Carla Guerrón Montero, professor of anthropology with joint appointments in Africana studies, women and gender studies, and Latin American and Iberian studies, has published the historical ethnography From Temporary Migrants to Permanent Attractions: Tourism, Cultural Heritage, and Afro-Antillean Identities in Panama (University of Alabama Press, 2020). The book analyzes the ways in which tourism becomes a vehicle for the development of specific kinds of institutional multiculturalism and nation-building projects in a country that prides itself on being multiethnic and racially democratic. It discusses how Afro-Antilleans have struggled since their arrival to become part of Panama’s narrative of nationhood and traces their evolution from plantation workers for the United Fruit Company to tourism workers. In using the lens of transnational tourism, the book offers a new reading of Panama's nation-building process.

Honors

Jonathan B. Justice, professor in the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, has received the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award for Academic Excellence from the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration, where he received his Ph.D. in 2003. The honor recognizes individuals who embody the values of the school and a commitment to public service.

Isaí Jess Muñoz, assistant professor of voice and opera in the School of Music, was selected to host an episode of the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s web series, “A Word and a Song.” The episode, which first aired on May 22, features Muñoz reflecting on artists’ responses to today’s challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic and his thoughts about how “acts of beauty can be seen even in times of crisis.” The video concludes with three songs from a cycle titled “La Rosa Als Llavis” by Catalan composer Eduard Toldrà, sung in Catalan by Muñoz and performed with UD collaborative pianist Oksana Glouchko.

David R. Wunsch, state geologist and director of the Delaware Geological Survey, was invited by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to serve on the National Petroleum Council (NPC), representing the American Geosciences Institute (AGI). Wunsch is the president-elect of AGI, which is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. The NPC is a federally chartered and privately funded advisory committee established by President Harry S. Truman in 1946 to provide advice, information and recommendations  on matters related to the oil and gas industries. The NPC membership includes well-balanced representation from all segments of the oil and gas industries, as well as members with interests outside of oil or gas operations, including representatives from academic, financial, research, Native American and public interest organizations and institutions. Wunsch will serve a two-year term on the council. 

New assignments

Martin Brückner, professor of English, has been named director of UD’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, effective Sept. 1, 2020. Brückner, who has served as the program’s interim director for the past year, has been a member of the UD faculty since 1999. The program, formerly known as the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, was established jointly by the University and the Winterthur Museum Garden and Library in 1952, focusing on preparing young scholars in the study of decorative arts and material culture to become leaders in fields such as museums, historic preservation and the public humanities. Program graduates hold key positions in cultural institutions throughout the United States.

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