Dr. Melisa Argañaraz Gomez is an Assistant Professor in Residence in the Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community, and Urban Studies at the University of Connecticut. She is Affiliate Faculty of El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies. She received her BA in Sociology from the University of Granada, MSc. in Urban Sociology from the University of Amsterdam, and her Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental Systems from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2022.
Her research interests include Latin American migrant children and youth geographies, urban inequalities, everyday care work and labor, and infrastructure that support these practices such as the home and housing. She employs a variety of community-engaged action methods. Some of her projects include “All about Baltimore Map” in partnership with Latinx summer scholars in Centro Sol- Center of Salud/Health for Latinos (John Hopkins Bayview) and “PARqueologia Migrante” in collaboration with Latinas Migrantes collective and CASA de Maryland. You can find more of her work here.

Dr. Sam Sommers (she/her) is a scholar-teacher of African American and Anglo American literature and culture before 1900. Since arriving at UConn Waterbury in 2021, she has presented several papers drawn from her manuscript-in-progress Reading Talking Books; co-organized national conference panels on research collaborations with undergraduate students, mentored four undergraduate research assistants, and shared works-in-progress papers with advanced research seminars.

She is currently at work on a public writing project that sheds light on the legacies of nineteenth-century racial thinking embedded in today’s “new reading wars” (balanced literacy vs. science of reading).

Adriana is majoring in Urban and Community Studies with an emphasis in Urban and Regional Planning, and also pursuing a minor in Human Development and Family Sciences at UConn Waterbury. She is interested in a variety of topics within the field, including community redevelopment, urban policy, housing, sustainability, and social justice. She is passionate about working on projects that innovate and improve urban spaces while ensuring they meet the needs of residents and enhance their well-being. In the future, she plans to pursue a Master’s in Public Administration to deepen her ability to shape urban policy and contribute to positive community change.