Rodrigo Ugarte has worked in online publications since he graduated in 2013 as a Writing major and a Latin American Studies minor. Currently, he’s an editorial associate at the nonprofit Social Science Research Council in Brooklyn, New York. The council publishes works that connect scholars and policymakers across the disciplines and provides grants for students pursuing doctorates.
Ugarte edits and posts essays for Items, a social sciences forum. Over his past five years at the council, he has increased the essays posted from twice a month to weekly. One temporary subject has become a permanent fixture in the forum: COVID-19. “Originally, we decided to have scholars reflect on the pandemic from different perspectives to explore how it might play out. Now,” said Ugarte, “we feature angles on media, disasters studies, and methods of researching during the pandemic and especially lockdown.”
Ugarte’s time at Ithaca College was instrumental in helping him find his job. “I had extensive writing and editorial experience, and even though it was news writing rather than academic, [the council] still valued that. I think having the background of Latin American Studies helped me in terms of content, too.”