John McDowell Retirement

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies would like to congratulate Dr. John McDowell in his retirement after a 46-year career in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. He also served as CLACS’ Interim Director in 1998. Dr. McDowell arrived at Indiana University in 1975 after studying Folklore at the University of Texas. His deep appreciation for Latin America spans from speech play and verbal art among Chicano children to indigeneity in the Andean region. McDowell says that connecting with students was essential to his time at IU. He loved teaching undergraduate students in Chicano Folklore and sharing his passion for Latin American language with graduate students. He also played an essential role in bringing the Quechua language program to the university. McDowell hopes that the future of Latin American and Caribbean Studies will focus on minority cultures and languages because they both bring deeper understanding to the cultural and social aspects of the region. We deeply thank Dr. John McDowell for his work and helping the center become what it is today.