ASU instructor opening speaker for conference in Ecuador

On April 25, Charles G. Ripley III, lecturer in Arizona State University's School of Politics and Global Studies, was the opening speaker for this year’s round of academic presentations at La Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Quito, Ecuador.

FLACSO is Latin America’s most prestigious master's degree and doctoral granting institution in the social sciences. In addition to the opening talk, Ripley sat on the panel "IMF: A Project of Prosperity or Market Authoritarianism (FMI: Proyecto de prosperidad o autoritarismo de mercado)."

Ripley noted that it was an honor to be able to reach out to students far beyond the English-speaking world.

“Presenting research in Spanish was an extremely exciting and insightful experience,” Ripley said. “It allowed me to advance my academic language skills and connect with students and professors who, not being from the United States, offered very different and insightful perspectives to world politics.”

The presentations were based on two research projects. The first focused on the Trump administration’s use of socialist discourse in foreign policy to legitimize allies and delegitimize nonallies. The second stressed the negative role the International Monetary Fund and World Bank plays in Latin American policy making. Ripley shared that representing ASU internationally is an honor that he does not take lightly.

“Reaching out to academics throughout Latin America increases the recognition of ASU abroad and demonstrates that we are an inclusive and international university,” Ripley said. “It also exposes Latin American scholars and policy makers to our different programs and fields of study in case they have an interest in coming to the United States.”

Ripley’s research focuses on U.S. foreign policy, international political economy, security studies and Latin American politics. His fieldwork often takes him to Central and South America.

Ripley will also be attending a conference at la Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and la Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia.

“These will be exciting experiences to coordinate with different scholars and students from all over the continent,” Ripley said. “I will also be working on journal articles and book projects in Latin America.”