Administration

Mark Hauser
Director, WCCIAS

Mark Hauser is Professor of Anthropology and Director for the Center for International and Areas Studies. He also serves as a historical archaeologist and economic anthropologist, with a focus on rural economies, material culture, and the everyday organization of labor and exchange. Mark examines how small-scale communities have historically interacted with their environments through subsistence practices, craft production, and local knowledge systems. A significant strand of his work investigates water security and the everyday uses and management of water in agrarian contexts, emphasizing its role in shaping both economic activity and social relations. His research has spanned South Asia, North America, and the Caribbean, with the majority of my career dedicated to fieldwork and collaborative scholarship in the anglophone Caribbean. Over the years, Mark has published on topics including economic adaptation, mobility, vernacular technologies, and the material dimensions of agrarian life.

Contact Mark Hauser at mark-hauser@northwestern.edu.

Bianca R. Jimenez
Associate Director, WCCIAS

Bianca has been at the University since 2006 working with various area studies programs including Asian Studies, International Studies, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, and Middle East & North African Studies. She received her M.A. in Social Sciences with a concentration in Anthropology, from the University of Chicago. As Associate Director she oversees the administration of the center's programs and works with the faculty Directors to advise students, manage curricular development, and provide program management. Prior to joining Northwestern she worked for the Environmental and Conservation Program at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago where she worked closely with a local NGO in Peru, CIMA-Cordillera Azul to protect cultural diversity and land security, and to integrate improved quality of life into the management of Cordillera Azul National Park. While at the Museum, she also worked with the interactive program expeditions@fieldmuseum™, which followed Field Museum scientists as they conduct groundbreaking scientific research around the world and communicate it to a wider audience through dispatches, interactives and photos.

Contact Bianca for information about our undergraduate programs, study abroad consultation, course planning, Undergraduate prizes, Graduate summer grants, Global Lunchbox programming, Alumni connections, Visiting Scholars, GA opportunities.

Tiffany Williams-Cobleigh
Undergraduate and Graduate Coordinator, WCCIAS

Tiffany is a Program Assistant for the Center for International and Area Studies. She supports the International Studies Program, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, and Middle East and North African Studies Program. She has been at Northwestern since 2016 and was with the Program of African Studies before joining WCCIAS. She earned her M.A. in Sociology with a concentration in rural community and economic development from Western Illinois University through their graduate program for returned Peace Corps volunteers and worked with the University of Missouri Extension before coming to Northwestern. She did her Peace Corps service in Rwanda and continues to travel internationally each year.

Contact Tiffany for questions regarding CAESAR, course information, registration inquiries, permission numbers, graduate summer grants, special payments, student group co-sponsorships, undergraduate prizes.

Cindy Pingry
Program Coordinator for Faculty Research Groups & Events, WCCIAS

Cindy provides administrative support to the faculty research groups in the Center for International and Area Studies. She has worked in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern for over 10 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, having worked both in the Weinberg Dean’s office and in the Department of Economics. She’s played a key role in Weinberg College’s Convocation and has planned and managed a number of special events, lectures, colloquia, and conferences on campus. She’s had the opportunity to work with a wide range of faculty members and staff across Weinberg College. 

Contact Cindy for zoom meeting information, event planning, Global Lunchbox, honorariums, flyers and publicity, inquiries related to faculty research groups.

Joel Laureano
Program Administrator for Faculty Research Groups & Programming, WCCIAS

Joel provides administrative support to the faculty research groups in the Center for International and Area Studies. He manages communications and media along with production of the Global Lunchbox podcast. 

 Contact Joel for website updates, flyers and publicity, event information, co-sponsorships, Global Lunchbox podcast.