UF Center for Latin American Studies
Day: Tuesdays
Time: 5:10 - 8:10 pm
Location: Grinter 376
NO PREREQUISITES OR INSTRUCTOR APPROVAL NEEDED FOR REGISTRATION
Course description
How do communities in the Global South innovate with limited resources? This course investigates social innovation and other forms of grassroots problem-solving that emerge in response to scarcity, exclusion, environmental pressures and inequality. Students analyze how resource-constrained communities develop creative, adaptive, and locally embedded responses to social and economic challenges. Through interdisciplinary perspectives, the course examines case studies on informal economies, grassroots technologies, and community-driven solutions. Drawing from creative and participatory approaches, students will explore the theoretical and practical dimensions of frugal innovation and social entrepreneurship in sectors such as transportation, energy, agriculture, finance and care.
Jairo Baquero-Melo
Assistant Professor, Center for Latin American Studies
392 Grinter Hall
P.O. Box 115530
Gainesville, FL 32611-5530
E-mail: jbaqueromelo@ufl.edu
Tel: 352-392-5235
Research Interests
Environmental justice; Political ecology; Critical agrarian studies; Political economy; Intersectionality; Violence; Peacebuilding; Labor studies
Geographic Expertise
Colombia [Pacific, Amazonian, Andean regions]; Darien region
