM, Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Brown University

Sean Everette Gantt is from Charlotte, NC and earned his BA in Anthropology from Davidson College in 2003. He earned his MA in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico in 2006 and is currently a PhD Candidate in the Ethnology sub-field of the Anthropology Department at the University of New Mexico. Sean has studied both archaeology and ethnography, specializing in Southeastern U.S. Native American Studies. His dissertation is titled “Nanta Hosh Chahta Immi (What are Choctaw Ways): Cultural Preservation in the Casino Era,” investigates the long-term impacts of tribal economic development programs on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) reservation. He is also a videographer and produced numerous ethnographic video projects that have been screened locally and in regional film festivals. His research has been supported by many grants, scholarships, and fellowships, including an Andrew W. Mellon Doctoral Fellowship and the Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies Public Policy Fellowship. Sean has also received the New Mexico Graduate Scholars Award, Frieda D. Butler Award, Critical Engagement with Public Anthropology Award, Ruth E. Kennedy Award, and most recently the American Indian Student Services STARS Award.

For more information on Sean E. Gantt please visit his academic and professional website: seangantt.wordpress.com