“There was recently a big article about how academics only speak to each other. And one of the things that strikes me is that we need area studies specialists, when you have high-level academics without knowledge of what goes on in the ground....There is a lot of ground level investment when you go to Latin America and have to understand how to interact with people and develop networks. But without that knowledge, you can create some really messed up policies. But I think that there is an important place for people who understand geographic areas in interdisciplinary ways. If you want to understand the economics, you have to understand the culture. You can’t do these things in archives” – Personal Interview, February 19th 2014
Silvia Arrom CLACS Acting Director 1989 Professor Emeritus History Department Brandeis University