Katie Sampeck, BA Global Professor, Archaeology
During my time at UoR (since January 2023), R-LAC has grown in scope and impact through innovative events and support for Latin American researchers. One of the first events I attended at the university was the R-LAC mixer, where I met an impressive number of people working in Latin America across different disciplines. This networking also created a welcome home, much like similar events I have attended at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University and the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University. I met colleagues who I have gone on to work with on grant applications. It was clear to me that such cross-disciplinary synergy was a typical effect for R-LAC events.
My research and publication activities directly benefitted from R-LAC support. As part of my British Academy Global Professorship, I organised a two-day workshop on Indigenous food in Latin America in June, 2025. This event helped kick-start a high-quality academic publication, guiding it to productive and innovative points of inquiry. The visiting scholars very much valued the support of R-LAC.
R-LAC is high impact, as it brings Latin America to the university, and the university to Latin America, resulting in robust and diverse scholarship and community-based endeavours.
Annabelle Brenes Flores, Doctoral Student, HBS
Being part of R-LAC has been extremely valuable for my research and PhD journey. Through R-LAC, I have gained access to a vibrant and supportive community of scholars working on Latin America, which has helped me build meaningful academic connections both within the University of Reading and across the region. Members of the network have generously connected me with other researchers in Latin America who supported my PhD data collection, significantly strengthening my project. In addition, the wide range of events organised by R-LAC has showcased the breadth and quality of research taking place across disciplines, providing an inspiring space for intellectual exchange and collaboration. R-LAC has played an important role in fostering a strong and inclusive research culture around Latin American studies at Reading.
Ingrid Nanne Lippmann, Doctoral Student, HBS
R-LAC is a great network to connect to as a Guatemalan doing research about Latin America in the United Kingdom, it has been important for my career and research to connect with other researchers connected to the region. Seeing the breadth and diversity of studies from the region at University of Reading, has linked key data points that have strengthen my own PhD and future work as an early-career researcher, impacting the work I do, and hope to do.
Tom Harvey, Lecturer, Architecture
I participated in The Pluriverse of Outputs workshop organised through the R-LAC network, which brought together colleagues from architecture, planning, real estate, and meteorology to explore research engagement with Latin America. The workshop stood out for its creative and thought-provoking framing around the concept of the pluriverse, encouraging participants to move beyond conventional academic outputs and to engage with multiple ways of knowing, including indigenous, community-based, and practice-based perspectives. Interactive elements, particularly the collaborative mapping session and group work on designing alternative research outputs, created an open and inclusive environment that made existing expertise visible while fostering new connections across fields and areas of practice.
The workshop generated immediate and meaningful outcomes by enabling dialogue between researchers who might not otherwise have interacted. It provided a valuable space to reflect critically on research methods, participation, and the relationship between academic outputs and wider social and environmental challenges. For my own work, it resonated strongly with emerging methodological questions around collective knowledge-making and practice-based research, reinforcing the importance of approaches that can hold diverse forms of knowledge in productive tension.
The R-LAC network’s role in convening such spaces is particularly significant in breaking down institutional silos and supporting peer-to-peer learning. Overall, the workshop represented an innovative and impactful initiative that strengthens research culture and encourages more inclusive and creative approaches to knowledge production.
Red Puna, External Partner
