Fellows

Mr. Purdy holds an Honors B.A from Dalhousie University and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Toronto.   He joined XPERA Corp. as their International Risk Advisor in 2009 after 33 years with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service.   Having worked in the Service’s foreign liaison, counter-terrorism, and counter-intelligence departments, he has extensive experience in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba.  He holds a fellowship with the Latin America Research Center (LARC) at the University of Calgary and is a member of the Canadian Council for the Americas (CCA) and the Canadian International Council (CIC).   He has presented to various academic, business and government audiences on a variety of current Latin America security issues.

Hendrik Kraay is professor of history at the University of Calgary. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin (1995) and subsequently held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Since 1997, he has taught at the University of Calgary. He is the author of Race, State, and Armed Forces in Independence-Era Brazil: Bahia, 1790s-1840s (Stanford University Press, 2001) and Days of National Festivity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1823-1889 (Stanford University Press, 2013); the latter won the Conference on Latin American History’s 2014 Warren Dean Memorial Prize for the best book on Brazilian history. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters published in both English and Portuguese, Kraay has edited or coedited the following books: Afro-Brazilian Culture and Politics: Bahia, 1790s-1990s (M.E. Sharpe, 1998); Nova História Militar Brasileira (with Celso Castro and Vitor Izecksohn, Editora da Fundação Getúlio Vargas, 2004); I Die with My Country: Perspectives on the Paraguayan War, 1864-1870 (with Thomas L. Whigham, University of Nebraska Press, 2004); and Negotiating Identities in Modern Latin America (University of Calgary Press, 2007). In 2004, Kraay was visiting professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. His research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Standard Research Grant and Insight Grant programs. In 2014-15, Kraay served as acting director of the Latin American Research Centre. His current research projects are focused on the Dois de Julho festival in Bahia and the change in pre-Lenten celebrations from entrudo to carnaval. Fellow interview with Dr. Kraay. 

Dr. Kathryn Reese-Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary.  She has directed several projects in the Maya region at important sites, such as Naachtun in Peten, Guatemala, and is currently the director of the Yaxnohcah Archaeological Project in the southern Campeche, Mexico. The project focuses on landscape archaeology, political economy and ideology of the lowland Maya during the Preclassic periods (900 BCE to AD 150).  Dr. Reese-Taylor has written numerous articles, chapters and edited one volume, Landscape and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica, which highlights her research into this early period.  In addition, she has published articles and chapters, as well as presented lectures, on the role of women in Prehispanic Maya society and is currently completing her book, Maya Noblewomen, to be published by the University of Texas Press. Fellow interview with Dr. Reese-Taylor. 

May du Monceau is originally from Chile with a background in Anthropology. She has more than 20 years of experience working in conflict sensitive environments. Her work focuses on the cultural and political aspects of natural resources management, particularly in indigenous territories. She uses an interdisciplinary approach to analyze property relations and conflicts over resources use. Her specialization is in political ecology, environmental justice and indigenous movements in Latin America. May holds a Master in Environment, Development and Policy from Sussex University (UK) and a PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies from UBC. Her postdoctoral work focused on indigenous resistance and emerging approaches used by resource development projects (mainly extractive industries) to assess and mitigate the impact of their activities on indigenous territories. She plans to continue exploring the complex ways in which indigeneity is contested and represented in current debates over the extractive industry activity in South America.