The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) supports the professional development of University of Puerto Rico (UPR) faculty through its Virtual Residency Program by increasing access to educational and research materials at the University of Michigan Libraries and by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and expertise between participants and U-M faculty. This year’s four participants represent a range of specializations within the humanities and social sciences. They are:

Frances J. Santiago Torres, PhD, PDSO, ARO

A native of Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, Frances J. Santiago Torres earned a bachelor's degree in French from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. She obtained a master's degree in French literature and culture from the Department of Romance Languages ​​at Syracuse University. Her doctoral degree is from the French PhD program at the CUNY Graduate Center. Currently, she is a professor of Francophone language, culture, and literatures and teaches in the MA Cultural Studies Program at UPR, Mayagüez. She has been a research associate and visiting professor at the Centre de Recherche: Textes et Francophonie at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, France. Her academic work has been published in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Canada, France, and the United States. She is currently translating into Spanish the articles of Martinican writer Suzanne Césaire. Link to her NAFSA profile page here. 

Nadja Fuster Pérez, PhD

Nadja Fuster Pérez holds degrees in Hispanic studies and Hispanic linguistics from the University of Puerto Rico, as well as in linguistics and lexicography from the Real Academia Española and the Universidad de León, and a postgraduate degree in cultural administration from the Universidad de Córdoba (Argentina). She holds a PhD in English linguistics from the Río Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. Since 2013, she has taught courses in Spanish, transatlantic literature, and humanities at the College of General Studies. Her primary research interests include linguistic attitudes and ideologies, as well as race and popular culture in the Hispanic and Anglophone Caribbean.

Nicolás Ramos Ortiz, PhD

Nicolás Ramos Ortiz is an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico Secondary School. He has worked at the lab schools since the fall of 2002. He was appointed head of the school from 2006 to August 2014. Since then, he has been teaching English at the Secondary School. He has worked with student teachers for over 15 years and currently teaches a seminar on legal aspects of education to teacher candidates at the College of Education. Nicolás's professional interests include research and advocacy for the establishment of education as a constitutional right.

Yvonne Denis Rosario, PhD

Yvonne Denis Rosario is a writer, researcher, and associate professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. She holds a PhD in Puerto Rican and Caribbean literature and a master’s degree in humanities with a concentration in creative writing. Her work explores Afro-Caribbean literature, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary approaches to art and discourse. She is the author of several books, including her most recent El mito literario yoruba en la mujer negra caribeña (PEN Puerto Rico International Award, 2022) and Sra. Singer y el ganso negro (National Prize for Children’s Literature, 2024). Link to her UPR profile page here.

Alejandro Carpio, PhD

Alejandro Carpio finished his PhD in Hispanic studies at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, where he specialized in Spanish Golden Age literature. He is currently a full professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. 

His scholarly work spans Spanish Golden Age literature, Puerto Rican letters, and a range of topics situated between these fields. He is currently engaged in a project documenting and critically assessing Puerto Rican literary and cinematic production from the past fifteen years. In addition, he is interested in applying Darwinian approaches to the study of Baroque drama. His ongoing research explores how evolutionary perspectives can illuminate the interpretation of early modern theatrical texts. 

Francisco Fortuño Bernier, PhD

Francisco J. Fortuño Bernier is a political theorist at the Department of Political Science of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. His current research is focused on constructing an account of twentieth-century Puerto Rican political thought in its Caribbean and Latin American contexts.

He has written on contemporary political strategies, the politics of images of repression in Puerto Rico, and the contested memories of the Puerto Rican Radical Tradition. He holds a PhD in political science from The Graduate Center, City University of New York.