Research Areas: Latin America/Brazil, collective memory, community-based museums, urban justice
Pamela Sertzen grew up outside of Washington, DC. She completed her PhD in geography at Syracuse University, and holds a master's in geography from The University of Texas at Austin and a dual BA in Hispanic Studies and Sociology from the College of William and Mary.
Her current book project, titled Contesting Erasure: The Museu da Maré and the Right to the City in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil examines the role of museums in shaping and defining urban space through the re-centering of history and memory at the margins. In particular, the framing joins insights from social museology--a type of museology meant to transform society through its practices--and the right to the city, or who and what has a claim to belonging in a city. In addition to highlighting the critical role of community museums in the fight for spatial justice, the book pushes back against centering narratives of violence in favelas by building on an understanding of Maré as a nucleus of knowledge production.
Publications:
Sertzen, P.K. and Torres, R. “Dibujando el ‘otro lado’: Mexican children’s perceptions of migration to the United States” Journal of Latin American Geography 15, no. 2 (2016): 55-77.
Sletto, B., Dávila, T., Rizzo, R., Brigmon, N., Clifton, M., Sertzen, P.K. “Lombricultura comunitaria con enfoque de género en asentamientos informales” Letras Verdes: Revista Latino Americana de Estudios Socioambientales, no. 17 (2015): 86-107.
Sletto, B., Rizzo, R., Brigmon, N., Dávila, T., Clifton, M., Sertzen, P.K. “Learning and Working in Los Platanitos, Santo Domingo Norte: Mujeres Unidas and the Vermiculture Pilot Project.” Planning Theory and Practice 15, no. 4 (2014): 576-581.
Awards:
Center for Faculty Excellence (Ithaca College), Instructional Development Fund for "To be a responsible guest: Introduction to Native American Indigenous Studies (NAIS) at the Skä•noñh: Great Law of Peace Center" with Mika Kennedy (Spring 2023)
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), "The Making of Modern Brazil" Summer Seminar (2020), led by Kathryn Sanchez (WISC) and Erika Robb Larkin (SDSU)
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Award, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2018-2019)
Syracuse University Watson Fellowship (2013-2014)
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2011-2016)
University of Texas at Austin Diversity Fellowship (2010-2011)