Dr. Kathryn Peters, Latin American Studies

Name:

Dr. Kathryn Peters

Title:

Lecturer III

Department:

Latin American Studies

Describe your research in about 200 words.

My ethnographic research in rural Paraguay examines how campesinos (rural people who primarily live from small-scale agriculture and other traditional land uses) build meaningful lives within an economic landscape shaped by transnational agribusiness and narcotrafficking. While subject to the whims of volatile market economies and political violence, many of these campesinos practice an ethics of care toward land and community that challenge the extractive values embedded in global capitalist systems.

What’s the most interesting thing you have learned from a student?

Students constantly take me by surprise with the questions they ask—their ability to make connections I hadn’t considered or to reframe debates with fresh perspectives. Their diverse generational, cultural, and experiential lenses push me to reconsider what feels “settled” and remind me that learning (and unlearning) is a shared, ongoing process.