The Ford Foundation announced the award of thirty-nine faculty research fellowships in economics, political science, and sociology for the 1970-71 academic year. Totaling approximately $700,000, the awards went to faculty members of graduate departments at thirty universities across the nation.
The purpose is to strengthen the social sciences through support of independent research by young faculty members on subjects of their own choosing. Each fellowship provides full salary plus a modest research allowance for an academic year free of teaching and administrative duties.
Latin Americanist recipients included: James R. Kurth, Harvard University, for a comparative study of political development in Latin America and Latin Europe; James Petras, Pennsylvania State University, for research on agrarian reform and public administration in Chile and Peru; and Maurice Zeitlin, University of Wisconsin, for a study of the upper economic strata in Chile.
The Foundation announced in October the following grants related to Latin America and the Caribbean:
Colombian Agricultural Institute—$256,000 supplementary grant, for continued development of a joint graduate program in agricultural economics at the Colombia Agricultural Institute and the National University in Bogotá. The University of Nebraska administers the grant.
Institute of International Education
–$85,000 grant, for continued support of the Foundation’s graduate fellowship program in Latin America; administered by the Institute.
–$900,000 supplementary grant, for continued collaboration between the University of Chile and the University of California, to which the Foundation has committed nearly $10 million over a ten-year period. Grant funds will be used mainly for developing graduate studies at the University of Chile in agriculture, veterinary science, science and engineering, and for strengthening the university’s library system.
Inter-American Program for Linguistics and Language Teaching (IAPLLT)—$100,000 grant, for promotion of research and training in linguistics and language, mainly in Latin America. The IAPLLT holds graduate-level training institutes and symposia in theoretical and applied linguistics, sponsors research, and publishes resource materials. The two-year grant will support secretariat salaries and a linguistics institute and symposium to be held in Puerto Rico in 1972.
Inter-American Planning Society-$80,000 grant, in support of the publications program of the society, a professional organization of some 2,000 national, provincial, and municipal officials, members of university faculties and research institutions, mainly Latin American. The society holds a biennial meeting, publishes a quarterly Review and a bimonthly newsletter, and serves as a clearinghouse for national planning groups.
University of Oxford—$160,000 grant, to assist the program of the Latin American Centre at St. Anthony’s College. Since its establishment in 1964, the center has offered one of the strongest Latin American studies programs in Europe, with courses in Latin American government, politics, literature, geography, economics, and history. In addition the center conducts weekly seminars on Latin America for businessmen, government officials, professors, and students. The five-year grant will provide four scholarships annually for Latin American graduate students, stipends for visiting fellows, and research and travel funds.
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile— $260,000 supplementary grant, for support of the Interdisciplinary Center for Urban and Regional Development, the principal research and training institution in the field of urban and regional planning in Chile. In 1967, the center inaugurated a one-year graduate program leading to a certificate in urban and regional planning and in 1971 it will offer a master’s degree program. The three-year grant will provide for Ph.D. training abroad for faculty members, visiting professors, and research support.
Stanford University—$19,000 grant, to enable Professor John Henry Merryman of the Stanford Law School to complete a survey of work in the field of law and development and prepare a program for further research. Professor Merryman is a specialist in comparative law and property law and has participated in a project to modernize legal education in Chile.
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The Department of History at New Mexico State University has inaugurated an Oral History Project in Mexican, Mexican-American and New Mexican History. A number of interviews with people living in Mexico and the Southwest have been recorded and transcribed. They are available for responsible scholars and students in the Departmental Offices. The program is directed by Professor Monroe Billington.
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Mr. Rubén Cortez, Editor and Publisher, announces the establishment of The Journal of Mexican American History at the University of California at Santa Barbara for the purpose of advancing the critical and scholarly study of the history of the Mexican people in the United States. Subscription rate for the journal is $8 a year, with two issues scheduled for September and March each year.
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The Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh has announced the initiation this fall of a bi-annual Cuban Studies Newsletter “to promote the scholarly interchange of current information on research projects, publications, academic programs, library acquisitions, and microfilming projects relating to Cuban Studies.”
The Newsletter, the first issue to appear at the end of the fall, will include four sections: 1) current bibliography of books, pamphlets, and articles; 2) research in progress and travel; 3) programs, such as courses and seminars, lecture series, panels symposia, theatre and film presentations, exhibits, and 4) scholarly resource acquisitions. The Newsletter will be distributed free.
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Shortly before his death, W. G. Thomson completed the manuscript of his final book on the history of Spanish and Hispano-Moresque carpets.
Mr. Thomson’s son, Mr. F. P. Thomson (of: 39 Church Road, Watford WD1 3PY, Herts., England) has revised the manuscript of his father’s book and he now is trying to replace the original set of photographs for illustrations, which were entirely destroyed.
Mr. F. P. Thomson would be pleased to hear from museums, collectors, etc. who have Spanish carpets and rugs woven before about 1850, and can supply photographs with descriptions.
Mr. Thomson would also like to hear from anyone who knows the present whereabouts of Spanish carpets that before the 1939-45 war were in the Kaiser Frederich and the Kunstgewerbe Museum in Berlin, Germany, and of carpets in the possession of Herr Helbing of Munich, Germany; and Mr. K. Manoukian, Paris, France. He is interested too, in Spanish rugs and carpets with designs which reflect South American and particularly Inca influence.
Readers who would like to help Mr. Thomson to reconstruct this authoritative reference work on Spanish carpets should write to him at the address given above.
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COMMUNICATIONS TO THE EDITOR:
In rereading my article “German Involvement in Northern Mexico, 1915-1916: A New Look at the Columbus Raid” which appeared in the February, 1970, issue of the HAHR, I noticed a small but significant error. On p. 78, the sentence on line 20 begins “Meanwhile, Castro and . . ..” This should read “Meanwhile Cervantes and . . .” As it stands it directly contradicts the order of battle information I give in the third line on the same page . . .. If you would inform all interested scholars of this correction, I would sincerely appreciate it.
James A. Sandos
