New & Notable

Democracy & Costa Rica--A recent book published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, Constructing Democratic Governance: Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1990s, includes a chapter by chair and professor of Latin American studies Lowell W. Gudmundson. In his chapter, "Costa Rica: New Issues and Alignments," Gudmundson discusses four related challenges to democratic governance in Costa Rica.

Having lived and worked in Costa Rica during 1975-78, 1980-82, 1986, and 1991, Gudmundson wrote the chapter based on a project organized in Washington, D.C. during 1994 by the Inter-American Dialogue. He has also written political and policy analyses on Costa Rica for journals such as Current History and reference sources like Latin American and Caribbean Contemporary Record.

Mexico keeps MHC faculty couple for another year--Fred Moseley, professor of economics, and Patricia Ramsey, professor of psychology and education, have made Tepoztlan, Mexico, their family home while on sabbatical for the past year. During 1995-96, Ramsey worked on the second edition of her book on multicultural education, Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World, and Moseley taught a graduate course at the National University.

The MHC couple decided to extend their stay in Mexico for another year after Moseley was offered a "distinguished visitor" position at the Metropolitan University of Mexico City for 1996-97. He will be working with a group of Mexican economists conducting research on the Mexican economy and will also teach a course on the current economic crisis. Ramsey plans to finish her book's revisions (the new edition is due out in fall 1997), and to spend more time visiting and speaking with Mexican families and teachers about child rearing and education.

What's new with you?--Please send news for "New & Notable" to Emily Weir, Office of Communications, or email eweir@mtholyoke.edu.