Latin American Studies scholar Miguel Centeno to direct the program.
By: Jeff Milgram
Princeton University has named Latin American Studies scholar Miguel Centeno as the director of a new institute that will conduct interdisciplinary research on global issues, such as the Middle East and Iraq.
The Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies PIIRS will bring together faculty and students to engage in research that will enrich established international studies. The institute was created by the university and its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
"This new institute will build on two long-established areas of strength at Princeton to bring an even greater global perspective to teaching and research at this university, and it will do so under the leadership of an exceptionally gifted teacher and scholar in Professor Centeno," said President Shirley M. Tilghman. "We are delighted that he and the other members of the institute’s multidisciplinary executive committee have agreed to take on the responsibility of shaping this important step forward for Princeton."
Dr. Centeno is a professor of sociology and is on the faculty of the Program in Latin American Studies. His scholarly work is in the areas of Latin American society and politics, political sociology, historical-comparative sociology and societies in transition.
The institute is the culmination of 18 months of discussion and work initiated by Dr. Tilghman. In December 2001, a task force of faculty and academic administrators was organized to evaluate the various international studies programs at Princeton.
An external review committee of scholars in international fields from peer institutions was formed to brainstorm with members of the task force, other faculty members involved in international and regional studies and the university’s Academic Planning Group.
The dialogue involved the Council on Regional Studies, the Center of International Studies, faculty and administrators who manage study and internships abroad as well as science and engineering faculty involved in internship research.
The external review committee recommended the formation of an institute, which was approved by the faculty at its May 19 meeting. The institute will replace both the Council on Regional Studies, an interdepartmental organization of regional study programs, and the Center of International Studies, a research group within the Woodrow Wilson School.
"I could not be more delighted that Miguel Centeno has agreed to become the founding director of PIIRS since his scholarship, teaching and public service exemplify the aims of our new institute," said Provost Amy Gutmann. "His scholarly work integrates regional and international studies into global perspectives, and his award-winning teaching challenges students to understand unfamiliar cultures. Moreover, his commitment to public outreach is second to none. With the strong support of Woodrow Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter and an executive committee of remarkable distinction and diversity, PIIRS is poised to contribute in a multitude of ways to our global understanding."
Dr. Gutmann said Dr. Centano and the other staff members will use the first year to decide what issues the institute will focus on. She said the institute will most certainly focus initially on the Middle East conflict and the future of Iraq.
In addition to teaching and research, the institute will sponsor conferences, lectures and workshops on global issues and international trends. The institute also will sponsor a residential visiting fellows program whose members will be selected annually by the institute’s executive committee through an international competition.
"PIIRS will sponsor innovative teaching and research initiatives that will integrate regional and cultural studies with geopolitics, foreign policy and international diplomacy," Dean Slaughter said. "By creating a single powerful entity that will combine many different approaches to international studies, Princeton is strengthening its leadership position as a teaching and research institution responding to complex and ever-changing global issues. The Woodrow Wilson School also gains an important partner in translating academic research into public-policy solutions to global problems."
"The institute will make the sum of international studies at Princeton greater than the impressive parts already here," said Dr. Centeno, who was appointed to a three-year term as the institute’s first director. "The Center for International Studies and the Council on Regional Studies have been leaders in these efforts and the institute will combine their strengths and create new avenues for research and teaching. PIIRS will serve as an intellectual home where all the students, faculty and visiting faculty working on related issues can come together, learn from each other and produce the best possible analysis of global and regional trends."
Dr. Centeno is the author of "Blood and Debt: War and Statemaking in Latin America" (2002), "Mexico in the 1990s: Government and Opposition Speak Out" (1991) and "Democracy Within Reason: Technocratic Revolution in Mexico" (1997).
He was co-editor of "The Other Mirror: Grand Theory and Latin America" (2000), "Toward a New Cuba: A Legacy of Revolution" (1997) and "The Politics of Expertise in Latin America" (1997).
He is the master of Wilson College and director of the university’s International Networks Archive.
He has been a Fulbright scholar in Russia and Mexico. In 1997, he was awarded a President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton. In 2000, he founded the Princeton Preparatory Program, which provides intensive supplemental training for lower-income students in three local high schools.