ISA Honors Teresa Chapa and Gabrielle Vail at Annual Dinner
On December 5th, 2024, the Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA) recognized Teresa Chapa and Gabrielle Vail for their outstanding contributions to the Institute and the broader North Carolina community.
The Shelley Clarke award for Exemplary Service, named in honor of former Institute Department Manager Shelley Clarke, celebrates the commitment and impact made by a member of the professional staff. This year, the award was presented to Teresa Chapa, the Librarian for Latin America, Iberia, Latina/Latino Studies, and American Indian and Indigenous Studies at UNC. Daniel Velásquez (ISA Community Documentarian and History PhD graduate student) presented the award. Since joining the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000, Teresa Chapa has championed and facilitated the acquisition of research materials working regularly with faculty and graduate students to identify critical resources in Spanish and other languages of Latin America. She has been critical pillar for students and faculty, using her skills to strengthen and curate an exceptional Latin American collection.
The Sharon S. Mújica Community Service Award recognizes individuals whose work makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Latin America and Latin American communities in the United States.The 2024 award was earned by Dr. Gabrielle Vail, a Maya archaeologist and Research Associate at UNC’s Research Labs of Archaeology. The award was presented by Skylar Zee (ISA Outreach Coordinator) and Hannah Gill (ISA Associate Director). The presenters highlighted Dr. Vail’s pivotal role in the development and success of Southern Skies: Stories from Latin America collaborative program with the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
Southern Skies shares the important contributions of Latin American Indigenous communities’ astronomy, planetary science, and cosmology. Over the past five years, Dr. Vail has significantly shaped the program by adding more context of Maya and Inka cosmology, enriching the script, and incorporating more Indigenous images from a variety of pre-Hispanic sources. Her work has helped bring these narratives to public audiences and K-12 educators across North Carolina, fostering a greater understanding of Latin American Indigenous communities.