Director, Faculty and Instructors, and Staff

Patsy Lewis

Director
Visiting Professor of International and Public Affairs

Patsy Lewis is a Visiting Professor and Faculty Fellow of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University. She is a graduate of Cambridge University (Mphil, PhD.) and the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica (BA). Before coming to Brown she was a Professor of Regional Integration and Small States Development at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. Her work explores the development challenges of small Caribbean states, with a particular focus on regional integration, globalization, trade, agriculture, migration, and environmental and political crises. Her office hours are on Wednesdays from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Please register here.  

• +1 401 863 6429
• patsy_lewis@brown.edu

Erica Durante

Director of Undergraduate Studies
Visiting Associate Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Erica Durante is a visiting Associate Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Brown University. She has held the position of tenured associate professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Louvain (Belgium). Her research has focused on European and Latin American literature, on literature and globalization, and on francophone writers of Africa and the Caribbean. Funded by the Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, she has compiled the edition of Borges’ personal library in the precious Borges’ archive in Buenos Aires. She is the author of the books "Air Travel Fiction and Film: Cloud People" (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), "Questions de poétique et d’écriture: Dante au miroir de Valéry et de Borges" (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2008), and "Mallarmé et moi" (Pisa: ETS, 1999). She has edited "Los Meridianos de la Globalización" (Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 2015) and "Le Double: littérature, arts, cinéma. Nouvelles approaches" (with A. Dehoux) (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2018), and has published numerous articles in the fields of Comparative Literature and Global Studies. 

• erica_durante@brown.edu

Kate Goldman

Center Manager

Kate Goldman holds a B.A. in Political Science and Modern Languages from Union College and an M.A. in Spanish American Literature from Rutgers University. Prior to joining CLACS, she worked as a translator, editor and teacher in the United States and Chile. In addition to her work at CLACS, Kate is on the leadership team of Respond Crisis Translation, serving as Head of University and Academic Partnerships, and is one of the leaders of Engaged East Greenwich, a non-partisan organization focused on increasing political engagement at the local level.

• 401-863-2645
• katherine_goldman@brown.edu

Emily Ruebelman

Emily holds a B.A. in Communication Management with minors in Human Rights, and Race and Social Justice from the University of Dayton. Prior to beginning her position at Brown, Emily worked in higher education study abroad programming to help provide equitable access to study abroad opportunities for students across the U.S. Her passion for the intersections of education and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) can be understood in her volunteer work with an international non-profit and study abroad experience through Semester at Sea. In her free time, Emily can be found coaching group and individual boxing/kickboxing classes, listening to podcasts, and playing games with friends. 

Sebasstian Adriano

Student Assistant

Sebasstian Adriano '25 is a freshman interested in Behavioral Decision Science, Economics, and International and Public Affairs. He is particularly passionate about policy-making around poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Sebasstian is Puerto Rican and his family is Mexican. He has studied Latin American history and engaged with immigrant rights organizations such as Make the Road NJ. Sebasstian is a strong supporter of recognizing multi-racial heritage in the Latin American identity. He also believes firmly in the power of the youth to accomplish social change, as he has observed through such iconic events as the protests from youth that led to the resignation of governor Ricardo Rosello in Puerto Rico. In his free time, Sebasstian enjoys listening to music (reggaeton and Spanish pop at the top), writing poetry, and meditating.

Gilberto Castro-Bernal

Student Assistant

Gilberto Castro-Bernal ‘23 is a junior from Salt Lake City, UT concentrating in International and Public Affairs (Development). Prior to matriculating at Brown, he served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years in Arizona, teaching individuals in English and Spanish in the Phoenix metropolitan area and the White Mountains. In his free time, Gilberto enjoys biking along the East Bay Bike Path, playing intramural soccer, and watching movies with his friends.

Mack Ford

Student Assistant

Mack Ford '25 is a freshman pursuing a B.A. in Comparative Literature in English, French, and Spanish. She is passionate about literature, and particularly about inspiring that same love of literature in others. In pursuing this goal, Mack has worked directly with various organizations to combat education inequities that many Spanish speaking students face in California, her home state.  She has worked for the past three years with the bilingual academic enrichment programs at Peninsula Bridge Education Program and Siena Youth Community Center. At Brown, she works as a narrative staff writer for the Brown Daily Herald, as well as copy editor for the College Hill Independent Newspaper. She is also part of an acapella group on campus!