Ariel Armony

Ariel C. Armony, a Latin American expert and former Fulbright scholar, has been named the new director of the University of Miami’s Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), which is part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Armony comes from Colby College in Maine, where he was the Audrey W. Hittinger Katz and Sheldon T. Katz Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor of Government. He served as the director of the Latin American Studies Program from 2006 to 2008. At UM, he will serve as a tenured professor of international studies at the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Dr. Armony brings a wealth of knowledge and professionalism to our Center for Latin American Studies,” said Leonidas Bachas, dean of UM’s College of Arts and Sciences. “His experience and work in the region will help us boost our academic engagement in this part of the world so crucial to our community and our University.”

Armony’s academic career began in his homeland of Argentina, where he received his B.A. from the Universidad de Buenos Aires in philosophy and literature. He received a master’s in international affairs and later completed his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Pittsburgh.

Armony has published numerous scholarly books and articles on Latin American themes, including Dubious Link: Civic Engagement and Democratization (2004) and The New Left in Latin America (2009), a highly acclaimed volume he co-edited with Cynthia Arnson.

His prolific research has been supported by prestigious fellowships, grants, and awards from a variety of U.S. academic institutions, including the Carnegie Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Kellogg Foundation. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2006. During his Fulbright he went to Nankai University in the People’s Republic of China. There, he taught “Comparative Politics, U.S. Foreign Policy Towards Latin America and Globalization and Social Innovation.”

CLAS promotes interest in academic topics pertaining to Latin America and the Caribbean. Through a variety of programs, activities, and presentations, the center unites Latin American and Caribbean scholars in the College of Arts and Sciences with faculty from other colleges and schools throughout the University, such as the Schools of Architecture and Communication, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. These linkages create opportunities for interdisciplinary research and open a dialogue within the University on topics relevant to the region.